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Something flickered in her father's eyes. Perhaps his thoughts were of his own wife, Eden’s mother, and all the years they'd lost together due to her mother's capricious nature. She imagined the loneliness was overwhelming sometimes.
“Welcome back to Celebration, son.” Her father stuck out his hand in greeting to Brady, who reached out and shook it firmly.
“Thanks. It's nice to be back,” Brady said with a nod of his head. “Even with this stormy weather.”
Her father shifted his attention to her. “Eden, I came to tell you that the little terrier is making quite a racket in the spare room.” In all the commotion she'd almost forgotten about Miss Daphne, the terrier she'd adopted a few weeks ago. Although she hadn't realized it at the time, Miss Daphne was not only an abandoned dog, she was pregnant also. With her big brown eyes and badly groomed coat, the terrier had quickly wormed her way into Eden's heart. All day she'd been nesting, circling around her dog bed and acting out of sorts. As far as she could tell, the dog was due to give birth any day now.
“I put her in the sitting room away from Rodeo and Lola so she wouldn't be disturbed,” Eden explained. “I've been checking in or her every half hour or so.”
Brady raised his eyebrows. “Three dogs? That's impressive.”
Her father let out a hearty chuckle. “Three? She'd have thirty-three if she could. Never met anyone who loves to take care of strays as much as my Eden.”
Although Eden would never admit it, her love of strays was connected to her own feelings of estrangement from her mother and sister, as well as the community of Celebration. She could relate to the abandoned dogs. It was her firm belief that every living creature deserved to be loved and nurtured. And she shuddered to think what would happen to them if human beings didn't step up to find homes for them. Right now Miss Daphne needed her help. Eden glanced at Brady, hoping he wouldn't feel as if she was imposing on him.
“Miss Daphne is about to give birth to her litter. Would you mind taking a look at her? She's been acting a bit peculiar all day.”
With a curt nod, Brady said, “Sure thing. It's the least I could do considering you gave me shelter from the storm. I might have turned into an icicle out there.” Brady's voice had a teasing tone to it. So far he seemed pretty agreeable, she reckoned. He was nice enough. Polite. Easy on the eyes. But, she didn't really know him, even though they'd been friends back in the innocent day of childhood. Life had shown her that things could change in the blink of an eye. Even when you thought you knew someone's character, there were oftentimes things hidden under the surface.“This ice storm is the darndest thing,” her father said, scratching his head. “The last time we saw one of these was when you two were still in diapers. Wouldn’t it be something if we had a white Christmas?”
The very thought of a white Christmas made Eden smile.
After Brady went to the kitchen to wash his hands, Eden led him down the hall towards the sitting room, with her father trailing behind them at a much slower pace. The shuffling sound of his foot dragging on the hardwood floors rang out in the stillness. She tried not to focus on the sound of it, knowing he'd made progress by leaps and bounds in the last few months. Once she opened up the door she spotted Miss Daphne lying on her side in her comfortable doggie bed, her stomach heaving up and down in rapid movements. Eden scrambled over to her side, getting down on her knees beside her. Next thing she knew Brady was next to her on the floor, his fingers swiftly moving across the dog's abdomen. Brady frowned and continued to palpate Miss Daphne's stomach.
“Well, she's definitely in labor.” A few more tense seconds ticked by until Eden could no longer stay silent. “How long has she been carrying the pups?” Brady asked with a frown.
“I don't know exactly. She was a rescue pet. I'd only had her a few weeks when I noticed she was thickening around her middle. Is there something wrong?” she asked fretfully. Her experience working at the Country Vet had taught her enough about animals to be able to sense that things weren't progressing normally with Miss Daphne. Like all her pets, Miss Daphne was a huge part of her life. More than anything, she needed for her dogs and the pups to be all right. All of a sudden Miss Daphne began to emit a low, mournful wail. The very sound of it made Eden want to scoop her up and cradle her in her arms.
