Chapter 2

2

T ravis stood in the doorway and stomped the snow off his boots, then grabbed his hat and took it off before stepping in and closing the door behind him.

"Travis?" Ellen said, sounding shocked. He didn't think she would be surprised. Didn't she know that if she needed him and it were possible at all for him to come, he would?

"That's right, short stuff. I'm here." He tried to act like it was perfectly normal for him to drive several hours in a snowstorm to get to her. "I guess this is the mom-to-be," he said, seeing Chewy lying on her bed. It was very unusual that the dog hadn't even gotten up to welcome him. He'd never seen her lie flat out when anything was going on. Chewy was always involved in the middle of everything, a happy, energetic, obedient dog who was completely loyal to Ellen.

Travis loved the dog, just because Ellen did.

"I'm so glad you're here," Ellen said, nodding a yes to his question.

"Well, I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know anything about delivering puppies."

"You can hold my hand and remind me that I don't need to be afraid."

"Okay. I can do that."

He tried to give a reassuring grin. It was a little disconcerting that Chewy wasn't up greeting him, but he supposed if she was in labor, about ready to have puppies, it was understandable.

"I think she's pushing." Ellen had her eyes glued back on her dog. Her legs stuck straight out, and her side, which had been heaving with each breath she took, was still as her nose pushed out, and her tail lifted.

"Looks like that to me too. It probably takes a bit of pushing before the puppy appears."

"How long do you think?"

"Let's see if we can look it up on the Internet."

"You can take your coat off first. I'm sorry. And I can get you something to drink. Are you hungry?" Ellen seemed to remember that it was polite to offer all those things, and she did them in a rush.

"Let's take care of Chewy first. Although, maybe I'll wash my hands, just because that seems like a good idea." He thought if Chewy needed help, they should have clean hands, but he didn't want to add to Ellen's anxiety by suggesting that something might go wrong.

After he had washed and dried his hands, he knelt down beside Ellen, his eyes on Chewy before he grabbed his phone and searched what to do for a dog in labor.

He read through several articles, since in his experience information on the Internet was not always extremely accurate, and it made sense to see what the general consensus was.

"I think maybe we just need to let nature take its course." He rattled off a few things that they were to look for if Chewy was in distress, but she wasn't displaying any of the signs, other than pushing with no sign of a puppy emerging from the birth canal.

"We should give her more time then?" Ellen asked, the wrinkle in her brows showing her worry and concern.

"Yeah. I think so."

He said that, but he wasn't entirely sure. It seemed like they should be seeing a puppy soon. And if not… He picked his phone back up and read through a few of the things that they said to do if the dog was in distress and the puppy didn't appear.

Another fifteen minutes ticked by, as Ellen stroked Chewy's side and held her breath every time she pushed.

"Here. Hold this." He handed her his phone. Ellen had more experience with delivering animal babies than he did, but sometimes when a person was attached to something and emotionally involved, they didn't perform as well. He thought Ellen could have a cool head no matter what, but he also thought that since he was her friend, he should do it for her.

The next time Chewy tried to push, he moved her tail aside and slipped two fingers into the birth canal.

All he could feel was something solid and slippery, and he assumed it was the puppy, still in the birth sac.

He thought that was a good thing, that the sac hadn't ruptured, but from the way it felt, he thought that perhaps the puppy was sideways in the birth canal or maybe just had its head twisted.

"Does it feel okay?" Ellen asked as Chewy quit pushing and lay there panting.

It was hard to follow her body as it heaved up and down with each breath. But he tried to keep his fingers steady as they felt around, and he tried to make sure that what he thought he felt was actually what he felt.

"Yeah. I think there might be just a little twist, and I'm going to try to move the body so that it's not blocking the birth canal."

"It's stuck?"

He had kind of said that in a roundabout way, but he didn't want to increase the panic he heard in her voice. "I think so. But not badly stuck. Just a little twisted."

"All right," Ellen said softly, and he loved the trust in her voice. Like she believed him when he said it, and also had faith that he could fix it.

Lord, help me to do the right thing.

He had no idea if he was moving it the right way or not; he could be making things worse.

But he was here to help. He had left the business meeting as soon as Ellen had texted him. He'd known she was alone, watching the children tonight, and he'd already been a little worried about her with the blizzard moving in. Most likely, they would lose electricity, and while he knew that Ellen was an old hand at using the woodstove, he hated the thought that she would be there by herself, unable to get in or out and unable to get help if she needed it.

Chewy being in labor was the icing on the cake, and Travis had told Ford what was going on. As he figured, Ford had told him to go right away.

The roads had been fine halfway back to Sweet Water, until he'd hit the edge of the blizzard.

Still, he'd driven in his share of snow, being from North Dakota, and he made it to Ellen with no problem.

Of course, he knew she was going to be fine, but maybe part of the reason that he wanted to go was because he knew that he was leaving the country, probably for several years.

He hadn't told Ellen. He hadn't quite gotten over the disappointment himself. He had thought once Ellen turned eighteen, he could court her the way she deserved and be the boyfriend he wanted to be, rather than the good friend he had been.

Unfortunately, it didn't look like that was going to happen for him for several years.

It had been a long time since he talked to Ellen about his feelings. They'd agreed to be friends, and he'd been the best friend he could be.

He'd also been faithful to Ellen.

This new assignment didn't change anything for him, not in that regard, but he couldn't expect her to sit around and wait for him forever.

Still, Ford Hansen had been good to him; he couldn't tell the man no, especially when Ford was doing everything he could to see that Travis got the best start in life that Ford could give him, learning everything Ford could teach and getting experiences that most men could only dream about.

As he put gentle pressure on the puppy in the birth canal, the sac broke, and water spilled out.

