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again?”
    I don’t really want to play basketball. I’ve never been any good at it. Besides, there’s still a stack of paperwork that I ought to get to. Should I tell them, or just go along?
    Before I can decide what to say, Brenna says, “Sure thing! Let’s play Lightning. It’s what Sage and Dad and I play. You need three players. While we battle it out, I can continue trying to talk you both into running cross-country with me this fall.”
    I guess my decision is made. They need threepeople, and I don’t want to spoil it for them, so now I have to play. I wish I’d spoken up before they decided on it.
    â€œLet me tell Gran what we’re going to do, and I’ll meet you out there. We need two balls for Lightning, right?” Maggie asks Brenna.
    â€œRight. Are they in the garage? ’Cause I can get them,” Brenna says, moving toward the door and holding it open for me.
    But before I can walk out, the young woman from yesterday—the one without the animal—walks in.
    â€œOh. Hi,” I say. I can’t remember her name.
    But she remembers mine. “Hi, Sunita. Nice to see you again.”
    â€œYou, too,” I say. What was her name?
    And then she helps me out, “I’m Melissa. Is Dr. Mac here?”
    I’m trying to figure out what she’s doing here. She still doesn’t have an animal with her, so I don’t think she’s a client. Maybe she’s a tutor for Maggie? Or a housecleaner?
    I’m about to call for Dr. Mac when she joins Maggie in the reception area, “Hello, Melissa,” she says, cocking her head. “What brings you here today?”
    â€œI know you weren’t expecting me until next week. But I knew you were open today, so I thought I’d stop by to fill out the employment paperwork.” Melissa holds up a sheet of paper. “And drop off a copy of my tech license. That way, I can hit the ground running on Tuesday. Is that okay?”
    Dr. Mac waves her over to the reception desk just as Brenna comes back in through the door. “Certainly,” Dr. Mac says to Melissa. “I like your initiative. We’ll set you up here to fill out the forms.” Then Dr. Mac looks at us. Our faces must look pretty confused because she says, “Girls, I’ll explain all this in just a minute. Why don’t you check on the dogs in the kennel, and I’ll be right back there to talk?”
    We go to the kennels without speaking. But as soon as we’ve closed the door behind us, Maggie slams her hand on the bulletin board and yells, “I can’t believe this!”
    A dozen paper notes sail off the board toward the floor, and push pins rain down and roll along the linoleum. Brenna and I try to grab the flying notes and stop the pins from rolling. Maggie just stands there with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.
    When we’ve gathered everything and tacked itall up again, Brenna says, “So why are you mad? Do you know this Melissa?”
    Maggie looks up and says, “No, but she said something about her tech license. She’s here to take our jobs away. Gran won’t need any Vet Volunteers now that she has Melissa.”

Chapter Seven

    T he dogs are barking in their kennels as Maggie slams a few more things. TipTop is yapping up a storm, and so is Gretel. Baron, the giant German shepherd, lets out one low woof and settles down to watch. Even though he seems like the scariest dog back here, he’s actually quite calm. He seems to be trying to puzzle out the situation. I am, too. What will having a vet tech really mean for the Vet Volunteers?
    â€œShe’s talked about it before,” Maggie says, slapping the utility cart and sending it rolling. “They both have. But they always decided against it.”
    I catch the cart before it bangs into the far wall. I don’t understand why Maggie is so upset, butthe worry has already made my stomach hurt.