Hudson Valley Animal Hospital was a low brick building off the highway with a parking lot bigger than the building. Cabrera came out the front door before we'd gotten Penny out of the truck. Dark hair in a braid down her back, scrubs, a warm smile that didn't have to work to get there.
She hugged Astrid first. It was a long one. The hug of a woman who hadn't seen another woman in too long.
"You look good, Astrid." Sof pulled back enough to take Astrid in by the shoulders.
"You look better, Sof."
"We're gonna talk."
Astrid huffed a laugh against the cold morning air.
"After this."
Cabrera turned to me, and the smile shifted into the professional version of itself without losing any warmth.
"Easton. Hi. Bring her on in."
I lifted Pen out of the back. Astrid clipped a leash to Moose's collar and helped him down. He stuck close to her hip across the lot.
In the exam room, Cabrera was fast and gentle. She lifted Pen's lip, made a small face when she saw what another vet had already seen. Moose was at Astrid's hip with his ears up, watching.
"Yeah, Astrid, you called it. Fractured upper P4. Inflammation at the gum line. We're gonna pull it. She'll be a different dog." She straightened and peeled off her gloves. "Easton, I'm taking her back. You can wait out front. About ninety minutes, give or take."
"Thanks, Doc."
Cabrera put a hand on Pen's head.
"Hi, beautiful old girl. We're going to get that out of you."
Pen lifted her tail.
Astrid set her hand on Pen's head one more time. Moose stretched up to press his nose against Pen's side. Then Astrid stepped back from the table, eased Moose back with her, and came around behind me to stand at my shoulder.
The shift moved through the room before I could name it. She'd been the vet in the room until that second. Now she was the person on my side of it.
I followed her back out to the waiting room.
We sat on a vinyl couch the color of an avocado. A fish tank bubbled in the corner. Moose lay down at our feet with his head on his paws, watching the door to the back.
Astrid had her hands wrapped around her empty coffee cup. She was turning it slowly against her thigh.
"Thanks for coming with me," I said.
She looked over.
"I didn't know how to do this part." I kept my eyes on the door to the back. It was easier than looking at her for what I had to say next. "I've never had a dog of my own before. Pen was my grandmother's. I came in at the end. I've been pretending for a year and a half that I knew what I was doing with her, and I didn't. I didn't know what to ask Caldwell. I didn't even know it was a tooth until you told me it was a tooth."
"Easton."
She set her coffee cup down on the table and turned in her seat to look at me. Full body turned.
"You noticed she wasn't right. You brought her in. When you didn't get the right answer the first two times, you didn't stop. That's what a pet owner is supposed to do. That's the whole job."
"Yeah."
"That's the whole job. You did it. You're doing it right now."
Moose lifted his head off his paws and put it down again.
