Yasmine blew out a long breath.
“Okay… so I guess I should take her.” Yasmine looked down at Hope again. Hope wagged her tail, giving Yasmine her best doggy grin. “She has to be walked. And fed. I can’t keep coming back here to do it.”
“Yes. Take her if you’re okay with that. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Heck, it’s not anyone’s fault.” Poor Sarah. Poor Hope. “Do you know why Hope was going to be put down?”
“Just that there was something wrong with her, and Sarah didn’t think she’d be able to afford to fix it.” Grace sounded tearful again.
“Okay.” Yasmine looked down at Hope, who wagged her tail again. “Well, she seems okay now.” Maybe Sarah had managed to get it fixed in the past two days. Whatever it was.
Or maybe it wasn’t something that showed up just by looking at her.
Please stay healthy ‘til your owner gets home.
“Thank you, Yasmine. I cannot thank you enough. Hopefully, it should only be a few days, but I’ll know more after Sarah actually gets out of surgery.”
“Keep me updated.”
“Of course.”
“Okay, I’m going to try to find the stuff I need for Hope now.”
“Thank you, thank you. I’ll text or call as soon as I know something.”
“Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.” Yasmine hung up the phone and looked down at the dog, who wagged her tail again but otherwise didn’t move. She didn’t seem super energetic. Weren’t dogs supposed to play more? Jump around? Maybe she was just a super chill dog. Yasmine shook her head. “I swear this could only happen to me. Okay, Hope, let’s find your stuff.”
While she was looking, she saw a magnet on the fridge she’d missed earlier from a veterinary office. Hopefully, Hope’s vet. She snapped a picture of the magnet just as a text came in from Veronica.
Veronica
Ms. Penn called. She wants a meeting with you. I scheduled her for a three o’clock video call, so you need to get your butt back here.
Yasmine glanced at the clock. It was just before two. She should have enough time to let Hope have a quick pee in the backyard, pack up her stuff, and then take her home.
Yasmine
I’ll do the call from my home office. I have to take care of a dog.
Veronica
Wait, I thought the dog died?
Yasmine
I did, too, but I’m here, and so is the dog, so now I’m taking her home with me to take care of her until her owner is out of the hospital.
Veronica
…
I bet you didn’t think you’d end today with a dog.
Yasmine
No. No, I did not. I’ve gotta pack everything up, though, so I will tell you all about it later.
Veronica
