Family Matters (2 page)

The low hum of conversation at the surrounding tables ceased. Isabelle’s smoldering eyes shot Gracie a look that could peel paint. Gracie pressed clenched fists against her legs. Resisting an urge to slug her cousin, she spoke evenly.

“I’m headed back to work. Bye, everyone. Isabelle, I hope you’ll forgive my parents.”

She prayed that she wouldn’t break a heel or fall as she walked away with what she hoped was a somewhat dignified exit. Her mother would be proud she hadn’t given Izzy the tongue lashing she so richly deserved. If she had, it would surely be all over town by this afternoon. This was enough family drama for one day. 

Uncle Stan was struggling with a large brown paper grocery bag that was full of books, sitting on the backseat of his car.

“Let me help you with that,” she offered, thankful that she could feel the color draining from her cheeks.

“Uh, thanks. I guess it’s heavier than when I put it in here this morning.”

Gracie quickly lifted the bag from the backseat. “Thanks, Uncle Stan. I’m sure these will be a great addition to my dog library.”

A 1953 AKC breed book was on top. It was actually a year that she was missing in her collection. He was always finding old dog books for her in yard sales and musty used bookstores. Maybe this gift was a good one after all.

Stan opened the left rear door of her small SUV.

“Don’t you dare,” she grumbled at the precariously overfull bag and dumped it on the seat. She gave Uncle Stan a quick hug. He immediately blew his nose on a rumpled white handkerchief. Sliding into the driver’s seat, she waved to him and drove with eyes focused on the street and not on the tables of relatives who watched her departure with interest.

Things at the kennel were frantic, and Gracie was greeted by dogs barking furiously. Beth, one of the new kennel helpers, chased a yipping Scotty through the corridors. Gracie had known things would be dicey with this new teenage help, but it was much worse than she’d anticipated.

“He took off when I tried to put him on the grooming table,” Beth tried to explain, continuing the chase.

“Never chase a dog, Beth. It only makes it worse. Come on back and let’s do this right.”

Gracie grabbed her treat bucket and gave a couple of biscuits to Beth. She took a handful herself and sat down on the cement.

“Angus, sweetie—treat!” she called.

Angus turned to her familiar voice. He stopped running and sat panting, looking obstinate.

“Come on, Angus. Treat!” Gracie sweetly coaxed him.

The independent Scotty cocked his head to one side and decided that it was time for a treat break. He trotted over to where Gracie had laid the liver-flavored biscuits next to her. He greedily chomped one and began wagging his tail.

“You little tyrant, let’s get you bathed and back home before you think up something new.”

Gracie stroked his head and scooped him into her lap. After scratching Angus’ ears and giving him a kiss, Gracie lifted the stocky Scottie up to Beth.

“Give him the treats and get him back on the bath table, just like I showed you. This time, make sure he’s leashed.”

“Right, uh, I’m sorry, Mrs. Andersen. He’s really quick, and he just took off.” She looked miserable.

“Well, no harm done. Just get him bathed, dried, and brushed out. His mom is going to be here in an hour.  I really need to change.”

“OK.” She held the dog tightly and headed back to the grooming room.

Gracie looked down at her once white blouse and black skirt. Angus had covered her with his inky hair, and paw prints were evident on her pantyhose and shirt.

“Ugh. I hate dressing up, and here’s another reason not to,” she complained to herself.

Her business partner Jim Taylor came around the corner as she got up from the cement floor, which had also left its mark on her skirt. He grabbed her hand as she struggled to balance on the uncomfortable high heels.

“Glad you’re back,” he laughed, obviously enjoying her disheveled appearance. “The phone’s ringing off the hook, Alison lacks customer service skills, Beth seems to be afraid of dogs, and our shipment of dog food hasn’t been delivered yet.”

“Great. I’ll be right back, as soon as I get out of these clothes. Oh, and you’d better check on Beth. She’s bathing Angus.”

“Right, Chief.
You really need to get the phone situation with Alison figured out when you’re changed.”

Gracie scowled, mentally berating herself for hiring Alison. That’s what happened when you were desperate for a kennel helper. Whining and a bark from the backyard came from Haley, her black Labrador. Opening the gate, she stooped to scratch behind the dog’s silky ears. The dog raced to the kitchen door. She trotted inside and slurped water from the dish by the door while Gracie quickly
stripped off the ruined shirt and skirt on the way to the bedroom. Haley with dripping jowls stood in front of the French doors to the patio.

