“Oh my God, Maggie, where did you find this thing? It’s like I’ve got porn playing twenty-four seven. Horrible, poorly made porn mind you. How do I shut him up?”
“Now we’re even for you giving me a ticket,” she said smugly.
He growled, and she quickly gave him instructions. “Just put the cover back on his cage, and he’ll be quiet. You can’t leave him like that forever, though. When you go to work, put on some talk radio or leave the TV on something you wouldn’t mind hearing again. He should be learning new things by now.”
“What do you mean ‘should be?’ How long have you had him?”
“Yeah, um, about that. I’ve been leaving him with theKnicks games the last couple of weeks, but he doesn’t seem to be picking up anything from that.”
“Well, he does overuse the word ‘penetration,’ and I get a lot of play-by-play action, but it’s got nothing to do with basketball,” he deadpanned.
Maggie laughed out loud. “Maybe he’s a Celtics fan. Try something else. Gotta go. Good luck.” She hung up, still smiling.
She did her morning run, cleaned her apartment, and ran errands most of the day. Sunday dinner at her folks was as eventful as always. Her family was wonderfully crazy, and she loved being able to see them so often.
Once home, she made her biweekly call to check in on Doc, got ready for the next day, and fell into bed, exhausted.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Monday morning, Maggie stumbled into the shop, almost falling face-first to the floor, but catching herself at the last second. “I’m okay!” She waved off Brett, one of her employees, who was already off his stool and heading to help her.
“Nice catch, boss,” he said sympathetically.
He was in his early twenties and working on his second gap year before deciding what to do with his life. He was a little aimless but had a great sense of humor and was excellent with the customers, both the two and four-legged.
The store had just opened, but there were already customers milling around. She made her way to the front counter, where Brett had returned to his stool and was thumbing through the latest issue ofYour Petsmagazine.
They chitchatted about their weekends, then got down to business. “Who’s up first today?”
Monday and Tuesday were Maggie’s busy days for seeing patients, and today was jam-packed. She had an appointment every forty-five minutes until lunch and then was booked again until four o’clock.
Her employees were all part store clerk, part veterinary receptionist. They ran the cash register, kept the appointmentbook, and checked in the animals when they arrived. Business was getting so good, she would have to hire a full-time receptionist soon, but for now, everyone was keeping up.
She had an actual veterinary assistant named Susan, but she only came in on Wednesdays to assist Maggie with surgeries.
“Buddy should be here any minute. Five-month-old yellow Lab. She’s getting her next round of vaccinations and needs her nails cut.”
“Yay, a puppy!” Maggie loved all animals, but there was no denying that puppies and kittens, with all their silly antics, were the most fun. “All right, well, let’s get to it. I’ll go get ready. Can you bring her back when she arrives?”
“Sure. Also, before I forget, Boomer’s mom just called to cancel their three o’clock. Do you want me to call the waiting list? Or would you rather get done early today?”
“Go ahead and call the waiting list. Thanks, Brett.”
She saw patients all morning and then grabbed a salad from her favorite deli down the block before seeing a few more that afternoon. She came out a little before three to see that Stephanie had replaced Brett.
“Hey, Steph, what’s up?” She tried and failed to stifle a yawn.
“Not much. How about you? Looks like you’ve had a busy day.”
“Yeah, that’s good, though. Means we’re doing something right.” Steph smiled at the “we.”
“Brett said he tried the whole waiting list, but no one could make today work, so you’re done for the day,” said Stephanie.
“Nice. I’ll be able to get my run in before the park gets too crowded.” Maggie preferred to run in the morning, but on her busier workdays, she left it until the evening to give herself the extra time in the morning.
She glanced down and noticed the blue bank bag sittingnext to the cash register and nodded at it. “Does that need to go to the bank?”
“Yes. Brett was supposed to take it on his way home, but he took off without it. I texted him, but he hasn’t answered.” Steph didn’t sound too happy about it.
