Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee Read Free Book Online

seaglass.Her eyes are the greenish blue of the sea, and I half expect her legs to be made of fish scales and fins, but her ankles stick out of a gauzy green dress, and she’s wearing sandals on her narrow feet.
    “Francine and Droopy are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow,” she says to Uncle Sanjay. Her voice is soft. She hands him a lavender silk eye pillow.
    “Tomorrow is it?” Uncle Sanjay sounds surprised. He turns the lavender pillow over and over in his hands. “Are they all right?”
    “Francine has a bit of an eye infection.”
    “Bulldogs are prone to skin and eye problems.” Uncle Sanjay sniffs the eye pillow and puts it gently on the table.
    The lady smiles at me. I can’t move. I wonder if she’s casting a mermaid spell. “Who’s this young lady? I see the family resemblance. Is she your daughter, Doc? Are you keeping something from me?”
    “This is Poppy, my dear niece visiting from California. My sister’s daughter.”
    “Ah.” The lady takes my hand. Her mouth stays open after the “ah,” and she squeezes my fingers. “I’m Toni Babinsky. You look worried, Poppy. I can tell when someone is troubled, or uncertain—furry or human.”
    “I’m perfectly okay.” I pull my fingers out of Toni’s grip.
    She hands me a miniature purple pillow, the size of aquarter. “Lavender sachet,” she says. “In a time of stress, take a whiff. It has a calming effect.”
    I press my nose to the fabric and breathe in the strong, sweet scent. “Can I keep this? How much is it?”
    “No charge. You’ll need it.”
    “Thank you,” I say politely. How does she know I’ll need it?

Chapter Eleven
TWO DOGS AND A PSYCHIC
    F irst thing in the morning, I accidentally step in poodle pee and track it around the clinic. Saundra glares at me, but Hawk comes to my rescue and mops the floor. I wash the bottom of my shoe with antiseptic soap.
    My second day is just great so far.
    Toni Babinsky comes in at ten o’clock. She sits on the bench in the exam room, two dogs at her feet. She’s wearing a long blue dress that ripples and shifts in waves, and a matching seaglass necklace. The bulldog, Francine, issnorting and sniffing. Droopy, a skinny brown mutt, cringes in the corner. Francine has a wrinkly face, a stocky body, and two long bottom teeth that stick out. She flops onto her back, right on my foot, her stubby tail thumping.
    Duff comes in and raises her eyebrows at me but doesn’t kick me out. “Hello, Toni!” she says cheerily. “What’s new since your last visit?”
    “Francine has gained weight, I’m afraid.”
    Duff hauls Francine onto the floor scale, but Francine keeps flopping over to be petted.
    Toni smiles. “She’s a handful, isn’t she?”
    Francine rolls off the scale, and Duff gets up to write in the chart. Her cheeks are flushed. She puffs from the effort of hauling Francine. “She’s good and, uh, solid. I see Droopy came along for the ride again. He’s not on the schedule for an exam.”
    “The two are inseparable.” Toni smooths her silky blue dress, which is covered in tiny brown dog hairs. “Wherever Francine goes, Droopy goes. Brother and sister.”
    They don’t look anything alike.
    “How’s Francine holding up?” Duff asks.
    Toni rattles off Francine’s problems—eye infection, bad breath. “I wipe down her wrinkles with tissue, but I don’t scrub them. Her skin is too sensitive.”
    Duff scribbles in Francine’s chart. “Doc can give you more eyedrops for her.”
    “He’s the best.” Toni rummages in her purse, then pouts. “I forgot my wallet. I took it out when I switched purses this morning….”
    Duff blushes. “Doc will work it out, like always. He’s running behind, but he’ll be with you soon.” She slips out.
    Toni sits back on the bench, crosses her legs, and smiles at me. “I still see trouble, honey. You got your lavender sachet?”
    “I left it in my bedroom today. Smells like perfume in there now.” I sit beside her, my hands