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“Yay, fun mail, Dolly!” I tore open the box, pulling out all the darling outfits my mother showed me, plus a few more, to my surprise. The small dog closet needed to be assembled, and the hangers came separately wrapped in clear plastic. “I know what we are doing tonight,” Laughing at the giant assortment of items, I snapped a picture to send to my mother. “Thank you for the wardrobe. Love, Dolly.” Dolly stood beside the things. The pile was bigger than she was.
I found the raincoat that I recalled her saying something about and paused when I saw it was a beautiful shade of rose—verysimilar to the coat I had just committed to from Norlands. Hmm… I laughed nervously.
“Could it work?” I asked Dolly. “Well, too late now!” It took me a few minutes to get her harness loop through the raincoat, and I did find the little rain boots my mother sent, but I decided I wouldn’t subject Dolly to thoseyet.I tossed them in the small bag I used last night at the park, along with a few more snacks and her water bottle and bowl.
We loaded up in the car and drove over to Norlands. To my delight, the traffic was unusually quiet this time of day, and we made it across town in no time. I slid into the designated spot for curbside and clicked on the link my virtual assistantemailed to signal I had arrived.
Not a moment later, a fit, tanned blonde woman came out holding a large Norlands bag. She headed straight to me. It was the woman from the Bark Park that Iassumedwas Eli’s fiancé. Even under the overcast sky, her ring sparkled from a distance.
Her long legs glided over to me, and I awkwardly opened my front door, waving hello to her.
“Katie Fitzgerald?” She hadn’t looked back to me yet, still reading the receipt. “I have one ‘Perfectly Pink Rain Slicker’ in a size Medium. Is that correct?” Her name tag readingAudreymatched her blue eyes as she looked up at me and made the connection. “Oh, it’s you! I know you,” She smiled coyly.
“Yes, that’s my order.” I hoped she didn’t know I was meeting Eli later and bought a fancy new coat for the occasion.
“My brother Eli said you guys were meeting today.”
I felt my body deflating at the confirmation.They were siblings.Thank you, Jesus!But the shock and horror that came next nearly crippled me. “Did you buy this for the occasion?” She chuckled.
My face reddened, and the confidence of the morning was waning fast.
“Oh, that? No, I mean—” I shook my head, trying to backtrack. Why did it have to beherbringing this out to me? I have shopped here at Norlands countless times and not once did I remember her.
“I’m just kidding, Katie.I hope you did becauseit will look beautiful on you.” Her laughter stopped and she sincerely smiled. “I hope you two have fun with the dogs today. I made Eli promise to send us pictures tonight of them playing! We all love Carter. Especially my fiancé. It’s funny how men just gush over little dogs.” She shrugged and grinned. “Thank you for shopping at Norlands. I hope I see you again VERY soon, Katie!” She jogged off.
My heart drilled as I slid back in the driver’s seat, quickly reversing and getting us out of dodge. Once we hit the freeway, I felt calm again.She hoped I bought it to see her brother?How sweet of her, I thought. My mind was goingevery which way, but it was okay. I was okay.
We reached the vet with minutes to spare, and I spied a pet relief area. “Do you need to go, Dolly?” She stood in her cage, and I reached into the Norlands bag, retrieving the new coat. It was as beautiful as I remembered in the window and would fit perfectly over my heavy sweaters in cooler weather. It had a nice lining to it, which added warmth and comfort.
I pulled off the tags and proudly went to retrieve Dolly. “Yep, we are twins, alright.”
The coats matched nearlyidentically.I wondered if this had been done before or if it meant I was a lunatic. We went to the grassy area and lingered for a few minutes. My insecurity about wearing a matching color to my dog was growing by the millisecond, but we were out of time to dilly-dally and had to face the music.
We approached the glass doors of the vet office, and they slid open automatically. Dolly wasn’t sure about the big scary noise they made, so I scooped her up and walked to the counter.
The woman with the Jersey accent greeted us, her eyes feasting on what she saw before her. “Well, hello, girls! Don’t you both look adorable today?” She smiled but there was no laughter, just sincerity. “Can I get your name, hun?” Her long, perfectly polished red acrylic nails were already typing a novel before I spoke.
“Katie Fitzgerald with Dolly.”
A lightbulb went off in her mind as she put her finger in the air, saying, ‘just a second.’ She rolled her chair over to the other side of the U-shaped reception area and grabbed a clipboard with a sticky note readingKatie. “This is for you to fill out. Once approved, the insurance is $19 a month, and this is what it covers.” She pointed to the list of everything under the sun I didn’t know could happen to a dog, along with a few things it didn’t cover, like annual dental cleanings.
“Do we really need an annual dental?” I whispered to her, not wanting to seem like I wanted to neglect my duties.
“It’s just what’s recommended, hun. It prevents all sorts of ailments, which if you think about it, makes total sense right?”
I nodded and went to the seating area, where I filled out the paperwork while Dolly waited patiently in my lap.
The questions were vague.Pet Name. Gender. Age (approx.).
Breed. Known Health Issues. Neutered (Y/N).
“How’s it going over there, hun?” The Jersey woman was petite, and I couldn’t see her unless I stood up, so I just hollered back since I was the only customer in the office.
“It’s about ready, but I need to find out a few of these answers from the vet before I can turn it in.”
“Of course. Let me see if he’s ready for you girls. You both look so pretty in pink.” She winked at me, and I felt my face redden. Maybe it wasn’t so abnormal after all to match your dog?
“Hiya. I have your 11:30 here. Yep. Okay, I’ll send them back.” Click.
