Page 101 of Redeeming Harmony

“Anytime,” Kira called as Nathan left the kitchen.

The front door closed, and Addie put her arm around Harper. “Sorry, he had to leave, honey.”

“It’s fine. I’m a vet’s kid. I know the deal,” Harper said.

“Then why do you look like you were gut punched?” Grace asked.

“Gracie,” Kira said.

“What? She does.”

“I’m fine.” Harper made herself smile, and it must have looked somewhat realistic to Grace and Kira because they grabbed the two apple pies from the fridge and headed toward the backyard. Addie, on the other hand…

“Are you upset because he didn’t ask you to help him?” Addison asked.

Harper nodded. “Yes. Also, I hate that you know me so fucking well.”

“Well, you’re not technically a vet tech. And I think he didn’t want to take you away from us. He was being thoughtful, right?”

“Yes,” Harper said. “You’re right. I’m being a big baby. C’mon, let’s go have some pie.”

* * *

Nathan pettedthe head of the wildly wiggling puppy before glancing at Rayna. “Ready?”

Normally he would have a vet tech in the room to help hold, but Rayna was as skilled at holding wiggling puppies as any of his techs.

She nodded and held the dog in a tight grip as Nathan vaccinated him. Too busy licking Rayna’s face, the puppy didn’t notice the sting of the needle.

“Okay, he’s good to go.” Nathan petted the puppy’s head again, smiling when the puppy licked his hand before trying to gnaw on his thumb with his razor sharp puppy teeth.

“No biting, Snyder,” Rayna said before distracting the puppy with a chew toy. Snyder pounced on the toy, tearing ferociously at the hard plastic as Rayna said, “Thanks, Nathan. I appreciate you seeing Synder today. He was a last minute intake, and I wanted to get him examined and vaccinated before he went to his new foster mom.”

“No problem,” Nathan said. “I have plenty of free time.”

“Still down some clients, huh?” Rayna said sympathetically.

“Yeah,” he said. “I had dinner with Lucas last night at Nan’s, and there were a lot of dirty looks from other diners.”

“Well, if it helps, Carrie Wagston has been telling anyone who’ll listen that you brought Petey back from the brink of death after he ingested chocolate. The way she makes it sound, Petey was on his way to dog heaven when you stepped in and performed a miracle.”

Nathan laughed. “That is a total exaggeration, but at this point, I’ll take it if it wins me some brownie points with the town.”

“It will,” Rayna said. “Carrie owns the Sip and Gulp over near the park, and she likes to talk to her customers. Everyone who stops in for a bottle of water after hiking the falls will hear about your heroics. This morning, I heard some talk at Walgreens about Bart Moncton’s dog. He got hit by a car Wednesday night, and you did surgery on him and saved his life.”

“Yes,” Nathan said. “Again, though, saving his life might be an exaggeration. He had a broken leg that I had to put him under for so I could set properly. He went home this morning with Bart.”

“Well, folks are talking about it in a different light, which is good for business,” Rayna said.

Cheered up a marginal amount, Nathan said, “I just need a dozen more Carrie Wagston’s and Bart Moncton’s to tell the town I saved their pet’s life, and maybe they’ll stop calling me Dr. Death.”

“I take it the elusive Lady Nakia has not been captured yet?” Rayna asked.

“No, but there have been plenty of terrorist attacks from her. She’s claimed a substantial section of downtown as her territory, and God help anyone who enters into it. She stole a breakfast sandwich right out of some kid’s hand earlier this morning.”

Rayna laughed. “Oh my God, that cat. Listen, I thought I would put out some live traps and see if I could catch her. I have a lot of experience trapping cats.”

“Rayna, that would be amazing,” he said.

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