“Wow,” Jana said when Kamila was done. “I’d be angry, too. They’re closing your business. Can’t you just tell them not to?”
“I mean, I could…but Dad is doing well. Retirement is a good idea. He’d be devastated if he found out I wasn’t happy. I mean, if he owned Emerald outright, I would tell him to peace out and I’ll keep the office going, but it’s owned by HNS. And I donotwant to work with HNS.”
Jana sank down in her seat. “I don’t blame you. That place is a total sausage fest.”
Huh. Kamila wouldn’t have imagined that Jana would use the termsausage fest. Also, she seemed to understand Kamila. Maybe she’d underestimated her nemesis.
“And Rohan knew I didn’t want to work at HNS.”
Jana shook her head. “I take back what I said about him. He’s as bad as the rest. Stupid men.”
“Let’s start a women’s commune,” Asha said.
“Ooh, yes—let’s!” Nicole agreed.
Kamila chuckled. “Of course that’s what the lesbians want.” She got up to get another pint of ice cream, since she’d finished the one she was working on. “I’m unfortunately not willing to give up men altogether. But I’m going back to casual only. Feelings aren’t worth it.”
She hadn’t been on any dating apps since Ernesto left, but it was time to switch her status back to “looking.”
Chapter 24
The two-day Dogapalooza was part carnival, part festival, and a celebration of all things dogs. It had been one of Kamila’s favorite community festivals long before she even started volunteering at the shelter. This year’s event was going to be even more epic than usual, with bigger and better vendors, dog obstacle courses, a large ball pit, silent auctions, and more. All ending with her baby—the puppy prom on Sunday. It all should have been more than enough to keep Kamila’s mind off everything, but there was just way too much going on, and she found it hard to look forward to the event.
She tried to be light and breezy with Dad at breakfast. She still didn’t want him knowing how upset she was about his news on Thursday. He was so giddy, eating his yogurt parfait and drinking his green tea while showing her pictures of the activities area of his new condo in Florida. She was pretty sure he didn’t notice her foul mood. After finishing her breakfast, she dressed, packed up the outfit to wear to the canine couture fashion show, put Darcy in her yellow sundress, and kissed Dad on the forehead. She headed for the festival.
Kamila wandered the green space behind the shelter where the event was being held. She did some shopping, let Darcy play in the dog ball pit, and chatted with a few friends. After having a hot dog with Tim and Jerome, she found Maricel at the dog-and-car wash. Maricel’s clothes were completely soaked, but she looked thrilled to be helping unruly, and wet, dogs clean cars.
“Hi, Kamila! I’m glad I found you!”
Darcy pulled on her leash to try and hop into the tub of soapy water, but Kamila wasn’t having that. She held her dog tight.
“I meant to call you last night,” Maricel continued, leaning down to greet Darcy. “But I was here so late making decorations for today. The Dogapalooza is packed! Did you see my email?”
Kamila frowned, pulling out her phone. She hadn’t checked her email this morning, mostly because she assumed Rohan would choose that format to send her a long, drawn-out rationale for why he’d done what he’d done. She owed Rohan a lot and fully intended to listen to his side of things, but not quite yet. She needed to get through this weekend first. Opening her mail app, she saw that, yup—there was an email from Rohan. She didn’t open it. She opened the one from Maricel instead and skimmed it briefly, but she couldn’t make sense of it. Probably because Darcy was still pulling on her harness, so Kamila couldn’t keep her phone steady.
“What’s this about, Maricel?”
“That lady we talked to last week at East End New Business Development called me yesterday. She remembered me and really liked my business plan. They have an unexpected opening for a start-up in a co-op space, and it comes with a new business grant. The deadline for the application is Monday. She even said she’d look over my application for me if I applied. But I’d need a business license and I’d have to be willing to open in a month.”
Kamila grinned. “That’s awesome! Send in the application! Opportunities like this are rare!”
Maricel shook her head. “I can’t get a business license in two days. We need more time, don’t we?”
“You can’t get a license in two days, but youcanin a month. Call her back—see if you can still get the grant as long as the business license comes through before the grand opening.”
A very wet, very large Bernese mountain dog charged at Maricel then. Kamila took a step back so she wouldn’t get wet.
After Maricel subdued the beast-like dog (Maricel was just so good at dog obedience), she agreed to call the woman about the grant and let Kamila know what she said.
“By the way,” Kamila said, “I heard you’re dating.”
“Oh.” Maricel blushed, then let out a bashful giggle. “It’s just starting. I…I don’t want to talk about it and jinx it yet. But I’m hoping he’ll come to the puppy prom tomorrow. He’s having a lot of family problems right now, though, so I don’t know.”
Kamila grinned. “I hope he can come, too. But I won’t pry. I’m really happy for you.”
It was almost time for the fashion show by then, so Kamila left Darcy with Asha and headed inside the shelter to change into her emceeing dress.
As she was touching up her makeup, her phone rang. She checked the screen. Rohan.
