Page 3 of Justice Denied

“I’ll grab a seat.” Seth wanted to stay with her but wasn’t sure if his presence would annoy or crowd her. Best not to chance it. He picked a magenta plastic chair and settled into it, the molded frame groaning under his bulk.

He prayed Bingley would recover from whatever ailed the dog—he could see how much the animal meant to Jetta. He’d always wanted a pet, had even enticed a stray cat into their apartment one summer. Seth hadn’t thought about that feline in years. He’d named the small tabby Buttercup because of her very light, almost yellow stripes. Buttercup had been his companion nearly all summer until his mom had caught him pouring milk into a saucer for the cat. Seth shifted uncomfortably as the memory of his mother’s anger and her man-of-the-moment’s vicious kick that sent Buttercup over the Rainbow Bridge, as he’d later learned people say when a beloved pet died.

“Guess we wait now.” Jetta dropped into the seat beside him, a hand on her belly. “I’m so glad you came by when you did. I couldn’t have lifted Bingley myself.”

Her praise warmed his heart—and his neck. He instinctively rubbed the back of his neck, as if his movement could erase the telltale signs of his embarrassment. “I’m happy to help.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “You’ve been so kind to me.”

How could he not be? His protective instincts had kicked in the moment her mother had introduced Jetta to him on the grassy strip between their driveways when Jetta had brought Bingley home from the pound. A light breeze had carried the fruity scent of her shampoo to tickle his nose. Since he had often assisted Emily Ainsley with household tasks, he had continued to do so with Jetta after Emily’s accident.

Breathing deeply, he caught a whiff of that same citrusy smell underneath the antiseptic of the vet’s waiting room. “How’s your mom doing?”

“She’s impatient with the slow recovery.” Jetta sighed. “Her leg isn’t healing as fast as the surgeon would like, and there’s talk she may not fully recover the ability to walk unaided.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Emily had become a dear friend in the three years he’d rented the house next door, and his heart ached for the older woman’s not-so-great prognosis. “I guess it’s a good thing she’ll be moving to one-level living soon.”

“I guess.”

Her desultory response reminded him she was clearing out her childhood home. Seth couldn’t fathom having such a connection to a house. He and his mom had moved countless times, and he’d had even more moves after social services stepped in and removed him when he was nine. He envied her stable childhood, although losing her father at eleven meant it wasn’t without pain. At least she’d known who her father was, something he had no idea of how to find out for himself, since his mother had left him no clues as to where he might look.

“Ms. Ainsley?” Nolan stood a few feet away.

Seth rose along with Jetta.

“Yes?”

“Come this way.” The tech walked toward the examine room.

Jetta hurried after Nolan without looking back or asking Seth to accompany her. The story of his life—always destined to stay on the fringes of any friendship. But there was one thing he could do from afar, and he bowed his head to pray again for Bingley’s recovery. If he gave into temptation and added a line or two that his lovely next-door neighbor noticed him beyond his helpfulness, then that was between him and God.

ChapterTwo

In the exam room, Jetta rushed to Bingley, who lay covered in a blanket and motionless on the table. Seeing his chest rising and falling stemmed her tears.

“I’ll get Dr. Williams.” Nolan slipped out the exam room’s back door.

She turned, expecting to see Seth beside her, but he wasn’t there. While she stroked Bingley’s head, disappointment flooded her that Seth hadn’t accompanied her. Anyone else would have simply followed her into the room, but not Seth. He never overstepped whatever boundaries she put up—or didn’t realize she’d constructed, like right now. Seth, with his gentleness despite his huge size, continually surprised her.

She swiped a stray tear from her cheek as she waited for the vet, her thoughts still on her neighbor. Seth had never commented on her pregnant state or lack of a husband. His only acknowledgement of her increasing belly was his insistence on taking her trash and recycling bins to the curb and his standing offer of assistance with any heavy lifting. Her mother encouraged her to tap into his willingness to help, relating how good a neighbor he’d been for the past few years.

When Dr. Williams entered with Nolan behind him, she pushed thoughts of Seth aside and focused on her dog. The vet’s serious expression did little to soothe Jetta’s alarm.

“What’s wrong with Bingley?” Her voice choked on the name. The dog had wormed his way into her heart these past six months, and she couldn’t imagine life without him by her side.

“We suspect ibuprofen poisoning.”

“Ibuprofen? Like for people?” Jetta could hardly wrap her mind around the idea that what she sometimes took for headaches could cause such harm in a dog.

The vet nodded. “Given the symptoms you described, I was pretty sure he’d eaten something he wasn’t supposed to, so we induced vomiting.” He handed her a plastic zipper top bag containing three reddish pills she recognized as a popular over-the-counter brand of pain reliever.

“How did he get hold of these?” Jetta laid the bag on the counter beside Bingley. “There wasn’t any Advil in the house.” She reached for her purse, then remembered she’d left it on her kitchen counter. At least she had her driver’s license and credit card in her phone case. “I’ll check my purse when I get home, but I’m sure he didn’t dig around in my bag to scarf down pills in a plastic bottle.”

Dr. Williams frowned. “You’re sure there wasn’t a way for him to ingest ibuprofen?”

“None comes to mind.” She’d been very careful with the medications from the bathroom cabinets and a few hours ago had taken everything to a local pharmacy with a medicine disposal kiosk.

“He must have eaten a fair amount to display these symptoms.”

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