Later, after attending to the simple tasks that were merely business management, Dante visited his family accompanied by Susie, who wanted to say hello.
Everything was very harmonious; there was none of the expected drama typical of the Dutton family.
To make things less uncomfortable for the family and to keep his life somewhat separate from those he wants to protect, Dante had a new cabin built not far from the current one, where his father lived with Jamie and occasionally Beth, who was seldom home.
Lee lived in the foreman's cabin, while the cowboys stayed in the bunkhouse. However, there were slight changes now that Rip would have his own cabin, land, and a place to finally belong after so long.
This was a kind of gratitude that John especially wanted to show to Rip, whom he regrettably would not adopt, but he would give him something that no Dutton had ever given to someone outside the family.
The family talked about many things, some of which had been touched upon before, but not with as much interest as now.
John showed the most intimate interest he had ever demonstrated toward someone, and this was more than enough for Dante to know that his father was interested in him.
After all, John didn't want to make the same mistake twice with his children.
But there were more things that John had to do, so the conversation wasn't very long.
On the way back in the afternoon, Dante, who wanted to show Susie more of Montana, went to a pet rescue center where he had previously rescued his boy, Scud, who was happy with Beth and the life he had obtained on the ranch.
He discovered that places like these in Montana were called pet adoption centers, and in remote towns, they became rescue stations for animals that depended on humans to survive.
"Are you ready?" Dante asked as he looked at Susie in the passenger seat, who was excited to look for a pet.
"Come on, don't make this more intriguing."
Dante's gaze followed Susie's silhouette, who, unlike any other lady, didn't wait for him to open the door.
This brought a slight smile to the corners of Dante's lips, and without waiting for Susie to get ahead, he got out of the truck.
Looking at this place, which was surrounded by similarly styled buildings, just like its name, after entering the kind of ranch isolated from other homes, they found a dozen dogs of different types chasing a basketball in the yard, which was surrounded by a huge fence.
The dusty scene of those enthusiastic canines reminded Dante of his childhood, but not from this life, of course.
Also, strangely enough, there were some dogs trying to climb the trees in the field where they were.
Of course, there were also some kept in cages, separated from those enthusiastic dogs having fun together, like a smiling Rottweiler, which surprised Dante when he passed by.
Here it feels more like a dog market because it's very run-down.
Curiously, when he focused his attention on the dogs, he seemed to be able to hear their breathing and thus feel their intentions.
Dante thought it was a hallucination, probably because he didn't sleep well last night.
When they went further in, the person who greeted them was a girl who was very happy to know that Dante, a Dutton, wanted to adopt another dog.
It was evident that she was very dedicated and knew the origin and living habits of each dog she personally cared for. She quickly took Susie to meet the puppies, but Dante was very particular in this choice.
Unlike Susie, Dante sought to select a sick dog, on the verge of death, and with his own effort give hope of life to that animal that was on the brink of dying.
Those pets in good spirits were not included in the selection, meaning that the more the dogs wanted to express themselves, the more they were discarded from his careful choice.
The world is so cruel that, no matter how hard we try, it will be in vain if we go in the gentlest direction possible. If Dante took a dog that would easily be adopted by another family, he would be sentencing the lives of those who would hardly be accepted as pets.
He made this same selection with Scud, who in the eyes of other people was an aggressive dog and had probably participated in fights.
This way of thinking was what differentiated Dante from the rest, even from Susie, who didn't understand Dante's curious interest in this kind of pet.
"If they're happy, they can stay here longer."
After walking for several minutes and returning to where Dante was, the girl was puzzled. It seemed to her that she had already presented the best dogs in the entire rescue station, but the man and woman in front of her were not interested at all.
"What's wrong with this dog? He seems very lethargic..." Dante asked, pointing to a ball of "fluff" in the corner of the yard.
At first, he really thought it was a ball of fluff, until it lifted its head, looked around, and he realized it was a furry dog.
The girl seemed a bit sad. "His name is Wayne. He's a six-month-old male dog we found by the side of the road. From what we know of his injuries, he had a serious car accident before, and one of his legs is lame."
This dog should be a large breed. But the one in the yard is clearly stunted and is about the same size as a small dog.
Dante pointed to Wayne and with a slight smile said, "That's all I need to know; I'll adopt him."
The girl was surprised. "Are you sure about your choice? Wayne is scheduled to be euthanized the day after tomorrow; it's not that we can't take care of him, but we've been through many similar situations, and saving a dog in his condition are efforts that will never lead to anything."
"Don't you have the necessary resources?" Susie knew that places like these received little financial support from the government; it wouldn't be strange if they invested money in pets that could live longer and euthanized those they expected to die.
"It's not about the money. Can you imagine how many pets my family has tried to save and in the end have died? We've suffered a lot, so unfortunately we decided to have mercy on them and prevent them from continuing to suffer."
"What's your name?" Susie was interested in this girl who didn't seem to be more than fourteen years old.
"I'm Sara..."
Susie nodded and said nothing. Now that her life would be a bit freer, places like these could be a good start to give back to life all that she earned with morally questionable jobs.
