Down and Dirty by Taylor Holloway

Author:Taylor Holloway [Holloway, Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-07T18:30:00+00:00

26

Nicholas

I spent my day resurrecting Nicholas Durant from the dead. There were a number of things I couldn’t do without attracting attention from Skylark or my father, but there were plenty of small tasks that I could work on. I had to keep myself busy, because the thought of Jenna walking into the lion’s den each morning made me feel nauseated. I needed a distraction.

First, I bought myself some decent clothes and shoes. In Alaska, my wardrobe had consisted entirely of jeans and flannel shirts. My one pair of shoes were worn, snow-proof boots. Remedying the whole sartorial situation was fairly simple and took less than fifteen minutes. I’m not a picky shopper.

My second task was trickier. I contacted a lawyer, a pleasant fellow named Albert, and explained that I’d needed to take an extended vacation from my life. I had to explain it twice before he got it, although I excluded any relevant details about how and why I absconded with a hundred thousand dollars in cash five years ago. Then we discussed what I would need to do in order to regain access to my accounts and property. Thankfully, I’d never been declared legally dead, or even missing. Unfortunately, it was still going to be somewhat complicated.

Finally, I took Harley to the vet. After receiving her initial vaccinations, Harley had never visited a veterinarian in her life of almost five years, and she was very skeptical of the process. In rural Alaska, animal care is usually accomplished by visiting veterinarians who may only come to town once every few years. I bought her vaccinations myself and learned how to inject her. Harley submitted to the more formal examination process very reluctantly. After poor Harley was poked, prodded, and tested, the veterinarian returned to the exam room.

“Harley’s very healthy dog,” Dr. Margulies told me, patting her affectionately on the head. “She’s a bit on the heavy side, but not too bad. I don’t think she’s a malamute though.”

“What is she?” I asked curiously. Even Harley seemed interested in the answer, or maybe just the dog treat that Dr. Margulies had in her pocket.

“I’d say she’s probably a Northern Inuit dog,” she replied. “They’re basically just larger, heavier Malamutes. They were originally Malamutes that were bred with German Shepherds and huskies in Canada. The goal was to make them look more wolf like without being actual wolves.”

“A Northern Inuit dog, huh?” I said to Harley, “Why didn’t you say something? Is it because you’re embarrassed that you’re Canadian?”

She cocked her head to the side and whined.

“You need to have her fixed now that you’re living in the city,” the Doctor said, “unless you want a bunch of little Harleys running around and eating your furniture.”

I could only imagine how well that would go over with Jenna. I hadn’t shown her the couch cushion that Harley had chewed yet, or the pair of her pumps that had been gnawed down to almost nothing. Replacing both was on my to-do list after dealing with Harley’s vet appointment.

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