As much as Scarlett looked forward to meeting Lolly Winston, she just couldn’t bring herself to leave Fantine. Not yet.
This dog had been abandoned and discarded all her life. She had nursed who knew how many puppies and had them all taken away without explanation. She’d been broken, and Scarlett wanted to be the one to finally put the pieces back together. To give this dog a happily ever after.
“Shane’s asking if you’re ready to go over the paperwork,” Liz’s father, Ben Benjamin, announced, stepping into the shed with Scarlett and Oscar.
“Are you going to be okay?” the veterinarian asked her.
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” she answered, stroking Fantine between the ears and trying not to feel discouraged as the dog stared at her with hollow, frightened eyes.
“I can send you some books on caring for pregnant dogs and puppies. Would you like that?”
“The answer is always in a book,” Scarlett said with a sad smile. “Thank you.”
“We’ll see you inside when you’re ready.” Oscar headed to the cabin, but Liz’s father stayed behind.
“It’s hard seeing them suffer,” Mr. Benjamin said, and Scarlett realized then that this sight must be particularly hard for him.
“Liz’s mom…” she started, not knowing how she planned to finish.
Ben dropped to his haunches and let Fantine smell his hand.
“It must have been so hard raising her on your own.” She’d always known that Ben loved Liz more than anything, and she doubted things would have been any different if he hadn’t lost his wife at the same time he welcomed his daughter into this world.
“Liz is a good kid, always has been. It was hardest not having a partner going through life. It’s lonely not having that support, that friendship.” If there were tears at this memory, they had long since dried up. A quarter of a century is a long time to miss someone. Scarlett’s heart went out to the poor man.
But she didn’t know what she could say. The loss of his wife in childbirth clearly still stung after all these years. How could it not? Scarlett had always felt sorry for Liz, for never having known her mother’s love, never having had the chance to meet her.
A new compassion for Ben Benjamin took root. He’d loved and lost, lost everything. Was that really any better? It was impossible to say.
She hardly knew Henry but already felt as if she’d lost something important in not being able to pursue a relationship with him, not now. Ben must feel it one-million fold to have planned a life together, to have started living it, and then… to end up alone despite all that.
Tears sprung to her eyes again.
“It’s Fantine,” she said, not wanting to upset the man who she’d looked up to ever since they first met.
He nodded and gave her a quick hug. “I know.”
“Did they go to jail? The people who did this to her?”
“I don’t know, but we can ask Oscar.”
“How could people…?”
He sighed and scratched the dog between her ears. “I don’t think you or I could ever understand, and that’s a blessed thing.”
“Henry Mitchell, he did this to dogs.” Scarlett turned angry at this realization. Had this cruel man ever laid a hand on his children? His grandchildren?
“He did,” Ben said, and Scarlett wasn’t sure which question he was answering.
“And he never got punished for it,” she moaned.
Neither said anything as they watched the frail husky twitch her legs and whine in her sleep. Fantine was about to be a mother again and still having nursing dreams from her own puppyhood. What a sad juxtaposition.
As hard as it was to continue this conversation, Scarlett knew she might not get Mr. Benjamin alone again that night—and she had a promise to make good on. “What do you think about his grandson going for the Iditarod?”
If Ben was surprised by this question, he didn’t show it. His answer, however, was rather unexpected. “Frankly, I feel bad for him.”
Scarlett turned to him, hope filling her chest. Finally, somebody understood, and it was exactly the person who needed to—but she had to be sure before she could say any more. “What do you mean?”
“The hoops he has to jump through. The threat of losing everything if he doesn’t complete some stupid list at his grandpa’s bidding. Make no mistake, if he doesn’t get that money, I don’t doubt there will be hell to pay with his family and the business shareholders. I wonder if the grandfather did it on purpose, as a way of getting the last laugh.”
“But why would he do that to his own family?”
Ben shrugged. “Why would he torture his dogs? Why would he do any of the horrible things he did? It’s not for you or me to understand.”
Scarlett sniffed. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted her Henry to win his challenge so that he could move on with his life and finally be free, or if it would be better for him to fail and let that miserable old man down once and for all. “Do you think he can do it? Do you think he can finish the list like he says?”
“It would be a long shot for anyone, but without a proper coach, he hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in Florida.”
This was her chance. She had to take it. “Would you be willing to help him?”
Ben blinked over at her. When he saw the serious look on her face, he answered, “If he asked me, sure. I’d be willing to give him a chance to prove himself rather than expecting him to pay for the sins of others. I was given a second chance long ago, and I wouldn’t be here today if not for those willing to take a chance on me.”
Scarlett wanted to ask him what he meant. She hadn’t heard of any sordid past, but then again, maybe Liz didn’t know anything had ever been less than peachy about her father’s past. Had Mr. Benjamin made an accidental slip in conversation, or was he trying to confide something deeper in her now?
She had two choices then.
She chose to honor her promise to Henry.
“Will you call him?” she asked after quickly explaining their exchange earlier that day. She let him know that Henry wasn’t a bad person but left it to her forbidden friend to share more if and when he wanted to divulge it. “Will you help give him a chance?”
Ben frowned. “I—”
“Dinner’s ready,” Lauren called, barging into the shed and cutting off Ben’s answer before he could give it. “Chop, chop!” She clapped her hand and motioned for Ben and Scarlett to come back inside with her.
As they passed through the yard, Ben caught Scarlett’s eye and gave her a quick nod.
Now Henry’s fate was in his hands.