Chapter 1
1
“ A nd they lived happily ever after.”
Ellen closed the book and brushed her hand over the forehead of her sister, Maeve. She wasn’t exactly her sister, since Ellen lived with her Uncle Tadgh and Aunt Ashley, since Uncle Tadgh had raised her after his sister, her mother, had passed away.
Still, she loved Maeve like a sister, and since her aunt and uncle had gone away for three days for a well-deserved anniversary trip, Ellen was in charge of taking care of her and her little brother, Cian.
Cian was already in bed, but Maeve had wanted a story, so Ellen had happily snuggled down with her while the wind roared outside and the promised blizzard moved in, making their little house on the outskirts of Sweet Water, North Dakota, feel cozy and warm.
Ellen wasn’t worried about the weather. She might have been born in Ireland, but she’d lived with her uncle in North Dakota for more than a decade. They had left Ireland so long ago she didn’t even remember it.
From the doorway of the room, Chewy, her Australian Cattle Dog, whined. Chewy was heavy with pups and due to whelp any day. Ellen was a little concerned since she had never delivered puppies before. But she wasn’t anticipating any problems.
“Can I sleep with Chewy?” Maeve said sleepily from her cozy position snuggled underneath the big blankets.
“No. Not tonight. I need to keep her close to me just in case she decides to have those puppies tonight.” It would be a good night for Chewy to become a mom with all the wind and snow and the blizzard conditions. A perfect night for a dog to have her puppies.
A little bit of unease went through Ellen. She hadn’t been very concerned. Dogs had puppies all the time without any help. But for her to be alone, with her aunt and uncle gone, the storm raging outside, and her unable to leave because she was responsible for her brother and sister, it put a different spin on things.
Plus, even if there was a problem, she wouldn’t expect Lark to drive through a storm like this. Everyone who had a lick of sense had stocked up on the essentials and hunkered down to wait it out. North Dakotans were tough, but they weren’t stupid.
Ellen was eighteen years old, an adult. Old enough to handle any problems that might come up.
Her little personal pep talk didn’t really help.
A harsh wind hit the house so hard the walls shook, and Ellen cast Chewy a worried glance before she bent down, kissing her sister’s forehead before tiptoeing out of the room, flipping off the light switch as she went, and closing the door softly behind her.
The house was dark and quiet. Unusually so. Ellen still had four months of her senior year left, but she’d turned eighteen in October and was legally an adult. She didn’t feel like it though. She still felt like a kid at heart, even though people told her she was more mature than normal children her age. She certainly had more responsibility than most kids her age. She had her own business raising Highlander cattle and another business training, and now breeding, Australian Cattle Dogs.
She was making as much money as a full-grown man, and still she was a full-time student in high school.
Chewy whined as Ellen went to the living room to look outside at the snow coming down in big gusts. Ellen dropped to one knee and used both hands to take Chewy’s head and hold it.
“Is it time?”
She didn’t think she was going to be scared, but the idea of Chewy having her puppies in the snowstorm while Ellen was alone and couldn’t call for help sent tendrils of fear with icy claws down her backbone.
She had been looking forward to snuggling up on the couch and reading a good book by candlelight while the snow came down, but this new development made that seem less and less appealing. How could she relax when Chewy could be in distress?
Without even really thinking about it, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and sent a text to her best friend in the whole world. Travis.
I think Chewy is going to have her babies tonight. I’m scared.
She couldn’t admit that to just anyone, but Travis knew everything about her. They texted often. Back when she was younger, around fourteen, she’d had a huge crush on him and had been insanely jealous of the cheerleader who seemed to catch his eye.
But they had come to an agreement, and she had decided to be the very best friend that she could possibly be to him. And he had become her best friend in return. He confided in her about his business and the hardships he went through. She could tell him things that she couldn’t tell anyone else, and she could trust him. Just as he could trust her.
Most of their communication had been via letters, although in the last few months, they had begun texting more.
His answer came back almost immediately.
Is she having trouble?
I don’t think so. I just…don’t know what to do if she does. The weather is bad.
They’d talked about the weather earlier. He was in Fargo at a business convention, but he knew that her aunt and uncle were going away and she was responsible for her siblings. She had been a little bit worried about taking care of the kids during a blizzard, but she wasn’t expecting anything to happen and she watched the children often. That was nothing new.
Delivering puppies? Now that was new.
You’ve delivered plenty of calves. I don’t think puppies are any more difficult than that. But I’ll pray for you.
She smiled at his words. Of course. She didn’t have to worry. God was in control. Still, with all the responsibility on her shoulders, she wouldn’t be human if she didn’t feel concern. Plus, she didn’t want anything to happen to Chewy.
She said a couple of prayers of her own. And then sent a text back.
Thank you. You just reminded me of where my priority is supposed to be and who I’m supposed to trust.
He had been really good for her in that regard. Always pointing her to Jesus. Like a good friend should.
