Part 6
Nell came home after Dr. Voss cleared her the following day. Ben carried her from the truck to the living room while Finn walked beside him on a lead Mara held. The rugs were down, the low bed was ready, and the water bowl sat close enough that Nell wouldn’t have to cross the room.
Mara helped him settle the puppies, checked the medicine schedule with him once more, and left. Ben put the medicines in a closed kitchen cupboard beside the coffee and taped the schedule inside the door. He could read it while the pot brewed.
Finn followed every movement Nell made. When she rose to drink, he rose; when she shifted on the bedding, he lifted his head. Ben kept their time together quiet and supervised, giving Nell room to rest when Finn became restless. At night he put their beds alongside each other in the living room.
For several days the house ran on small tasks. Ben logged the medicine, took Nell out on her lead, and turned back before she tired. Finn went along at a separate pace or waited while Ben helped her over the threshold. On workdays, help from Cedar Run covered the visits Ben couldn’t make himself.
One night, the scrape of Nell’s feet woke him. He found her sitting beside the water bowl, reluctant to put weight on the recovering leg. Ben moved the bowl within reach and knelt while she drank, then straightened the blanket she had pulled half off her bed.
Finn appeared in the doorway. He stood watching as Ben helped Nell settle. Ben glanced up at him and kept his voice low.
“You can lie down. I’m right here.”
Finn stayed a few seconds longer. Nell rested her head, and Ben continued smoothing the blanket near her shoulder. The white puppy turned and went back to his own bed.
In the morning, Ben walked into the living room before either dog woke. Finn was sprawled on his side instead of sitting over Nell. Ben stepped carefully past them to start the coffee.
As the vet allowed more activity, Nell began moving farther around the yard. Her left leg still changed her gait when she overdid it, and Ben learned to turn them back while she was willing to stop. Sometimes she managed a short chase after Finn before he called them both in.
Her appetite returned faster than her stamina. One morning she finished breakfast and headed for Finn’s bowl while he was still eating. He lifted his muzzle and stared at Ben with a piece of kibble caught in his lip.
Ben moved Nell gently back to her own place. “Let me get coffee before you start filing complaints.”
She sat looking at the food that remained in the other bowl. Finn ate faster. Ben stayed between them, holding his empty cup, until he could put both bowls away.
At a follow-up appointment, Dr. Voss took Nell into the examination room and closed the door. Finn sprang to his feet. Ben settled in a chair with the lead loose across his knee, leaving enough room for the puppy to stand and look.
Finn took a step toward the door, then stopped. He turned his head toward Ben, came back, and sat against his leg. After a while he lay down. Ben kept his hand near him without holding him in place.
When Nell reappeared ten minutes later, Finn scrambled up to meet her. She greeted him, then went to Ben for the scratch behind her ear. He gave it to her while Finn nosed the vet’s shoe, and they walked out together.
Six weeks after Nell came home, Mara called to say the adoption could be finalized. Ben took both puppies to Cedar Run. The kennel wing was fully open again; a dog he hadn’t seen before barked from Finn’s old run as they passed.
At the desk, Mara checked his contact details. Finn tried to reach the pen, and Nell tried to reach Finn. Ben shortened both leads while Mara moved the forms to the far side of the desk.
He recognized the two files she laid in front of him. Each had its own name on the tab, but the address inside was the same. Ben read it before signing, including the number on the house just beyond the trees.
“I think we know where to find you,” Mara said.
“He certainly does.” Ben moved Finn’s nose away from the paper, and Mara held the last page still for him.
Soon afterward, Ben took the puppies to a local memorial for working dogs. He had avoided the gathering since Ranger died, finding a shift to cover or an errand that couldn’t wait. This time he stood near the end of a row with a lead in each hand.
The names belonged to retired dogs and dogs who had died. Some brought a stir of recognition from the people around him. When Ranger’s name was read, Ben lowered his eyes to the folded program and could no longer make out the next line.
Nell leaned against his leg. Finn sat on the other side, his ears turning toward the unfamiliar voices. Ben adjusted the leads so they wouldn’t cross and stayed until the last name had been read. He folded the program again and put it in his coat pocket before taking them home.
Winter settled over Millhaven while the puppies grew into their feet. Finn’s ears stood up more often now, and Nell could beat him to the kitchen when she wanted to. After a long spell outside, she still favored the left leg. Ben kept the next veterinary appointment on the calendar.
One morning he woke in the dark and turned toward the clock.
5:43.
The house was quiet. He was out of bed before he had fully thought about why, moving down the hall toward the living room. At the doorway he stopped with one hand on the frame.
Nell slept on the big rug beside the sofa. Finn lay curled against her, a white foreleg draped across her back. Ranger’s ball rested near his feet.
Ben stood there long enough for his breathing to ease. Finn didn’t lift his head or check the door. Ben went into the kitchen and filled the coffee maker, leaving the lights low.
Before the pot finished, he heard paws behind him. Finn stood in the doorway with a sock hanging from his mouth. Nell came up beside him, watching Ben’s hand as he reached down.
“Already?”
Finn backed away. Nell followed, and their feet went pattering down the hall. Ben held his empty hand out a moment longer, then picked up his cup. From the living room came the thump of a puppy landing on the rug and the familiar squeak of Ranger’s old ball.