She learned this from Dante, who gave more than eighty percent of his earnings to foundations that do a better job than the government, unfortunately.
"We're different from other establishments, who according to the rescue center's regulations, stray dogs that haven't been adopted within twenty days are euthanized. We only make the decision to take a life when we can't rescue it..." Sara murmured with heavy feelings in her voice.
"Wayne has been here for four weeks and his life expectancy in this place has long expired, and it's hard for him to recover. Besides, if he does, do you think a family would take him? People's cruelty is greater than you can imagine..."
It turns out that this type of organization also has to consider costs, and sooner or later, it will go bankrupt if not managed properly.
Perhaps Sara was afraid of regretting it, so she quickly asked, "Sir, is the adoption you just mentioned true?"
Dante nodded again and said clearly after realizing that Sara had no idea: "Of course it is. I have a ranch that's quite empty of animals, and letting Wayne live there is definitely better than him reporting to heaven."
Sara, upon hearing these words, seemed very excited, almost on the verge of tears.
"Wayne… Wayne…" Sara called softly, and the furry dog slowly approached with its lame paws at the sound of her voice.
Dante thought to himself that the bond between this girl and the dog was deeper than it seemed, and in one thing, she was right—Sara was affected by the sacrifices that needed to be made in this place.
When Wayne arrived, he squatted on the ground in front of the fence and looked at the two of them. His eyes were very sad. Perhaps he knew he wouldn't live much longer.
"You can pet him; his fur is very fluffy," the girl said sweetly.
Dante extended his hand. At first, it was something normal, but the moment his hand touched Wayne's forehead, he instinctively pulled it back as if he had received an electric shock.
Sara quickly explained, "It's static electricity. Wayne's fur is very dry… His breed is an Old English Sheepdog, also known as a Bobtail."
Dante knew very well that it wasn't static electricity. He knew the feeling of being hit by static electricity. It was very strange—what he had just felt came from his own emotions.
It was as if he saw himself reflected in Wayne, who was lonely and seemingly abandoned.
The second chance he was giving this dog was something he had also been given, and it instinctively made him feel strange.
When he looked at Wayne again, Dante immediately made a judgment about the little dog.
Dante noticed that Wayne could lift his legs but didn't dare to put weight on them.
His eyes were dull, and he didn't like to walk.
"Does Wayne have rickets?" Dante asked tentatively.
Sara shook her head. She didn't have an answer and couldn't say because the rescue station didn't have professional veterinarians—at least, not good ones.
Dante kept looking at Wayne intently and asked this time, "Do you want to come home with me?"
Susie, who initially wasn't interested in Wayne, changed her mind when she saw how deeply connected Dante was to the dog.
"I'll take him. Shall we do the same as last time?"
"Yes, follow me."
After going through the adoption procedures, Dante was taken to the backyard, which is the first contact area between the adopter and the dog to be adopted.
Upon learning that Wayne had been adopted, all the rescue center staff came out of curiosity to see who would take him, and everyone was surprised to see a well-dressed man accompanied by a beautiful woman.
"I hope you can treat him well. Wayne has suffered a lot, and if you can give him what he's never had in his life, even if he's no longer with us, it will be worth the good deed you've done."
The station chief said sadly, "I picked up Wayne. He was hit by a big truck. Fortunately, he was strong enough to survive. The little one spent most of his time here curled up in a corner, sleeping without friends or family like other dogs."
"We don't want to sacrifice any dog, but you've seen the situation at the rescue station. There's no way to cover all the expenses."
Dante nodded, reached into his jacket, and after searching for a few minutes, pulled out a check with a substantial sum. "Take this money, use it for yourselves and your families. I'll send someone tomorrow to provide you with more than enough funds."
"This is a lot of money…"
Susie smiled at their reaction and advised, "I'd take the money; don't feel bad—you deserve it."
The only reason Dante usually didn't do this was to avoid the endless thank-yous, but this time he did it because he felt it wouldn't hurt to help.
"Alright, Wayne, let's go." Dante lifted the furry dog into the back seat of the truck, not caring if he dirtied the seats.
From a distance, Sara waved goodbye to the duo and shouted, "Thank you, sir."
Dante nodded in her direction and climbed into the truck. "Did you like the choice? Sorry for not consulting you directly; I thought it was the right thing to do…"
"Not really. I'm sure he'll be much more beautiful after a bath," Susie said, glancing at Wayne, who was overwhelmed by everything he was seeing. She didn't need to make any extra choices; she felt that with Wayne, it was more than enough.
If Wayne survives, it will be necessary for him to take care of the ranch in the future. Eating meat, supplements, and medicinal herbs will stimulate his wild nature.
After calming the dog, Dante needed to visit the city's livestock market. He wanted to learn more about what his father did as the head of the country's largest ranch.
As a pastoral area with a strong history, Montana's cattle and sheep market is famous across the United States. Even ranchers from Canada come here to buy and sell livestock, making it very lively throughout the day.
A perfect place for Susie to visit and learn more about Montana.