men—took one look at her and assumed that she wasn’t capable of managing difficult situations on her own. Stumbling across a guy who thought otherwise was a wonderful surprise. “That would be nice. Thank you.”
“Not a problem. First days are tough.”
He strolled past her to open the door and stepped aside to let her go in first. Bolstered by his encouraging words, she walked through it feeling prepared for whatever might await her on the other side. The lobby was no longer empty, and when she saw what was going on, her confidence began to waver.
There, on a blanket in the middle of the floor, lay a motionless cat that had obviously been hit by a car. As if that wasn’t heart-wrenching enough, two women were sitting cross-legged beside her, staring down at something she couldn’t see. Edging closer to avoid startling anyone, Heather understood why.
Three tiny kittens were curled up in a towel stretched across one of the nurse’s laps, eyes closed while they mewed silently, hunting for their mother. The other woman was cooing at another set of four, gently stroking them while they cried. At one point, she lifted her shoulder, wiping tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her blood-stained T-shirt.
Finally, she sat back with the tiniest kitten Heather had ever seen cuddled against her chest. “I count eight altogether, Bekah. How are yours doing?”
“Shaky but still with us,” the other woman replied in a sad voice. “I don’t know how you managed to save all these babies, Sierra.”
“God wanted all of them to make it, so He made sure they were on the side of the road where I’d see them,” she commented, touching noses with the tiny creature in her arms. “I just wish we could’ve saved your mama for you, little one.”
“Awesome job, you two,” Josh approved quietly. “And you couldn’t have arranged a better way to impress our new vet if you’d tried.”
The two women traded a shocked glance before looking up at her, and Heather realized they’d been so focused on their patients, they hadn’t noticed her come in. Instantly, she knew she was in the right place. She’d have no trouble working with people who were that devoted to the animals they cared for.
“Don’t let me interrupt what you’re doing. But if you’d like a hand, I’ll be happy to help.”
“Sierra Walker, Bekah Kinley, this is Heather Fitzgerald.” Josh made the introductions, pointing each of them out as he spoke so they’d know who was who. Then he knelt to gently wrap the dead cat inside the blanket. “You ladies tend to the babies while I take Mom out back to the pet cemetery and find a nice spot for her.”
After he’d gone, Heather felt a little lost. Falling back on years of crisis training, she summoned a helpful smile and asked, “What would you like me to do first?”
“If you can take this one,” Sierra replied, handing off the helpless scrap of fur, “Bekah and I can scoop up the rest, and we’ll take them all back to the nursery.”
A quick peek told Heather the kitten she held was a female, and she instinctively brought the small cat into her neck where it could snuggle against her warm skin. The fuzzy darling nosed its way into a dangling lock of Heather’s hair and let out a sigh that would have shattered a heart made of granite. Heather followed the other two women into a small room whose floor was occupied by nests made from flannel sheets and soft blankets.
They settled the litter of kittens in one of the cocoons together, and Heather sat down to get a better look at them. Their colors ran the spectrum of browns from tiger to calico, ranging in size from small to downright tiny. If any of them weighed a pound, she’d be astounded. Not wanting to disturb them any more than necessary, she lightly passed a hand over each one, feeling for injuries or labored breathing that would indicate distress.
The seven larger ones seemed more or less stable, and they clustered together in a warm lump, using each other for pillows. The runt didn’t seem even remotely interested in joining the group, and she collapsed in an exhausted pile at the edge of their nest, her face pinched and her delicate frame shuddering with every shallow breath.
“I don’t like the looks of this one,” Heather commented somberly. “Do you have an incubator?”
“Sort of.” Sierra half closed the door and took something from a hook attached to the back. She held it out with a grin. “It’s a sling they sell for mothers of preemies. The fabric is soft and light enough to let them breathe. I’ve found it works well for critter babies, too.”
“What a great idea. If you don’t mind, we can take turns with it.”
“You want to papoose a kitten while you’re working?” Bekah asked.
Heather answered by pulling on the hammock-like device and carefully setting her frail charge inside. “She’s not that heavy, so as long as I’m not seeing patients, I can manage.”
“I’ve never met a vet who’d even think of doing that,” Sierra informed her with a smile. “I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”
The quick, heartfelt approval chased off the last of Heather’s lingering nervousness. “We’re more than just coworkers here. We’re a team, and everyone should pull their own weight, including me.”
“Of course, these days some of us have more weight to pull than others,” Bekah joked, smoothing her hands over a modest baby bump. The rings sparkling on her left hand caught Heather’s eye, and she felt a twinge of envy for the pretty young mother-to-be. Then again, she reminded herself, she’d chosen to postpone having children until after she was firmly established in her own veterinary practice. It was a logical decision, and she was comfortable with the choice she’d made.
Most of the time.
“Will we be throwing you a baby shower soon?” Heather asked.
“I’m not due until August, so it’ll be a while still.”
“What are your plans after that?”
“I’d like to keep working here, but that will depend on the baby,” she answered truthfully. “Family first.”
“Absolutely,” Heather agreed, fearing that she might have overstepped her professional boundaries. Most people she’d worked with were stiffly polite, not open and friendly like these two. Now that she thought about it, Josh and Cam had made her feel right at home, too. Apparently, the residents of this small Kentucky town were the warm, welcoming type. This made her hopeful that Bailey would enjoy Oaks Crossing more than she had Detroit.
“Speaking of family,” Sierra said while she mixed kitten formula in a container, “Erin told us you have a niece who lives with you. Does she like animals?”
“Loves them. She’s settling in at the day care in town, but I’m planning to bring her to work with me sometime next week to see the menagerie we’ve got here. I’ll have to make sure she never sees this little darling, though,” she added, ticking the sleeping kitten’s pink nose with her fingertip. “I’m afraid if that happened, we’d end up keeping her.”
“Occupational hazard.” Sierra chuckled. “If my landlord allowed pets, I’d have a dozen of them.”
“When they’re old enough, Erin will take them to Pampered Paws and display them in the front window,” Bekah