He wasn’t that far away since he was attending a conference in Fargo with Ford Hansen.
She had been excited because she thought she was going to get to see him. With the blizzard, she didn’t know if their travel plans would change, but she had been expecting to see him come back to Sweet Water, visit his family some, and her, and…she thought maybe he was coming home to stay.
He had said four years ago that he was going to be gone for four years, then he was coming back. It had been four years.
She smiled. Because she was graduating soon. She had all kinds of plans for her future, plans that included her Highland cattle and Australian Cattle Dogs. Starting with Chewy’s first litter.
Chewy shoved a cold, wet nose into Ellen’s hand and whined again.
“Let’s go to your bed,” she said, indicating the bed that she had made up a week ago in the mudroom.
Her aunt and uncle were awesome. She had been planning on Chewy having her babies in the barn, but they had insisted that Ellen make a bed for Chewy in the house where it would be warmer.
It was called the mudroom because that was the room that everyone came in when they had been outside. They kept their boots, coats, and hats there and washed their hands at the sink. It was just as clean as the rest of the house but had a tendency to get dirty in the spring and fall when things were more wet than usual. It was a nice, cozy place for Chewy, and one where she would feel comfortable, Ellen was sure.
Shoving her phone back in her pocket, she got a glass of water from the tap and walked out to the mudroom.
Sitting down at the edge of Chewy’s bed, she patted beside her, and Chewy walked onto the cushions, sniffing and whining and nosing around.
She lay down, then sniffed her side as though trying to figure out what was going on in there.
She whined again.
Several hours later, Chewy had been up and down at least twenty times. Ellen had been unable to concentrate on the book she was reading on her phone, and she had ended up getting up and scrubbing Chewy’s water and feed bowls, which were both already completely clean, and beginning to organize the drawer full of gloves and hats and scarves.
With two small children, there were a lot of winter things in the mudroom, and Ellen had everything organized and had leaned against the sink, contemplating scrubbing it down, when her phone buzzed with a text.
She smiled when she saw it was from Travis.
How’s Chewy?
Restless.
Chewy was not acting like herself at all. And while Ellen knew that there wasn’t anything to be concerned about, not yet, anyway, she still couldn’t get herself to settle down.
Is she pushing?
No. She just won’t rest. She’s up and down and up and down, and she whines and then bites at her side.
It definitely sounds like she’s going to have them tonight. How many do you think she’s going to have?
He was trying to get her mind off her worries. She smiled at his attempt. That was what a good friend did. Even though he was at a conference and probably should be paying attention to something other than her. Or maybe it was over for the day.
I want her to have at least three. But I’m hoping she has more.
She wanted to keep a few to train and sell them as trained cattle dogs. She had been training other people’s dogs. They’d bring them when they were ready, and she would keep them for six or eight months, until they had the commands down and were ready to go back to their homes as a dog with a job, rather than just as a pet.
She loved teaching a dog that it could be a help, and loved even more seeing the dog fall in love with its job, doing what it was bred and born to do. They were so happy when they figured out that they could do what they were driven to do, and they could be rewarded for it.
Most dogs were eager to work, and while training was never easy, they were eager to learn.
She couldn’t imagine trying to train a dog who didn’t want to work. That was one of the things that was so good about Chewy. She hoped she would pass that drive to work down to her puppies.
Are you going to name one after me?
She laughed.
Sure. I can name one Silly if you want me to.
Ouch. Really?
Really. If you want me to name a puppy Travis, just say so.
I want you to name a puppy Travis.
All right. I’ll pick the prettiest girl and give her that name.
I don’t know why people always say you’re so nice. I’m not experiencing that niceness right now.
She laughed and sent a smiley face emoji. He knew she wasn’t going to name any girl dogs Travis, but she actually was already planning on naming the first boy pup after him. After all, Travis had supported her for as long as she could remember. They’d been good friends, and he’d always been around to help her when she needed it.
Not tonight. She would really love to have him around tonight. She almost sent a text back and asked him about the conference, but she thought he might be busy socializing. That seemed to be a lot of his job, making contacts, gathering information, and using everything he learned in any way he could to help build whatever business he was working on. He and Ford had started several. But Travis had confided to her that he couldn’t wait to get back and be a farmer because that was his first love.
She wanted things to work out for him and knew that spending time with Ford was the best way for that to happen, even if it meant that she didn’t get to see him.
As she turned from the sink, where she had grabbed a rag and started wiping one of the spigots, she saw that Chewy had laid out on her side, and it looked like she was pushing. Finally.
Suddenly she let out a whine, or more like a yell, and Ellen dropped to her knees beside her dog who barely noticed she was there.
Suddenly she was more scared than she’d ever been in her life before. So she did the only thing she knew to do. She started to pray.
She was only on her knees for a couple of minutes before the back door opened and icy wind blew in. She lifted her head and jumped up, thinking that she hadn’t shut the door tight, and the wind had blown it open, but there in the doorway stood her best friend, Travis.