“Not so loud.” The woman stuck her head out of the door, looking up and down the hall before focusing on me. “I ain’t supposed to have a dog.”
My brows furrowed. Lanique hadplentyof pets.
“Okay.” As much as my curiosity wanted me to explore her words further, I was on a tight schedule. “What’s going on?”
She stepped back, inviting me in with a hand gesture.
“That’s what I’m hoping you can tell me. Big Girl ain’t acting right.”
Big Girl turned out to be a brindle French Bulldog in the early stages of labor. Jami mentioned she’d been restless, panting, and had a loss of appetite. Based on the timeframe given, it was on the longer end of the spectrum, but wasn’t unusual.
After taking Big Girl’s rectal temperature, I was confident labor was close and would probably start within the next few hours.
“Although it’s her first litter, nothing looks out of the ordinary. Based on how she’s acting, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens soon. Real soon…like within the next hour or so soon.” Her eyes got big. “But it’s a natural process. Even first-timers know what to do.” Her face softened. “How many pups is she expecting?” Jami shrugged. “You don’t know?” She shook her head. “Has she been to the vet?” Again, Jami shook her head. “Ever?” I lifted a brow at another nonchalant shake of her head.
“No. She’s never really been sick before.”
“What about wellness exams? Shots? Anything?”
“There’s never been a need. Big Girl’s healthy. She’s always been straight, except for this unplanned pregnancy?—”
“Unplanned?” Big Girl appeared to be purebred. Based on the popularity of the breed, Jami could pull in a lot of money for each puppy. “You didn’t schedule this breeding?”
“No.” Jami laughed. “Who does that?”
A responsible breeder.
I kept my thoughts to myself.
“Well, I gotta go to work.” I glanced around the room, noticing family portraits plastered on the wall, mainly of her and a little girl. A too cute little girl with features making it obvious that they were related. “I’ll give you my number. If you need me, call. I’ll try to make myself available.”
She called the number I recited aloud, giving me her number too.
By the time I made it to work, Big Girl still occupied my thoughts. But I couldn’t focus on things that were out of my control, due to the lobby full of animals waiting to be seen.
Tuesdays were my late days. I came in two hours after the office opened and stayed until closing time. According to thesign on the door, it was supposed to be seven. Last week I didn’t leave until almost nine, but after clearing out the lobby and finishing all my scheduled appointments, I flipped the open sign to closed at seven on the dot. After a little housekeeping and some paperwork, I was in my car at seven nineteen, checking my phone to make sure I didn’t have any missed messages.
I didn’t.
Jami didn’t even respond to the one I sent her at lunchtime asking if everything was okay.
I hoped for the best, although I had no confirmation that things progressed as naturally as they should have.
And it was a problem, since I was close enough to check things out for myself if I wanted to.
Yes, I wanted to. And I did, stopping by after dropping my stuff off first.
“Who you?” rolled off the man’s tongue who answered the door.
Flabbergasted, I did a double take on the door, making sure I had the right apartment.
“I’m Sage. Is Jami here?”
He took his time looking me up and down, allowing his tongue to caress the corner of his mouth. “How you know Jami?”
Although clean cut in a button down and khakis, his bottom grill gave off the same persona as his deep country accent. His overall look didn’t match the sound.
He was cute though.
