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I liked Darren, though. I had seen him around town before, but we’d never really talked or anything. Still, he’d welcomed me at Pine Paw Prints with open arms. It felt good to work in such a friendly environment.

My job at Sip’nBean hadn’t been a bad experience, but my boss had a knack for making me feel like I didn’t do enough, despite the fact I could serve ten different types of coffee to ten different people in record time. She also hated that I walked dogs, afraid I’d get dog hair in my customers’ coffee. As if that would ever happen, except for that one unfortunate time when it did. Everyone makes mistakes, right?

All things considered, Pine Paw Prints was a much better match for me. Lori would be at home with mono for several weeks, and Lewis had told me I might be able to stay on part-time after she returned. He planned on expanding the clinic, which meant he would need more personnel anyway.

At twelve thirty on the dot, Lily walked in with her father. I greeted them and gently knocked on Lewis’s door before letting the pair of them in.

“Thanks so much for doing this,” her father said in hushed tones. “We could try and argue with her about the existence of Drake, but that only increases her anxiety.”

“Of course,” I replied with a smile. “It’s our pleasure to take care of Drake.”

The girl and her dad took a seat in the chairs at the other end of Lewis’s desk. I stood to the side, not wanting to draw too much attention to myself. I’d hand Lewis some equipment when he examined the imaginary dragon, but apart from that, I didn’t want to meddle.

“Welcome, Lily,” Lewis said. “I’m Doctor Grant, the new vet here at Pine Paw Prints.”

The girl dangled her feet. “My name is Lily. And this is my dad, James. He drove me and Drake here.”

Without missing a beat, Lewis folded his hands and leaned forward. “Tell me, Lily, what seems to be the matter with Drake?”

“He got into a fight with the neighbor’s cat, and now he’s limping. It’s so sad to see him like this. Can you make the pain go away for him?”

The girl looked so sad, she tugged on my heartstrings.

Lewis nodded and gave her a big smile. “A fight with the cat, huh. Why don’t you put Drake on the examination table so I can get a good look at him?”

Lily got up and leaped to the table while James looked at her with a mixture of relief and concern. The girl placed a patch of air down, and Lewis took his spot at the side of the table, pretending to examine the injured leg.

Lily cocked her head sideways. “Why are you holding his head?”

“I just want to get a complete picture of his health,” Lewis said, without so much as flinching. Then he turned to me. “Olive, could you hand me the Ladricon spray, please?”

I grabbed the bottle for him. When our hands touched, the hairs on my arm shot straight up. Lewis met my eye for only a second and smiled at me.

“Shouldn’t you take an X-ray first?” Lily asked.

Lewis shook his head. “It’s just a small sprain. Nothing a bit of Ladricon spray won’t fix.”

There was no such thing as Ladricon spray, but Lily didn’t need to know that. Lewis had put some saline solution into an empty spray bottle and printed out a fake label. When he showed me before, my heart had melted. Not many guys would do such a sweet thing, especially not for an animal that didn’t exist. He had even told me not to charge James for the visit.

He handed the bottle to James. “If you use this spray twice a day, the injury should be completely healed by the weekend.”

“Does that mean he’s going to be okay?” the little girl asked.

Lewis kneeled down in front of her and took her hands in his. “He is going to be so healthy, he’ll never lose another fight again.”

Lily threw her hands around his neck. “Thank you, Doctor. I love you very much.”

He laughed. “Aw, that’s sweet. Why don’t you go with Olive and grab a lollipop from the candy jar while I talk to your dad?”

The girl’s eyes sparkled. “Can I, Daddy?”

James nodded. “Of course. I’ll be right out.”

Lily followed me to the reception area and chose a red lollipop from the jar. I took the plastic wrapper off for her, and she popped it in her mouth. “My mom used to say I couldn’t eat too many of these. She said candy isn’t healthy. Is that true?”

“It is,” I said. “Too much sugar is not a good idea.”

“Oh, okay. I guess I didn’t know if she had lied about it or not. My mom once told me a big lie.”