8. Hattie
EIGHT
Hattie
I’ve only checked my phone six hundred times since getting to work.
I used to work solely on the orchard, caring for all the animals there.
But as I got older and I could spend more time at work, I rented a small office just in town.
I have an assistant, Kelly, who answers the phone and makes the appointments, but everything else is on me.
At first it was just a handful of household pets who needed checkups and occasional emergency visits. It was easier to bring them to me than to drive to the animal hospital an hour away. But now I have a roster full of animals and pets on top of all the animals on the orchard.
Thankfully, the orchard animals don’t need too much these days, just regular care and occasional check-ins. Most of the time, my day is more full in town. I have tried to tell Kelly to encourage people to find care elsewhere, but there isn’t anyone else in town or even nearby.
That’s one of the things about living in a small town: everything else is at least a twenty-minute drive away.
“You have three of Miss Voris’s cats waiting for you,” Kelly says as I walk in. I’m running late, having had to convince Ollie that it was okay to spend the day with Emmy.
I know I should be there for him, but the money I earn working here is too good to pass up.
Ollie is getting bigger, and although the house doesn’t require a rent payment, there are still monthly fees, especially with a car, insurance, and everything else a single parent needs.
I fly through the cats’ medical exams and move on to my next patient, a new puppy who needs a workup of shots.
I didn’t know about homeschooling until Ollie was in pre-K; I had always thought I’d send him to public school, and that was that. But between my anxiety about the safety of schools and the schools in the district being terrible, homeschooling fell into my lap.
When Benny was alive, she did a lot more of the workbook stuff with him.
She and Ollie would fall asleep watching documentaries, talking about the world, and she’d teach him how to fix things.
I took care of the fundamentals the state made him learn, but it worked well for us.
Now with Benny gone, it’s harder on me to make sure he isn’t falling behind.
A lot of the fun of their documentary time and life lessons had shifted to reading, mostly because it was quicker and easier for me.
And don’t get me wrong, I love my job; it’s nice caring for the animals, but lately it feels less like fun and more like work.
Ever since Benny died, it only reminds me how she supported me for so long.
She spent so much time with Ollie—always taking care of him for me when I was studying or just needed a break.
And ever since she’s been gone, being here is just a reminder that she isn’t.
I don’t know how Ollie is going to take to Emmy, and I hate that I had to throw another change at him right now. But it isn’t like I have a choice. I have to make sure the money from here doesn’t stop. Especially if I need to hire a good lawyer if this turns into a custody battle with Christopher.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t put it past him to hire someone to take Ollie. He thinks he knows better, which is why I am complying by giving the bare minimum in visits.
It feels like lately life is giving me a million things to handle at once, and I am trying my best to juggle them all.
Checking my phone again, I don’t see any texts, so I check the Ring camera. I can’t see anything inside, but at least if they’re outside, I might hear something.
It’s quiet for a moment—until I see Emmy and Ollie sitting in the backyard on one of Ollie’s blankets. They’re both reading a book and snacking on something out of little bowls. Ollie looks happy and calm.
I silently wonder how she managed to get him outside.
I’ve been on the receiving end of his stubbornness, and it isn’t easy to break him out of it.
But he looks relaxed as they both flip pages of their books.
I watch Emmy, who’s glancing up from her book every so often and making sure Ollie is okay.
Her red hair is pulled back with a clip and her glasses are falling down the bridge of her nose as she reads. How can she look so adorable just reading?
My next patient barks as they enter, so I slide my phone back into my scrubs pocket and greet their owner. Kelly checks in the next set of patients, and I know I’ll have less than fifteen minutes for a lunch break. But that’s what I get for taking so many days off when I had no one to watch Ollie.
I’m so tired of him coming in and being bored or reading alone in my office. Sure, sometimes Kelly keeps an eye on him too, but that isn’t her job.
He needs someone who can give him undivided attention, even if it is only for three days a week.
Splitting the week seems like the only way to make all of this plausible.
After I get through all of the scheduled patients, I take a quick pee and lunch break. There are a handful of walk-ins that I want to get to before I have to visit the animal shelter. So I scarf down my sandwich, eat a few carrots, and chug the last of my coffee.
I check the Ring camera again, but this time they aren’t in the backyard. They must be inside, so I sigh, about to head back to work when I get a text from Emmy.
Emmy:
Hi! Lunch update: got Ollie off the couch by promising reading outside.
We had ourselves a lil picnic, and he read three chapters of the latest Percy Jackson book.