“All right.
You can go back out.”

The dog loped to the back of the fenced yard, sniffing the base of a white birch. Gracie shook her head, smiling. Continuing to the bedroom, she tossed the clothes into the wicker hamper, and ripped the shredded pantyhose off and tossed it into the wastebasket.

The shower felt good, washing away the stress of dang-it-all family togetherness. Isabelle was at the top of her list for frustrating relatives. She could push Gracie’s buttons like no one else. However, she should cut her some slack. Her mother had died after all and they’d been really close, maybe closer than she was with her own mother. But Izzy was a perennial problem. It had been that way since they were small, playing in the sandbox. Somehow the grit had always ended up in Gracie’s underwear.

Within minutes, she was zipping up her jeans and pulling on a T-shirt. The jeans were a bit tighter than she preferred, but it seemed that it was harder to lose any pounds lately. She wound her long curly red hair into a manageable damp twist and clipped it in place. She dabbed on a little green eye shadow and some mascara. Her reflection in the mirror looked fairly presentable. Attaching a small walkie-talkie to her jeans, she opened the French doors, calling for Haley. The big Lab bounded in, tail wagging dangerously close to a floor lamp.

“Come on, let’s go back to work, girl.” 

Alison held the phone away from her ear, tossing brown bangs from her eyes, sighing as she absently thumbed through the reservation book. She finally put the phone back to her ear.

“Mrs. Greene, I said we don’t have anything today. We’re really busy today and can’t…”

The girl looked up as Gracie came through the doorway. Gracie motioned for the phone and grabbed the book.

“Well, uh, I can have you talk with Mrs. Andersen. Here she is,” Alison said sullenly. She sat with arms folded in the black task chair while Gracie leaned over the desk studying the grooming schedule.

“Sylvia, what can we do for you? Uh huh…a shampoo and nails clipped. No problem. We’ve had a cancellation at 4:00 today, so bring her on in. OK then, see you in a bit.” Sylvia Greene had four Silky Terriers and was already one of Milky Way’s best customers. One or two of Sylvia’s dogs always needed grooming.

She handed the phone back to the teenager. “Alison, you forgot to cancel the Dunbar appointment at four. I told you about that before I left, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It’s been so crazy here, I can’t remember everything. Mrs. Greene was pretty mean. I shouldn’t have to take that.” She sported an unattractive pout for emphasis.

“Well, could it be something you said?”

“I don’t know.” Alison’s voice became whiny.

“We’re here to accommodate our customers. We also need to be accurate with the appointment book. If you have a problem or a question, you ask. Understood?”

“Yeah, I guess so. She talked like she was better than me and… ”

“It doesn’t matter what she said. It matters what
you
said. Take a break from the phone and go help Jim clean out runs. I’ll handle the phone for a while.” Gracie’s jaw tightened to control her temper.

“OK.”

Alison stalked away, her jeans riding a little too low for Gracie’s taste. Alison also had flip flops again instead of sneakers. How had she missed that this morning? It was one more thing to take up with her later. Gracie sat down at the desk to scan the rest of the day’s appointments. Three more dogs were coming in, and two dogs were being picked up. Business was really beginning to…well, get busy.

She was dialing the number of Hillside Feeds when she heard the growl of their old truck pull into the driveway. Another problem solved. She grabbed the portable phone as she headed out the door. Harry jumped down from his truck with his usual grumpy look and handed her the invoice.

“I know I’m late. Your order’s all here,” he snapped. “Unload in the barn?”

“Thanks, Harry. In the barn is fine. I’ll get Jim to help.”

She heard Harry mumble something about Jim, but couldn’t quite make it out. Oh, well. Harry was always griping about something. He was cantankerous and knew all the farm gossip. He was glad to share it with anyone, so Gracie had learned years ago to be circumspect in what she said to him. The truck backed around to the storage barn, a 20 by 20 red metal building, with the façade of an old-fashioned barn, complete with white cross buckles on the doors. She slid the walkie-talkie off her waistband to call Jim.

“Harry’s here.”

“All right, I’m on my way.”

“Thanks.”

The gravel crunched under her sneakers on the way back to the reception area. Three cars were turning into the entrance. She recognized Angus’ mom, Susan Whitford, in her black Ford Taurus in the lead. She hoped that Beth had finished the bath in time. The phone rang as she waved to the cars and opened the Dutch door to reception. She was greeted with the stressed voice of Bill Stephens. He was freshly divorced and now the single dad of Bob and Buster. Canine parenting was a whole new experience for him.

