“Yes, Doctor,” he answers, whistling through his toothless mouth. Mr. Bush has been a frequent flier at the clinic since he adopted a beagle puppy with an insatiable hunger for Poligrip and resin the year before. “I was in the shower yesterday, and the next thing I knew, Noodle burst through the curtain, grinning up at me like he was in a damn canine Crest commercial.”
My eyes fall to Noodle, who cocks his head to one side and lets out a triumphantrooo, rooo, roooooo.
“You stop that,” Mr. Bush scolds the dog. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”
The beagle grunts and begins turning circles, his hind end wiggling.
Kayla kneels to scratch Noodle behind the ears, and he takes the opportunity to give her a big, slobbery smooch.
“Thanks, Noodle,” Kayla says. “You’re a real ladies’ man.”
Mr. Bush beams. “Just like his daddy.”
“Right.” I give him a polite smile. “Okay, you know the drill. I’m going to borrow this little guy for a few minutes to make sure there’s nothing lingering in his tummy.”
“Okey dokey,” he says, handing over Noodle’s leash.
I click my tongue, and the pup trots beside me as I lead him to the back with Kayla on our heels. Once we’re in the lab, she lifts him onto the X-ray machine so I can take a scan of his abdomen.
Lucy cackles when she glances up from the wall-mounted tub, where she’s working up a lather on an elderly Pomeranian, to catch a glimpse of the first patient of the day.
“Noodle,” she cries. “You didn’t!”
“Oh, but he did,” I say, stepping over to the laptop on the counter to view the images from the test. As I suspected, he already passed everything he managed to swallow.
“How many sets of dentures has the man been through now?” I ask as I move Noodle to the steel table in the center of the room to check his vitals. “Four?”
“Eight,” Kayla deadpans, giving the pooch a squirt of spray cheese to lick off her hand to keep him still.
“Wow, really?” I raise my brow. “That many?”
“You know he’s only coming here for the cheese at this point,” Lucy teases.
“Hey, it keeps him calm.” Kayla shrugs before turning her hazel eyes on me. “So, how was your Thanksgiving? Did you guys talk to your mom?”
“We did.” I sigh as I move my stethoscope along the curve of the dog’s belly. “It didn’t go like we hoped.”
“She’s putting it mildly,” Lucy says. “It was a disaster.”
Kayla gives me a sad smile. “What happened?”
Lucy and I recount the entire fiasco, including how our mother ended up in a heap on the floor with her undies showing.
Kayla shakes her head. “I can’t believe it. Your mom has always seemed so…poised.”
I remove my stethoscope and sling it around my neck. “Things have been different since Dad died.She’sbeen different. Sometimes I think she forgets that losing Dad has been hard on us too. All I know is, we can’t handle another holiday where Mom spends the day waxing nostalgic. The holidays are hard enough without Dad, and doing all the things we enjoyed with him only makes his absence feel bigger.”
“I’m sure it’s difficult for her to think about celebrating the holiday differently,” Kayla says, anticipating my every move and handing me the thermometer. “In a way, those traditions probably feel like the last thread connecting her to your dad. She’ll come around.”
“It’ll take a Christmas miracle for that to happen.” Lucy turns on the hose to rinse the Pomeranian, which causes it to snarl like a possessed gremlin. “Dad always said she was stubborn as an old goat.”
“That must be where you get it from.” I stick the thermometer beneath Noodle’s tail, and he lets out a dissatisfied whimper, narrowing his eyes at me. “Hey, you did this to yourself, buddy.”
“I’m just saying, when our mother is set on something, she cannot be deterred. Case in point: she went to the doctor for a sinus infection and came home with a fiance´e for me,” Lucy explains.
“Didn’t she also set up Ben and Ellie?” Kayla asks.
“She did,” Lucy answers before looking back at me. “So, it’s inevitable she’ll make sure you get coupled up too. Might as well accept your fate now.”