He would’ve read more, but it started raining only to stop shortly after.
Weird. We played video games for thirty minutes, then went back outside, and he showed me the orchard.
He’s playing with his toys now; hopefully you’re having a good day!
I smile while reading about Ollie having a good day, and I’m glad they went outside.
I was a little worried they’d spend the day playing video games or watching TV, but it seems like Ollie told her the rules that I didn’t have time to relay.
I relax a little, sending off a quick thanks before returning to work.
After a dog pees on me and another cat scratches me, I’m off for the day and head to the animal shelter in town. It’s hidden behind the antique shop just a few doors down from the café.
“Hey, Hattie, we didn’t know if we’d see you this week,” Nolan says from behind the front desk. He’s one of the original owners of the shelter. He owns the place with his husband, Jack, and their daughter, Dawn.
I wince, knowing I haven’t been the most reliable with them lately. But Nolan catches himself quickly.
“Don’t feel bad about it; I know you’ve had a lot going on lately. We’re appreciative of any time you spend here,” he quickly adds.
“Thanks,” I say, forcing a smile even if I don’t feel like it.
I’m only here once or twice a week to check on their rescues and help ensure they found good homes. A lot of the time, the strays they found or were brought in hadn’t had their shots, and the people who wanted to adopt couldn’t afford them.
So I did what I could to keep strays from being put down. It broke my heart to think about the possibility of any who were in my absence.
“Hattie!” Dawn greets me with a hug. She is probably old enough to be my mother, but she sometimes acts like a sister. Her hug squeezes me tightly, and she pulls back with a wrinkle of her nose. “You stink.”
“Dawn! Didn’t we teach you manners?” Nolan groans.
“You definitely did, but that doesn’t apply here. Hattie, I love you, but why do you smell so bad?” Dawn backs up.
“Take your pick of cat pee, dog pee, or all-around stink from animals that are due a bath.” I chuckle.
“It’s not that bad,” Nolan says, then steps closer. “Okay, maybe don’t plan to go out after this.”
“I can go if my services aren’t needed today,” I joke. Even though the thought of a hot bath right now sounds heavenly.
“No, please. We have way too many unvaccinated animals; it’s starting to look like a republican convention in there,” Nolan teases.
“Dad!” Dawn shakes her head.
“Oh, come on, it’s not like I’m offending Hattie. We all know she didn’t vote the wrong way,” Nolan goes on. I just laugh, because it’s not like he’s wrong.
“Is Jack not working today?” I ask, changing the subject. It’s not like Dawn voted against her two dads, but I think she’s trying to keep him a little more politically correct.
“No, he’s at home today. Something about catching up on hockey?” Nolan shrugs.
“He’s watching Heated Rivalry, you know the gay hockey show? He’s been rewatching it since it came out,” Dawn whispers quietly to me.
“Got it.” I nod. I haven’t had time to watch it, but I don’t live under a rock. I at least know it isn’t only about hockey.
Dawn leads me to the back, talking about how Jack and her had started watching it together until they both realized how many dicks would be on the screen.
“There’s no amount of alcohol that would make me want to watch that with my gay dad,” she says.
It’s nice being back here. Dawn gives me the rundown of which animals need what.
She’s not a trained vet, but she might as well be.
She’s been doing this longer than I have and knows all the usual things to look for.
We have to assume most strays don’t have any of their shots and protect them that way.
Although she can give the shots, she prefers not to, given her needle phobia.
I think that’s what’s kept her from being a vet or vet tech, not to mention shelters only receive a portion of the funding they need, and if I can offer them for free, it helps them rescue more from the streets.
For cats, this means giving the FVRCP (feline distemper, rhinotracheitis, and calicivirus) and Rabies shot. For dogs, this includes the Rabies vaccine and DHPP (distemper, adenovirus, parainfluenza, and parvovirus).
Dawn excuses herself while I take my time getting the first shot ready. It’s always a risk, not knowing if the cats will be friendly. But since I haven’t been here in a few weeks, they’ve all had the time to get accustomed to people.
Thankfully, I manage to get through all the cats and then two dogs without any bites or scratches.
I make a note to have Dawn bring two of the orange cats by sometime this week to be spayed and neutered.
Hopefully getting the rest of the lot up to date on their shots will help with their chances of being adopted.
I bend down to pick up a small black kitten who purrs immediately in my hands. She is too cute not to get adopted. I know a kid or someone looking for love after a breakup would see her and fall in love. I only wish I had the time to adopt her myself.