Maricel finally caught Xena by the collar and held firmly while a poodle and two golden retrievers attempted to climb over Maricel to get at their beagle pied piper. Overbalanced, Maricel tumbled to the ground, barely hanging on to Xena while one of the golden retrievers started licking her face. Behind the golden, Dane’s Byte looked ready to…well, bite Maricel.
This all happened so fast, and by the time Kamila reached Maricel, Dane was pulling a growling Byte away. Kamila grabbed Xena by the collar and waved off the poodle trying to jump on top of her.
“I got you, Xena. Heel. Heel…” Kamila said, repeating the commands they used in the shelter. Not that she expected Xena to listen. She’d never met a dog so resistant to training.
“Here. Let me,” Maricel said, brushing off the handful of dogs still jumping at her with glee. She scooted in front of Xena with both hands on the dog’s collar and started talking softly. Somehow, even with her jeans covered in white gravel and her hair barely contained in its low ponytail, Maricel was still stunning. Small, with soft curves, long jet-black wavy hair, and smooth tawny-brown skin. She did have room for improvement, though. Her jeans were at least two sizes too big. Kamila made a mental note to take her friend shopping, and soon.
In record time, Xena put her head down in a submissive stance. Maricel clipped a leash on her. “Kamila, oh my god, thank you.”
“No problem. You okay?”
Maricel nodded as she tried to smooth her hair with one hand. “That didn’t work.”
Kamila laughed as she put her free arm around Maricel and guided her and the demon hound out of the enclosure. Asha was waiting on the other side of the gate. Kamila could see Dane pulling his angry husky out of the park.
“I should just take Xena back to the shelter,” Maricel said, still looking a little shaken.
Asha nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll bring the others back.”
Kamila smiled at her friend. “I need to talk to you, but I’ll call you later.”
Maricel nodded and headed across the park to the shelter.
“Maricel is a bit of a hot mess,” Kamila said as they walked back over to the benches at the other end of the enclosure.
Asha chuckled. “It’ll be good for her to get her obedience school up and running. She’s so excellent with dogs. Did you see how quickly Xena calmed right down? She’s a total dog whisperer.”
Kamila smiled. “Imagine what she could do with Byte.”
Asha laughed. “Okay, I couldn’t see Maricel and Dane before, but now…I see your point. Do your matchmaking magic. Hey, is the puppy prom committee meeting this week?”
Kamila checked her phone. “I think Tim canceled it. Next week.”
“Your dad’s physical is Monday, right?”
Kamila nodded. “Yeah. I’m worried. If the news isn’t good…I just don’t want a setback, you know? Mental health–wise, I mean.”
Asha patted Kamila’s arm. “Whatever happens, you’re not alone. All of us are here for you and for your dad. Call me whenever you need me, okay?”
Kamila nodded. She was very lucky to have such great friends. She wouldn’t have survived without Asha the last time her father went through a depressive episode. Asha was right. Kamila had no shortage of people looking out for her family. But the thing was, the Hussains had always had a strong support network. And it hadn’t helped much the last time things got bad for Dad.
But there was no point in worrying until Dad met with the doctor.
Darcy showed up at her feet then. “C’mon, Darcy,” Kamila said, clipping on the dog’s leash. “Let’s go sit with Dad. Make sure he’s happy.”
Because making sure her father was happy and healthy was always Kamila’s first priority. Everything else came second.
Chapter 3
On the drive home from work on Monday, all Kamila could think about was how desperately she wanted to take off her black-and-white gingham dress and matching heels and put her feet up on the coffee table. She was pretty sure there was pumpkin-pie ice cream in the freezer, and after a busy day at Emerald, she was all over the idea of Netflixing and chilling for the rest of the evening.
But Dad’s physical was today. She’d of course called him earlier to see how it went, but she couldn’t get much out of him. She planned to interrogate him now…and if he wouldn’t talk, she’d call Rohan, who’d taken Dad to the appointment.
She did not expect to see Dad’s chauffeur himself sitting on her couch with his feet on her coffee table, watching TV when she opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
Rohan glanced at her, then back to the TV. He was wearing dark dress pants with a dark-gray dress shirt and light-gray tie and watching an old Hindi film he’d probably seen a thousand times. Darcy was sleeping, pressed up against Rohan’s leg. “Did you forget I was taking your father to the doctor today? He got dinner for you two on the way back here.”
“Of course I didn’t forget. Hopefully something healthy?”