“Do you have room for the boys for a couple of days?  I’ve got a business trip that just came up. Have to take red-eye to Chicago tonight.”

“Tonight and tomorrow night?”

“Yeah.
I’ll pick them up on Friday morning.”

“Let me check to make sure.
Same run or separate?”

“Same run is fine.”

Gracie moved the mouse to get the screensaver off the monitor. She scanned the availability.

“You’re in luck. We have one run left. Just be here before five.”

“Thanks. I’m on my way right now.”

Susan practically filled the doorway. Wearing a khaki blouse that strained against her girth, she buttoned the bottom button and then unbuttoned it again. Her short hair was slate gray, and she had a surprising bird-like voice.

“Is Angus ready?” she chirped.

“Let me check.”

Gracie hurried to the grooming area to see how Beth and Angus had fared. Although Beth was soaking wet, Angus was clean, slightly damp, and smelled un-doggy for the moment.

“Good job, Beth.” Gracie grinned at her. “His mom is here. I’ll take him up.”

Angus acted like a perfect gentleman as he danced on his tiny terrier feet on the way to the front.

“Here he is, ready to dig more holes.”

“Don’t you know it! I can’t keep him clean for more than a day or two. I’m sure we’ll be back next week. Here’s the check.”

Gracie tucked it in the cash drawer, while two other customers came in with their dogs, a Boxer and a Collie mix. She grabbed the walkie-talkie and called Alison to take the dogs to their runs.

“Cody and Barney are looking good,” she said, glancing away from the computer screen.

“Cody’s doing pretty well for an old guy,” Sharon Dean, mom of Cody, replied with a smile. Cody was a regular
already since Sharon and her husband often traveled on business.

“I wish Barney would just get calmer,” said Chris Bingel through gritted teeth, hauling the strong Boxer away from Cody.

Barney was always anxious to make new friends, and his greetings were a little too enthusiastic. He was all boy and had to sniff everything in sight. At least he wasn’t lifting his leg, so far.

Gracie finished checking out their vaccination records and declared them both legal.

“Any changes in feeding, or do either one of them need medication?”

Both women shook their heads.

“How about a playtime?”

“Cody could use one exercise time a day.”

“OK, we can do that. What about Barney?”

“He needs at least two a day. He’ll be bouncing off the walls without it.”

“Got it.” Gracie entered the feeding and instructions into each dog’s record. “We’ll keep him occupied. I wonder where Alison is. Well, let me take them one at time.”

Gracie took off Cody’s collar and slipped the light lasso lead over his head. Sharon handed her a plastic bag with chew toys and gave Cody a quick hug.

“See ya, Gracie. We’ll pick him up Monday morning.”

“Will do.
Come on old guy, let’s get you settled. I’ll be right back, Chris.”

Alison was still nowhere in sight. Where could that girl have gone to?

She walked Cody, who was slightly arthritic, but a cheerful soul with a constantly wagging tail, past the line of barking and excited kennelmates.

“Here’s the new guy,” she said as she opened the run near the back door. She slipped off the lead, locked the run, and headed back to get Buster. She looked through the
window of the back door and saw that Jim and Harry had finished unloading the food and were now shooting the breeze. Alison wasn’t with them either. The girl was probably going to have to find a new career path. She didn’t have time for irresponsibility. Gracie prided herself on great customer service, and Alison wasn’t catching on to the corporate culture. Beth appeared from the grooming room as Gracie walked quickly back to get Barney.

“Beth, I can’t find Alison. Help me get the next dog to run 22.”

“Sure, Mrs. Andersen. Is it a big dog?”

“He’s a nice big Boxer, very friendly.”

“I don’t want him to get away. Maybe I should watch you take him.” A look of fear flashed over her young pretty face.

“You’ll be fine. Just get him leashed properly. He’s pretty strong.
Builds upper body strength.”

“Well…”

“You’ll be fine. You need to get used to handling all kinds and sizes of dogs. Barney’s a friendly guy, just strong and energetic.” Gracie was trying with all her might to be patient and encouraging. She was kicking herself for being so anxious to hire extra help when business had gotten hectic three weeks before.

Barney sat panting with hind legs splayed out. Drool was running down both sides of his jowls from all the excitement of kennel smells. Gracie grabbed a more substantial leash from the desk drawer and handed it to Beth.