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Grant’s dark hair fell forward as he gave me a rueful smile before tugging on his daughter’s ponytail. “Why don’t you go help Janice set up so we can take a look at our patient?”
“Okay.” Poppy dashed off to door number three.
“What have we got?”
Lucky stepped around me, then peeled back a corner of the towel to reveal Butch and his predicament.
The vet hissed in sympathy before muttering something under his breath. Lucky was blocking me so I couldn’t hear exactly what he said, but I could infer. Grant’s personality bordered on a miracle in patience, but he definitely wasn’t happy.
“I was putting in a fence for a family in Cove Garden and found him tied to the trunk of one of the bushes.”
“Bastards.” His Irish was thick and sharp.
“Think you can help him?” Lucky’s voice was rough with more gravel than I was used to hearing out of him. “I just want to get that rope off him. Ruby said we should do the vet thing instead of doing it ourselves.”
I crossed my eyes at his broad back. Honestly? Not my name. I clenched my fists inside my jacket pockets.
“Glad that you came here first. Looks like it’s pretty dug in there. We’ll do what we can to get him…?”
Lucky nodded.
I peeked around him. “We’re not sure if it’s a girl or boy.”
Grant gently stroked the dog’s head. “Either way, we’ll get you all fixed up.” He glanced up at Lucky. “I’ll need to give him or her a bath to see what’s what. There’s a farm sink in there we can use. Might need your help since we’re pretty booked at the moment.”
Lucky nodded. “Just tell me what to do and where to go.”
“Good.” The vet nodded decisively. “Let’s do this.”
The next forty minutes revealed that Butch was, in fact, a girl, and was actually a creamy white color under all the mud and muck. I felt very unnecessary and chose to stay out of the way along the one wall.
Poppy came up beside me and held my hand. “My daddy is very good at this.”
I frowned down at the little girl. “I know. Why we’re here, sprite.”
She shrugged. “You looked worried.”
I dropped my shoulders and ordered my muscles to loosen and relax. “Thanks, kid.”
/> “Welcome,” she said brightly. But I let her keep holding my hand. She seemed to need it.
Okay, I needed it. I went on my toes, but I couldn’t see over the shoulders of the two males. The dog was not thrilled with the situation and let them know it with pitiful cries. Poor thing probably had never seen a bath in her life.
Lucky was endlessly patient and focused as they both slowly washed her matted fur. Once they got most of the dirt off, Grant started the equally painstaking process of removing the rope.
Butch wasn’t having any of that. Grant had to send his daughter out of the room because she was getting so upset by the dog’s whines. I wasn’t faring much better, but that stupid piece of rope needed to come off. I peeled off my jacket and waded into the fray.
I had strong hands and stopped her flailing back legs. Grant’s ever soothing voice finally dented the terror in the dog’s little body. He was speaking a language I didn’t know, but the rolling sounds seemed to do the trick to calm Butch down.
However, we were all soaked by the end of it.
Her terrified whine would sit with me for a damn long time. Fucking humans. I was far better with machines and animals.
The raw welt around her little nose had me dabbing at my eyes. Lucky gave me a fierce look, but there was definitely some red rimming his green eyes as well.
“There’s a lass. I know, we’re almost done, I promise.” Grant finally straightened, cracking his neck as he stretched. “All in all, she’s in good shape. It’s a bit cold for fleas, so she was saved from that, though I won’t know about the ticks until we get her blood panel back.”
Lucky sniffed and gathered her close in a fresh towel. Harry was fairly destroyed, but I tucked the pop star towel in a plastic bag the tech laid out. Butch seemed to freak out when I tried to throw it away.