A frown marred his near perfect features. “She's ready to deliver these pups, but she's not making any progress. Her breathing is pretty choppy.”
Eden had seen a similar situation play out at work when a client brought in her pregnant boxer. Vicky had termed it dystocia or difficult birth. Despite the complications, Vicky had delivered a healthy litter of puppies. She prayed her grandson would do the same. All thing are possible to him that believeth. Sometimes faith was such a fragile thing, yet clinging to her beliefs in times of adversity strengthened her.
“The good thing is there's no bleeding, just normal discharge. I'm going to try and help her along some. I could use some towels.” Eden got up and quickly made
her way to the linen closet, grabbing a few older towels, antiseptic and hand sanitizer to use for the whelping. Upon returning to the room she saw Brady on his hands and knees, fully engaged with Miss Daphne.
Watching Brady in action was a comforting, rewarding experience. Like his grandmother, he was a very skilled professional. His tenderness and ease lent a sense of calm to the situation. She shouldn't have been surprised by his professionalism, but she felt a bit overwhelmed by the way he'd stepped in and handled the situation with such finesse. Eden had to admit it spoke to who he was as a person.
In the end, Miss Daphne whelped four puppies in all. Brady sat back on his haunches, a pleased expression lighting up his face. Eden felt a wave of happiness wash over her at the sight of Daphne with her healthy brood. The pups began immediately jockeying for position to get milk from their mama. She made a mental note to make sure each of the puppies got an opportunity to nurse. And in a little bit she was going to change the soiled bedding and replace it with fresh linens.
“I can't thank you enough, Brady. I don't know what we would have done if you weren't here,” Eden said, gratitude filling her heart.
“I'm sure you would have stepped right in and assisted Daphne,” he said with a grin. “My grandmother wouldn't have you working so closely with her if you couldn't help out in a crisis.”
The compliment washed over her like warmth from the sun, causing a trickle of pride to slide through her. Brady had no idea how much she respected and loved his grandmother. Working as her assistant was her dream job. It had given her something to look forward to each and every day. And it had gotten her out of her safe little cocoon. She shot Brady a grateful smile, then focused her gaze on the new little bundles. New life being brought into the world was an awesome thing indeed.
“Well, I'll be,” her father said, his tone breathless. “Four little pups. One is cuter than the next. I have the perfect names for them. Rudolph. Dasher. Prancer and Cupid.”
Eden couldn’t help but laugh at her father’s suggestions. “Maybe we should hold off on naming them. We can’t keep them, dad.”
Brady looked at the litter, his face radiating satisfaction. “Any idea what you're going to do with these little guys?”
Eden shrugged while her mind whirled with the possibilities. She wished that she could keep them all, but it wasn't even remotely feasible. Little did Brady know, but she was already active in dog rescue within the Celebration community. In the last six months she'd rescued over thirty dogs, most of whom she'd placed with loving families in the area. Truth was, she wasn't sure the community would be open to adopting more animals. As it was, she'd finessed all of her connections in town in order to find homes for the ones she'd rescued. She may just have exhausted all her resources. It was one of the reasons this fundraiser for abandoned animals was so vitally important.
She bit down on her lip, her thoughts whirling a mile a minute. “I could take out an ad in the Celebration gazette and put up some signs,” she said feebly. All of a sudden, the prospect of caring for four more little mouths seemed daunting.
“Tell you what,” Brady drawled. “Why don't we take some pictures and put up some signs at the Country Vet? Whenever a customer comes in they'll see these irresistible little faces staring back at them. We can even tie it in to the holidays.”
Eden clapped her hands together. It was hard to hide her excitement. “Oh, that's a great idea. Maybe even put some red ribbons on them in case a parent wants to gift them to their kids for Christmas. We can even sell the idea by calling them the Christmas puppies.” Joy speared through her at the thought of the puppies being embraced and taken in by the community. Until that time she was going to have to stock up on some puppy supplies and formulate a plan about taking care of the brood while she was at work. There was no way she could place such a huge burden on her still recuperating father.
