“There’s a nice, simple home remedy you can try,” Jane said. “Just warm up a little mineral oil and work it in around the pads. I’ll show you.” She stepped over to a counter, picked up a bottle of mineral oil, and went to the built-in sink, running the hot water.
After holding the bottle under the stream of water for a couple of minutes, Jane opened the bottle, let a drop of oil fall on her wrist, and nodded. “Just right.”
She poured a little oil into her hand and returned to the exam table. “Could I see that paw again, Shadow?”
Shadow immediately obliged, and Jane rested his paw in the pool of warm oil she’d collected in her palm.
The cat gave a little mew of surprise and then settled into purring.
“So, that feels better?” Jane said, gently massaging the oil into and between the pads on his paw. She looked over at Sunny. “See what I’m going?”
Sunny nodded. “Looks as if he’s really enjoying it.”
“Yeah, do this every day for a week, and he should be as good as new.” Jane ran her free hand down Shadow’s back as he sat quietly, still trustingly giving her his paw. She smiled gently down at the cat. “It’s nice that something so simple can help a patient get better. This time on Saturday—well, after office hours—is when folks would bring in their pets to be put to sleep.”
Her smiled faded as she looked into Shadow’s upturned face. “Sometimes it’s necessary, or even merciful. But it’s a part of the job I’ve never enjoyed. There hasn’t been one in this office since I went off on my own. When I worked with my ex-husband, Martin, I always let him take care of that side of the business. He didn’t mind. Maybe that should have given me a hint of things to come.” Jane raised her eyes to look at Sunny. “I saw you over at the bar in the Redbrick last night. You probably saw how things have worked out with Martin these days.”
“That was Martin?” Sunny said in surprise. “He’s very good-looking.” The words came out before Sunny really thought about them. Her teeth clicked together as she shut her mouth a little too late.
Jane’s lips quirked as she ran a finger from between Shadow’s ears all the way down his back. “Yeah, Martin’s a handsome guy, and an excellent vet—but a piss-poor excuse for a human being.”
She gave Sunny an embarrassed smile when she looked at her again. “He could charm the pants off anyone, and he certainly did it with me. We were married less than a year after I apprenticed with him. Problem was, Martin also used the same magic on a lot of the women who brought their pets in for treatment.”
Jane took her hands off Shadow and leaned against the table, her fingers clenched into fists. Shadow, sensing her distress, rubbed his head against her arm.
“Martin was clever, too,” Jane went on. “He always figured he was the smartest person in the room and had all sorts of schemes to rake in piles of money. Problem is, they never worked. He ran the finances on our practice, and we were up to our eyeballs in debt when I finally discovered he was fooling around on me. Worse, he was actually milking some of his better-off lady friends for money.”
“Guess I can see why he’s your ex.” Sunny didn’t know what else to say.
“But not before we came up here for a new start.” Jane tried for a light touch, but her voice grew harsh even as she softly petted Shadow. “Martin managed to straighten out and fly right for a couple of months. Then he fell back into his old ways again—and somehow it was worse that he’d do it here, where I grew up!”
“Yikes!” Sunny said.
“There’s a difference between running around in wide-open suburbia and doing the same in a small town. I heard about what he was up to pretty quickly,” Jane said quietly. “And that was it. I made sure that the practice was in my name, and he couldn’t get anything out of it. So after the divorce, Martin set up shop on the other side of the river and did his best to poach as many of my patients as he could. He was pretty successful, with that patented Rigsdale charm.”
She gave a tight little laugh, but her face was flaming. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, except that you saw what I did to him at the Redbrick.”
“Well, Martin stayed true to form.” Jane sighed. “I thought he was being civilized, asking me out to dinner last night. Instead he hit me up for money—foundation money.”
