Wedding Bell Blues - [28]

There was a lot of blood. In trying to remove his paw from the trap, he had only succeeded indigging the metal into his flesh.

“Poor baby,” Lily cooed. Mordecai whimpered in agreement.

Lily locked her fingers in the links above the hole and pulled upward. The big dog looked down athis freed paw with mournful eyes.

Lily had to agree that it did look pretty bad. His dark fur made the nature of his wounds hard todetect, but when he tried to stand, the injured foot dangled limply. For all Lily knew, it could be broken.

“Sit tight, Mordecai. Let me go inside and get the baby and the car keys. We’re gonna get yousome help.”

The one thing she could say in favor of the monstrous Chrysler New Yorker Big Ben had boughtwas that it was a vehicle of sufficient size to comfortably transport a toddler and a rottweiler. Lily’s oldHonda, which was sitting unused in the condo parking lot in Atlanta, barely had enough room for her andMimi, let alone a one-hundred-eighty-pound dog. She had wrapped Mordecai’s paw in a clean towel.

Even so, she was sure he was bleeding all over the car’s plush upholstery. She knew this kind of thingwould cause Ben to have a hissy fit, but she didn’t care. The day she cared more about personal propertythan living things was the day she’d have her woman’s symbol tattoo removed and become acheeseburger-chomping Republican.

After Lily was already on the road, it occurred to her that she could have called Jeanie and askedwho Mordecai’s regular vet was. But it was too late for that. Since he was losing blood, expediencyseemed the best path. Down the road from the sock mill, she had noticed a green double-wide trailer witha sign,

FAULKNER COUNTY ANIMAL CLINIC. Lily hoped they would see animals on an emergencybasis.

Once they arrived, Lily had no doubt that the Faulkner County Animal Clinic was where Mordecaiwent for his shots and checkups. He had been exceptionally cooperative about getting into the car at thehouse, but now, at the sight of the foreboding trailer, he froze in terror. Being careful to avoid his hurtfoot, Mimi tried to pull him out of the car, but it was impossible. His huge muscles were locked, such thatmoving him was as impossible as moving a heavy marble statue.

“Okay, fine. You wait here.” She left the window cracked for the obstinate canine and freed Mimifrom her car seat. Mimi grabbed her hand and toddled alongside her to the trailer’s entrance.

A round old lady with a pink slash of lipstick on her puckered mouth sat at the desk in the paneledwaiting room. “May I help you, dear?” she asked, through puckered lips.

“Um, yes, I hope so,” Lily said. “I don’t have an appointment, but I have an injured dog in the car.

He’s Big Ben McGilly’s —”

“Mordecai?” the old lady asked.

Lily was amazed. She had already discovered that every person knew every other person in thistown, but until now, she hadn’t realized that this knowledge extended to lower members of the animalkingdom. “Yes, that’s him.”

“Well, you can bring him on in.”

“Well, actually, I can’t. He won’t budge from the car.”

The old lady smiled. “Well, I guess if Mordecai doesn’t want to move, it’s kinda hard to makehim. Have a seat. I’ll get Dr. Jack to help you.”

Lily sat down on a green vinyl chair. Mimi stood at the waiting room’s coffee table, clearlyfascinated by the lamp that sat on it. A ginger jar lamp, its clear glass base was filled with dog biscuits.

The old lady, who had disappeared into the back of the trailer, returned to her post at the desk.

“The doctor’ll be with you in a minute.”

Moments later, Lily looked up as she heard the sound of boots clomping down the linoleum-floored hall. Looking down the dimly lighted corridor, Lily saw that Dr. Jack was a muscular but shortman, wearing blue coveralls and a pair of dirt-caked brown cowboy boots.

In the full light of the waiting room, however, Lily saw that Dr. Jack wasn’t a man at all.

“Hey,” she said. “I’m Dr. Jack Jennings. How you doing?” She extended her hand to shake. Herclose-cropped brown hair and square jaw made it easy to mistake her for a man at a distance. But closeup, the smoothness of her cheeks made it clear she was a woman. Lily shook her hand, which, while big,was too soft to be a man’s.

“You okay?” Dr. Jack asked.

“Um... yeah. Fine.” If Lily had seen a woman who looked like Jack at Piedmont Park in Atlanta,she barely would have noticed her. But here in Versailles, where most premenopausal women werehyperfeminine slaves to Mary Kay cosmetics and the tanning bed, seeing a butch was shocking — likeseeing a bull-mastiff in a litter of poodles.

“You thought I was gonna be a man, didn’t you?” Dr. Jack sized up Lily with clear blue eyes.

“Um... yeah, I guess so. Just from the name and all.”

Dr. Jack looked stern suddenly. “Now I hope you don’t think that being a woman makes me less ofa vet.”

“Oh, gosh, no,” Lily said quickly. “I mean, I minored in women’s studies in college.” What anidiotic thing to say, she thought. But it was too late; she’d already said it.

“So... Mordecai’s out in your car?”