Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“The spikes on the collar and back stop the birds, the longer needle-like pieces stop coyotes, other dogs, and any other predators. Clearly, we’ve modified them.”
“Clearly,” I agreed.
“When we get them from the supplier, there are straps on them and the spikes are only on the top, but we modify them with a fitted liner so there are small sharp spikes on the bottom in case your dog gets rolled, not over, but to their side.”
“Sure,” I agreed.
“The question is now, which color do you prefer?”
Misha would be the laughingstock of the forest dressed in that.
“I’d go with the yellow,” Gale chimed in. “The bushes are green, and the grass is high in some spots, so…yeah. Yellow makes the most sense.”
I found his logic to be sound.
“Oh, we have purple too,” the tech said as she was joined by another woman carrying what could only be described as puce, not any shade of purple I’d ever seen.
“That’s more mauve,” Gale corrected her, but then quickly turned to me. “But we’re not here to say that color has any gender, it’s not about that.”
“What?”
“I mean, I just don’t care for the mauve, and I think he’d be harder to see, but if you like it, I say go for it.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now.”
He snorted out a laugh.
“The yellow is great,” I assured Connie.
“Give him to Shannon so she can try it on him.”
I did as directed, even though Misha let out the saddest little howl.
“I had no idea Morkies did that,” Connie told me. “I think that might just be yours.”
Great.
“Now tell me, does that Jeep parked out front belong to you?”
“Yes. Why?” I tried not to whine.
They explained there were things to carry to my vehicle and that the puppy’s car seat had to be installed.
“The dog needs a car seat?”
Connie looked horrified. “Of course he does. What if you’re in an accident? Do you want him to go flying around and break his neck?”
I didn’t want to be a buzzkill and point out that the last time I was in an accident, everyone in the car was flying around, belted in or not.
“We’ll get it put in,” she told me, waving a hand at the vet techs.
“So what is Mrs. Farley like?” I asked Gale, because I wanted to keep him talking. I knew he had to leave soon. He had to go to the police station and help process his prisoners. Chief Ramirez would have questions for him. And honestly, if I was right, he would probably stop talking to me after I came clean.
“It’s Ms.,” he corrected me, “and I would say eccentric but kind. She’s never been anything but lovely to me, though some of her thoughts come right out of the clear blue sky.”
“I think she just has a lot going on in her mind at all times,” Connie chimed in. “Sometimes it gets stuck and all comes out at once. My daughter’s the same way.”
“I think it’s because she’s rich,” another tech offered as she walked by. “I mean, they’re always a bit different, don’tcha think?”
“You’re all wrong,” Linda said, throwing in her two cents. “She’s a lovely woman, period. She just needs to do something about that house.”
Connie groaned. “That right there is the God’s honest truth. That crumbling castle of hers is going to kill her someday.”
“While I agree that she’s a very kind woman,” Dr. Coleman countered as he walked back into the room, “I do think she’s unwell. If I had to guess, I’d say there’s some OCD there, and she might be agoraphobic, but I also suspect some cognitive dissonance. Things she says and does just don’t add up sometimes.”
It was interesting the way everyone had a theory about the woman. Since I’d never even laid eyes on her, I would have to wait and see.
“But I’m not a psychiatrist,” he threw out as he crossed the room, on his way to see another patient, I assumed.
“No, you’re not,” Gale agreed, sounding a bit annoyed.
“Maks,” Dr. Coleman said, clearing his throat and shooting Gale a look I couldn’t read. He turned to me before he opened the door. “Please don’t be a stranger. We’d love to have you visit anytime.”
“Thank you.” It was a nice thing to say.
“Perhaps we can get a bite next time you’re here.”
He was a handsome man, and he clearly liked the look of me, going by his smile and the way I’d caught him staring more than once. But the thing was, there was a very hefty-looking platinum wedding band on his left hand, so all we could be was friends. Though friends were something I was going to try and have more of. “That’d be great.”
“We have your number, so I’ll call,” he said, opening the door to a greeting of instant barking, then closing it behind him.