"Her water broke," Ellen said hushed and fast.

"It did." That put more pressure on his shoulders. He needed to get the puppy out without delay. He didn't want it to die in the birth canal.

He felt it wiggle, and he breathed out a silent prayer of thanks. It was still alive.

The broken sac actually made his work a little easier, because he could feel the big head, the tiny paws, and the long body. As he had thought, the head was twisted, and now that the sac had ruptured, he was able to gently pull it around.

He appreciated that Ellen wasn't peppering him with questions. She was beside him, ready to help him if he needed it but also giving him the space he needed in order to concentrate. She'd always been the perfect person to work with.

Chewy pushed, and the birth canal tightened. The puppy wasn't quite in position, and as soon as the pressure eased off, he tugged just a bit more, and the head slid into place. He could tell because the body moved out easily as he pulled his fingers out, like the pup was following him already.

He smiled a little at the thought but didn't allow it to distract him, since he was focused on making sure the little guy had the fluids cleaned out around his nose and watching for that first big breath.

Ellen put her hand on his forearm as she leaned closer, so intent on watching the pup that she probably didn't even realize she was touching him and leaning over top of him.

"I can't see," he teased her.

"Oh. Sorry." She moved back a little, checking to make sure he had a line of sight to the puppy, and then she turned her attention back to it.

In that amount of time, the puppy had taken a deep breath, its little body trembling, as Chewy looked around and started to lick it.

It lifted its head, wobbly and unsure, as Chewy maneuvered just a little so she could continue to clean it off.

"Oh my goodness. It's so adorable," Ellen said, and then she looked up at him with shining eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You could have done it."

She nodded, knowing that he was probably right. "But I didn't think to look on the Internet. I didn't think to try to think about what could be wrong. I just…"

"When you get emotionally attached to things, sometimes it's hard to take a step back and look at the situation in an analytical way."

"You mean you're not attached to Chewy?" she asked with her brows raised.

"I am. I love her because you do."

She grinned, knowing that what he said was true. There were probably things that she loved because he did. His brothers for example.

Roger especially had struggled staying on the right side of the law and not going down the path that their parents had gone down. But it didn't matter when he showed up, Ellen always welcomed him into her life and took care of him as best she could. Travis knew she did it because Roger was his brother.

Of course, that was the kind of person Ellen was too. Too nice for her own good sometimes. Although, there really wasn't such a thing. The Bible didn't issue any warnings to Christians about being too nice. It did, however, give lots of exhortations about how Christians needed to be kind.

"Oh! She's pushing again!"

Ellen's words brought his mind back to the fact that while they were out of the woods with the first puppy and it seemed to be doing well, there were more puppies to go.

"Well, she's going to have at least two."

Ellen laughed. "I don't even care how many she has. As long as they're all healthy. I don't want to have to…bury a puppy tonight."

"If you have to, we'll do it together."

He put a hand over her hand that rested on his leg. She looked at their hands for a moment, then looked up into his eyes, her own shining with gratitude and appreciation.

It wasn't exactly the way he wanted her to look at him, but he knew with the news that he had to deliver, it was the best way. It made his heart sad, but he steeled himself.

He knew he was taking a gamble by going out of the country for years. Especially now that she was eighteen and could possibly settle down anytime she wanted to. Although the world would say she was too young, in ages past, people had got married at twelve and thirteen and had been just fine. Modern society encouraged selfishness and self-fulfillment, rather than the biblical mandates of first and foremost being about others and, in particular, a person's family.

Not popular opinions, and ones he didn't go around talking about.

Still, he'd have to put the idea of Ellen being anything more than just a good friend to him away for now. He would be faithful, and hopefully, she would be too. But if she wasn't, he had to trust the Lord, the same way he encouraged her today to trust God for Chewy's benefit.

Another little nose appeared as the first baby wiggled and wobbled its way to Chewy's side. Soon another chubby little body had slipped into the world, and Chewy leaned around to lick it off too.

Each puppy that was successfully born caused Ellen's smile to grow bigger. He enjoyed watching her, just sitting back and seeing her excitement and appreciation and the love she had for her dog.

Because of the work he did and the fact that he was never in one place for very long, he had no pets. It was nice to come and see Ellen with hers. Truly he thought the four years he'd spent in business was enough, but Ford was determined to teach him everything he knew. And as much as Travis would like to just come home and be a farmer, he knew Ford knew what was best for him. Ford had been right about everything so far, and Travis couldn't turn him down.

In the next two hours, Chewy had eight more little puppies, for a total of ten. They all looked like they were going to be different colors, although there was one female, smaller than the rest, who looked like she was going to be marked exactly like her mom.

"That's your favorite, isn't it?" Travis said as Ellen stroked the little body.

"She looks just like Chewy. I can't help thinking that this is how Chewy started life, and that's probably exactly how she looked."

"I have to agree with that. Although, it's after midnight, and Chewy has to be tired. I am."

"And I never fed you," Ellen said, putting her hands on her knees and looking at Chewy nestled up with her puppies before she stood.

"I wasn't here to get fed," Travis said, but his protest was half hearted. Every time he came, Ellen fed him. And she was a pretty good cook, although she had fed him a few things that he would prefer not to eat again. Although he would, just for Ellen.

"I hear you. Come on. Wash your hands, and I'll warm up some supper."

"Tell me what supper was first," he teased, knowing that he would eat no matter what she made.

"Country-fried steak." She laughed a little. "It seems like every time I make this, you show up. I should make it more often."

He chuckled. "It's what I ate the last time I was here. You know how to summon me apparently."

"Apparently. I think maybe I'll try making it every day and see what happens."