Not to his surprise, Olivia was in the pen with Morgan, reminding of him of what Megan, the director, had said earlier about Morgan only having eyes for her. “Do you think he’s the jealous type?” Gabe asked, stopping outside the gate.

Olivia looked over, and a happy smile lit her face. “Hey there! And no, I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s the jealous type, but if dogs can have OCD, he’s definitely a candidate. His focus is out of this world.”

“Too many birds nearby?”

“Not today. He’s decided he likes these salmon-flavored treats. A lot. Watch.”

Gabe hung by the gate as Olivia walked through a series of basic commands, successfully getting the long-legged, floppy-eared pointer to sit, stay, shake, and come. And the whole time, Morgan’s attention was unwavering, just like when he was a stalking a bird.

“Don’t you just love him?”

“He’s something. And Megan was right. He’s done a one-eighty. Though I suspect it’s more him wanting to please you than anything else. The way he was acting two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have thought he’d bond with anyone without a struggle. And certainly not this quickly.”

Finished with the commands, Olivia walked over to open the gate and waved him inside. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too.” He planted a light kiss against her lips as he stepped in. “And nice training skills. I would never guess you’re just learning this stuff too.”

“Thanks. It’s got to help to have such a smart dog to practice on.”

“He is smart, isn’t he? Smart enough to make a good search-and-rescue dog. Young enough too.”

Morgan stepped over and gave Gabe’s jeans, shoes, and hands a thorough sniff. Gabe wondered if the dog knew he’d been the one to pull him from the pen during the flood. His guess was that he would, but who knew, especially considering the dog’s state at the time. After a thorough sniff, Morgan refocused on Olivia, looking from her to the treat pouch clipped to her waist.

Olivia gave Gabe a curious look. “Are you thinking about doing that again with another dog?”

“I haven’t given it much thought, but maybe someday. After Samson… You know. I don’t think I could bring myself to leave him at home while I went out to do that with another dog. Too many memories. I can’t remember if I told you, but we logged over three hundred miles of real-time searches and another few hundred in training.”

“I can understand why you’d want to wait.” She sank onto her heels, and Morgan stepped forward to sniff her hair and the side of her neck.

“Olivia, if he’s the dog for you, you just need to make it happen.”

“How?” There was a pitch in her voice, and she cleared her throat.

“Talk to your aunt.”