Page 69 of Redeeming Harmony

“She’s perfect,” Mrs. Rathbone said. “She’s very gentle and kind and doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”

Nathan unzipped the carrier and carefully eased the cat out. She stared up at him, her tail twitching and her pupils narrowed, but when he petted along her back, she relaxed a little. “Jade, can you hold Lady N while I fill in her paperwork?”

Jade nodded and took hold of Lady N, stroking around the cat’s ears before scratching her throat.

“Be gentle with her!” Mrs. Rathbone said sharply. “She’s not some farm cat you picked up on the side of the road. Lady Nakia is purebred and worth thousands of dollars.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jade said, a fake smile plastered across her face. “I’ll be careful with her.”

Nathan took down the cat’s information, keeping his growing annoyance off his face as Mrs. Rathbone dithered on about the details of Lady Nakia’s birthdate and previous vaccinations. Nearly five minutes later, he had as much information as he would get, and he desperately wanted to get the damn cat vaccinated and Mrs. Rathbone on her way.

He stuck the stethoscope in his ears and quickly listened to the cat’s chest and lungs. As he reached for the needle, the English Mastiff that Warren was vaccinating finally broke free of Hal and Allie’s grip. With a gleeful bark, he took off straight for their station, his lips flapping and long strings of drool flying back to splatter against the floor.

“Incoming,” Jade said.

Nathan reached for the cat, holding her in a tight grip. “I’ve got the cat. Grab that dog.”

“On it!” Jade ran toward the dog.

Nathan winced when the dog jumped up on Jade and knocked her flat on her back on the gym floor. He dropped on Jade like a rock and licked her face enthusiastically as she sputtered and grabbed at his collar with one hand while wiping her face with the other.

“Whoa, big guy. Off. Down. Get that tongue out of my face,” Jade said with a laugh.

Hal and Allie ran over, and the two of them worked to pull the big dog off of Jade as Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. That was almost a real fuck-up moment.

He smiled at Mrs. Rathbone, who stared with absolute horror at the dog still licking Jade. “What kind of monstrosity is that?”

“Just a dog, Mrs. Rathbone,” he said as he shifted the cat in his hands.

“Well, my Lady N hates him. She’s terribly upset right now. Can’t you see that?”

Nathan stared down at the cat, who stared back at him with a bored expression on her face. “She seems okay to me.”

“She obviously is not,” Mrs. Rathbone said. “What kind of third-rate vet are you?”

He gritted his teeth. “Jade will be right back, and we’ll get Lady N her vaccine, and you can take her home where she’s most comfortable.”

“I can’t wait for that. Poor Lady N is positively vibrating with fear. I’ll hold her while you do the vaccine.”

“Are you comfortable with that? Sometimes cats can be startled by the needle, and a firm grip is needed to -”

“Are you suggesting that I don’t know how to hold my own cat, Dr. Henshaw? Because I’ll have you know that not only have I shown and bred cats for years, but I own a certificate in cat handling.”

Biting back his retort that he was pretty sure that certificate was bullshit, he said, “As long as you’re comfortable with it.”

She sniffed again before reaching across the table and wrapping her hands around Lady N. “I hope you don’t treat all of your clients so disrespectfully, Dr. Henshaw. Perhaps Tammy Buchanan was right when she said you were an insufferable and incompetent know-it-all.”

He reached for the syringe and popped the cover off, hoping the vein throbbing in his forehead wasn’t as noticeable as it felt. He pinched the skin over Lady N’s right hip. “Okay, I’m giving Lady N the needle now.”

He injected the cat and withdrew the needle, tossing it into the sharps container. “There, all -”

Mrs. Rathbone screamed when Lady N turned and scratched her across the top of her knuckles. “Oh, you little bitch!”

She let go of the cat, yanking her hand back and still cursing. Lady N ran for the end of the table, and Nathan made a desperate grab for her, his fingers grazing the end of her tail. He clamped down on her tail, and Lady N hissed like a snake before turning and launching her small body directly at him. She hit him square in the abdomen, yowling and howling like a banshee as she dug all four paws into his flesh before scrambling up his chest and over his shoulder.

He grabbed for her again, his hand catching nothing but his shirt as she launched herself off his shoulder and landed on the floor

“Lady Nakia!” Mrs. Rathbone screeched, blood smeared across her knuckles. “Come back! Lady Nakia!”

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