Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Well, now,” Linda said, arching a judgmental eyebrow. “When you have that bite, maybe you’ll get to meet the doctor’s husband.”
Gale grunted.
“Oh, I hope so,” I told her, and she uncrossed her arms and nodded at me.
“This is like a bad movie,” Gale muttered under his breath.
There was howling suddenly, and when I looked around, I saw that a little girl had picked up Misha, who had apparently been put down, and she strolled out with him into the lobby. I needed to keep a better eye on him. Or whatever vet tech had lost him did.
“I’m so sorry,” one of the techs said, darting up to the front. “I only took my eyes off him for a second.”
“It’s fine,” I reassured her.
“The good news is, the vest fits perfect,” she told me cheerfully.
“The bad news is he’s being dognapped,” Gale teased me.
“Oh, honey, he’s not yours,” an elegant woman in a pink sweater set complete with pearls told the child with her same gold curls.
“But I want a puppy,” the girl said, stomping her foot.
“Yes, but you’re allergic to anything with fur,” her mother reminded her just as she sneezed, and then did it again.
The girl obediently if reluctantly handed him over to the waiting tech.
“He’s super cute,” the girl said, and sneezed again.
“Yes, he is,” Connie agreed, glancing at her mother.
“She’s okay as long as she doesn’t touch them,” she said, likely feeling compelled to explain to all of us in the vicinity why her daughter had come with her and their two bearded dragons.
I smiled at her, then returned my attention to Connie. “Do you want a card for Mrs. Berry’s dogs, or do you just want to call me when they’re ready to go home and—”
“Oh no. We’ll take care of the bill for the dogs, Maks. You took care of all of us, and we appreciate you. I will take a payment for registering Misha’s microchip, though.”
So I paid for that because she wasn’t about to take my money for anything else.
Misha was howling again until the vet tech gave him to me, and then he licked my nose and settled, looking at Gale, who reached over and petted him.
“He’s gonna be a handful.”
“Oh, I know,” I grumbled.
Gale coughed softly. “Maybe don’t have lunch with Dr. Coleman.”
I looked up from my dog to his face. “No?”
He shook his head. “I’ll take you to lunch. Don’t bother the nice vet.”
“Okay,” I said, smiling at him.
“I’ll come get your number when I see you at home.”
I waited for what he’d said to sink in.
“I mean,” he amended, “I’ll come by your place when I get home.”
“Sounds good,” I assured him.
It was funny how when he walked out with the rifle, he misjudged the door and walked into the glass. Correcting, he gave me an awkward wave and left.
“He’s right, you know,” Connie said, looking up at me over the rim of her glasses.
“What’s that?”
“Don’t have lunch with Dr. Coleman. Have it with him instead. Dr. Coleman’s an amazing vet but a terrible flirt. The deputy chief is a fine man.”
I nodded.
“And very easy on the eyes.”
He was that.
“All right, now to Misha.”
Suddenly she was all business, and I did a slow pan and looked at her. “What about him?”
“We have things to go over.”
“Like what?”
“So many things, dear.”
She wasn’t even kidding. We had to talk about his shots, when he needed more of them, and how often. There was a flea-and-tick pill that had to be taken monthly. On schedule. Not to be missed. There were bells I needed to put on the door so he could jingle them when he needed to go out. He’d been trained to do that, and I needed to keep that up. It was also important that when I walked him, he was in his harness so I didn’t choke him. He also needed to be clipped into his seat in the car, that had already been installed, so he couldn’t jump out.
She just kept going, occasionally stopping so I could sign something on her tablet.
They had given him a collar made out of soft, pliable seat-belt material, so very durable and comfy, and he had a rabies vaccine tag that was blue and another tag with my name and number on it. Not his, just mine.
“Why not his?” I asked Shannon, who had taken over from Connie because now we were talking about all the stuff that had been loaded up in the car for me. She was telling me, in detail, that while some people swore by an extendable leash, the vet techs did not because you couldn’t put immediate tension on it if something unforeseen occurred.
“He’s a small dog, so if an unleashed dog comes after him when you’re walking, you want to be able to yank him back to you immediately. The extendable leash could get tangled or stuck. Things happen, so a regular one is best.”