Page 14 of My Inherited House Might be Haunted

“I will.” With dessert afterward. I was totally the type to put out on the first date.

I shut the door behind him, then punched the air in victory. Yes! Finally, finally I had a date with that man. Hopefully this didn’t blow up in my face later.

Brownie peeked out from the blanket and gave me a wave.

“Yeah, you’re good. Thanks for hiding. Uh, we need to get you sorted before I go back down.” I should probably put on a fresh shirt too. Not that the ladies, gents, and gentlefolk coming into my store wouldn’t appreciate the view, but still.

Come to think of it, clothes for Brownies were not something they made in stores. How the hell was I going to rectify this?

I whipped my phone out and texted my sister.Clothes for Brownie?

Took her two seconds to answer.Doll clothes.

My sister was a genius.

Six

Rhett

Not going to lie, I was nervous taking Lucy and Myst to the vet. I wanted them to be okay with every fiber of my being, but I just wasn’t sure about that, considering Myst’s obviously neglected condition. My stomach was in knots when I pulled in to the parking lot.

Myst had clearly been someone’s dog at some point in time because he had no issue loading up in a car. I’d need to search lost pet posts online later but I had a feeling no one was looking for this dog. Not with the state he was in. I didn’t really want an owner to show up, mind you. I was already half in love with this dog, but I felt it was my duty to at least check.

Anyway, I had Lucy in a carrier—she had many, many words to say about this, and while I didn’t speak Cat fluently, I assure you none of those words were clean—and Myst on his leash, and we walked into the vet’s office with me trying to open the door with my butt. Not classy, but it got the job done.

A heavy-set person with a beard, the longest purple nails I’d ever seen on a human being, and bright blue hair pulled up intoa high bun greeted me with a professional smile. “Hello, who’s this with you?”

“I’m Rhett. I’ve got a checkup for Lucy and Myst?” I didn’t know why I’d phrased that as a question.

“Oh sure. Which one’s Myst?”

“The dog.”

They pulled up something on the computer screen and typed something out. With those nails. Honestly, no idea how they managed, but it was damn impressive. “All right, I’ve got those names logged in. You just go straight to room one. Someone will be in there in a moment.”

“Sure, thanks.”

Myst didn’t look all too keen on being in here and kept walking closer and closer until he was practically glued to my leg. Poor dog. I didn’t like going to the doctor’s either, so I sympathized.

I set Lucy on the table and kept Myst with me. I barely got settled on the chair when the door opened again and a very large woman in blue scrubs and short, curly blonde hair entered.

“Hello, hello,” she said with a charming German accent. “I’m Doctor Gardener, welcome. I understand we have new babies.”

“Very new babies,” I confirmed. “Lucy—the cat—I found her in my house on my staircase a couple days ago.”

She blinked at me, then laughed. “That’s a new one.”

“Tell me about it. I think the front door blew open and she took advantage, but I have no way of proving it. I do know she and Myst are friends. She alerted me when I was at work to open the back door and then escorted him inside.”

“When was this?”

“Three hours ago.”

“Ha! You live interesting life.”

“Truth. Um, since they were both strays, can you check for a microchip?”

“I can, yes.” She opened the door a crack and called out, “Bring me a scanner!”

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