He thought he was stopping for a stray dog in the snow-until he saw what she was hiding beneath her body

had chosen it for its distance from neighbors and noise, for the way the woods stood between him and the rest of the world.

That evening, as he kicked the door open with his shoulder and carried the puppies inside against his chest, the cabin felt less like a hiding place and more like a line he had drawn.

He brought the mother dog in next, set her on continue reading …