The desperation as she asked the question pleaded with him to say yes.

She’d spent a lot of time making his quilt, had given without expecting anything in return. Now that he’d met her in person, his first impression was that she was a genuinely kind and generous person.

From what the women had said, she needed house repairs. Having grown up with a stepfather who made his living as a handyman, there wasn’t much around the house Bodie couldn’t do.

Indecision tore at him. He didn’t have to be anywhere for a few weeks.

If the woman who’d made his quilt needed his help, he should help her. He couldn’t walk away and leave her hanging after what she’d unknowingly done for him. Not if he wanted to maintain any sense of pride in himself as a man.

Without knowing what he was getting himself into, Bodie nodded. “Tell me exactly what it is you need me to do.”

“I need a favor,” Bodie said into his cell phone as he opened his truck door and motioned for Harry to jump in. The dog had patiently waited outside the church on the stoop right where Bodie had left him.

Once the dog was in the passenger seat, Bodie climbed in, shut the door, and gave the dog a scratch behind the ears.

“Okay to list you as a reference?” he asked the man on the phone.

“For a job?” Lukas Watts sounded almost as surprised at the request as Bodie was that he was making it. It was no wonder his best friend sounded shocked. A job in Kentucky certainly wasn’t in the cards when he’d left Lukas’s house early that morning.

Bodie had planned to thank Sarah, then hit the road to Texas, not go to work for her. But this wouldn’t require a major change in his plans. From the sound of things, he’d only be here for a few weeks. No problem. He had the time to spare before starting the next phase of his life.

“You’re still coming to work for iSecure?” Lukas continued. Lukas had served in the Army with Bodie for six years and had quickly become Bodie’s best friend. Lukas had opted out rather than reenlisting a few years back and had started the protective services business. They’d stayed in touch on the rare occasion when Bodie had access to communication with the outside world. Lukas and his wife had come to visit him not long after he’d been transferred to a hospital in the states. While he’d been grateful for his friend’s loyalty, he’d still hated anyone seeing him so helpless and dependent upon the nurses and therapists.

His leg and hip still ached and he had some nasty scarring, but he was slowly getting his strength and agility back. To see him now, few would guess that earlier that year he’d been told he’d never walk again. As Lukas and Kelly had taken him in after his discharge from the rehabilitation facility, they’d witnessed how far he’d come, how he’d gone from self-loathing that he’d been the sole survivor of his unit to determination to live again—thanks to a quilt reminding him of the world beyond his harsh experiences in the Middle East and various medical facilities.