Wedding Bell Blues - [29]

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, it looks like you’ve got your hands full with your little girl there.” She looked down atMimi. “Hi, doll face.” She smiled at Mimi for a second, then looked back up at Lily. “So, if you’d giveme your keys, I can just run out and get ole Mordecai for you.”

Lily handed over the keys.

Jack flashed her a gap-toothed grin. “I’m not a car thief, I promise.” She propped open the screendoor and disappeared outside. In a couple of minutes, she was back, carrying the one-hundred-eighty-pound dog as if he weighed no more than Mimi. She nodded at Lily. “Why don’t y’all just follow me backto the exam room?”

In the examination room, Dr. Jack set Mordecai down on a long metal table. “I’m not exactlyMordecai’s favorite person, but he knows he’s hurt and needs help, so he’ll listen to reason.” Mordecaiemitted a low growl as Dr. Jack cleaned his injuries.

“How bad is it?” Lily asked.

“Could be worse. He’s gonna need a few stitches, though. We’ll numb him, sew him up, give hima tetanus shot. He’ll be all right.” She looked at Mimi, then at Lily. “The sewing part’s not pretty, though.

You can wait outside if you’re squeamish.”

Lily reached out to pat Mordecai’s big head. “I’ll stay, if it’s okay. Just in case he wants me here.”

“Sure.” Dr. Jack opened the refrigerator in the corner, which was full of medicine bottles. Sheselected a bottle and closed the door. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, how come you’re the onebringing Mordecai in? Big Ben or Jeanie usually brings him.”

Lily realized she hadn’t introduced herself. “I kind of. . . inherited Mordecai. I married Big Benand Jeanie’s son, Benny Jack.”

“Benny Jack McGilly finally got married?” She squinted at a syringe as she filled it withmedicine. “Huh.” She slipped the needle into a fold of Mordecai’s flesh. He didn’t even flinch.

“You’re good at that,” Lily said.

“I practiced that a lot in vet school ... giving shots so they wouldn’t hurt so much.” She scratchedone of Mordecai’s ears. “Poor feller’s already hurting, no need for me to make it worse. Actually, y’all arelucky I was in this afternoon. I got called out to the Weaver farm at four o’ clock this mornin’ to help acow in calf. I was so beat at lunch today I thought about not coming back to the office this afternoon. I dolarge animal calls in the mornin’, small animals in the afternoon.” She gave Mordecai another affectionatescratch. “Not that you’d really call ole Mordy here a small animal.”

Dr. Jack’s grin was contagious, and Lily felt herself miling, too. “So do any of the local farmersact surprised when they see the vet’s a woman?”

“Aah, I reckon they’d be surprised if it was any other woman, but my daddy was the county vetbefore me, and I used to go out with him on farm calls when I wasn’t any bigger than a minute. Daddyraised me by himself, so he never wanted to leave me alone in the house when he took off in the middleof the night to help birth a colt or somethin’. So I always went with him. I was helping deliver farmbabies when I was practically a baby myself. People just always figured I’d take over Daddy’s practicewhen he retired.” She lightly touched Mordecai’s wounded foot. “He’s numb. Time to sew him up. ’Scuseme if I don’t talk during this part.”

Dr. Jack’s big hands worked deftly, neatly stitching together Mordecai’s torn flesh. Mimi wasgetting restless, so Lily walked her around the exam room, pointing out the posters of puppies and kittens.

“Okay,” Dr. Jack said, “one more shot, and ole Mordy’ll be good to go.” She looked down at Mimias she went to retrieve more medicine from the refrigerator. “Is little doll face there Benny Jack’s?”

“Uh-huh,” Lily said, reminding herself to preserve the myth.

“Well, whaddaya know?” Dr. Jack cackled. “I wouldn’ta thought he had it in him.” Her smilefaded. “I didn’t mean anything by that. I just meant —”

Lily smiled. “I think I know what you meant.”

Their eyes locked for a moment, in the straight-forward way that only gay people look at eachother. I know what she is, Lily thought, but she’s still trying to figure out what the hell I am ... trying toreconcile the gaydar with the husband and baby.

Dr. Jack broke her gaze, rifled through a drawer, and produced a roll of bandages. “You’ll need tochange his bandage in the mornin’. Be sure to check that there’s not any unusual discharge from thewound. If there is, call the office right away. He’ll probably be in some pain today and tomorrow ... youcan slip in an aspirin in some hamburger meat, and that oughta help. If he seems to be doing okay, call meat the end of the week just to let me know how he’s healing up. We can also set up an appointment to takeout the stitches.”

Their facades were back in place: professional and appropriately distant. “Thank you, doctor.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Dr. Jack lifted Mordecai down from the table and gently held his collar as hebobbled, three-legged, down the hall.

“Okay,” Dr. Jack said, as she sorted things out at the front desk, “Mordecai, you get a Milk-Bone.

Mimi, you get a lollipop, and you, Mrs. McGilly”— she banded a computer printout to Lily — “get the