He was just about to go out to the front porch when he heard snuffling sounds coming from the library.
“Travis?” he said as he ducked his head inside.
At first he didn’t see the boy, but he followed the sound to his mother’s old writing desk. The chair was pulled out, and Travis was tucked underneath, his arms on his knees and his face down, sobbing.
“Hey,” Ransom said, getting down there with him and placing a hand on one of his arms. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
At first there was only silence.
“It was m-my fault,” Travis said after a moment.
“Of course it wasn’t,” Ransom told him. “The dogs popped the gate open on the paddock. I’ve been meaning to get a better latch with a good lock.”
“N-no they d-didn’t,” Travis said. “I went back to play with them after lunch, and I m-must have l-left the g-gate open.”
That actually made more sense to Ransom than the dogs figuring out how to open the latch. In a way it was a relief. He’d been afraid he would have to leave them in the barn until he resolved it.
“You did?” Ransom asked him. “You love those puppies, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Travis said, finally peeking up at his dad. “We don’t get to keep them.”
“And you wanted to take advantage of the time you had with them?” Ransom asked.
Travis nodded, his eyes filling with tears again.
“I know it’s a sad idea that they’ll leave us,” Ransom said carefully. “But they’re going to make so many lives so much better. And all the time you spend with them helps them learn to care about people. It’s a really importantjob you’re doing, loving them even though we have to let them go.”
Travis nodded, a tear sliding down his cheek.
“Well, I’m not mad at you,” Ransom told him. “Everyone makes mistakes. And now we know what happens if we leave the gate open, so we won’t forget again.”
“B-butHailey,” Travis sobbed.
“She won’t be mad at you either,” Ransom said firmly, hoping it was true.
“All the food was messed up,” Travis said sadly.
“Did you know that there’s more food?” Ransom asked him.
He shook his head.
“Miss Mal brought so much food over that the tables are completely covered again,” Ransom told him. “And we got everything all cleaned up and perfect before the other guests started arriving.”
“That’s good,” Travis whispered.
“It sure is,” Ransom told him, offering a gentle smile.
“But it’s still not nice,” Travis whispered.
Ransom nodded. He wasn’t going to lie to the boy.
“Now Hailey will decide she doesn’t like it here,” Travis said. “She’ll leave again and it will be my fault.”
Ransom’s heart ached at the idea that the boy might feel that way for even one second.
“If she leaves again, it willnotbe your fault, Travis,” he said firmly. “Grownups make their own decisions about things, for important reasons. One little mistake won’t make her feel any different about Trinity Falls.”
“But she was so scared,” Travis murmured, his eyescast down again, like he was too ashamed to meet his father’s eyes.
