But it seemed to be going okay, until Darcy lost her focus at the worst possible time—right at the bridge of the song when Darcy was supposed to be weaving figure eights again, but this time, while Kamila stomped across the stage, the belled ghungroo anklets she’d tied to her feet chiming to the beat. Darcy let out an excited little yelp at something in the direction of the back of the church, and Kamila tripped over the dog, her sari-clad bottom landing on the wooden stage. The commotion only excited Darcy more and concerned poor Lizzy, who was watching from the front row. The anxious corgi hopped onto the stage to make sure his doggie best friend was okay. That opened the floodgates, and several other dogs in the audience assumed the stage was now a free-for-all and rushed up to join in the fun, many of them batting at Kamila’s belled anklets. This all happened in seconds. Asha climbed onto the stage to help calm the dogs and break Kamila free of the mob of excited pups.
Ugh. What a disaster. Kamila was going to be teased and laughed at all year for this. She looked at the audience to see if they were already laughing at her. Over in the direction of whatever distracted Darcy, standing alone and watching her, was Rohan.
Rohan was here.
Their eyes met. His expression was, as usual, unreadable. Maybe a little concerned.
He was wearing a pale-green linen shirt with a casual charcoal jacket over it, along with dark-blue jeans and an expensive-looking messenger bag over his shoulder. They stared at each other for a few seconds as the song Kamila was supposed to be dancing to ended, then he smiled slightly and waved. That was the secret smile. The one just for her.
That broke Kamila’s spell. She waved back, then picked up Darcy and stepped to the front of the stage and bowed, ignoring the half dozen dogs biting at her ankles.
Laughing, Asha joined Kamila at the front of the stage.
“Thank you, thank you, Kamila and Darcy! They sure know how to end an event with a bang, don’t they? And that brings this year’s Dogapalooza events to a close! Thank you so much, everyone, for supporting the shelter and all it does for animals in this community! Please stay, mingle, shop, and eat! And thank you all for coming!”
Kamila looked back at Rohan, who was still watching her—until he turned to speak to someone who Kamila couldn’t see.
“Let’s go, Kamila,” Asha whispered, pulling gently on Kamila’s arm. Asha guided Kamila to an office room they had been using as a backstage area. As Kamila bent to take the sari skirt off of Darcy, Asha frowned.
“Are you okay?” Asha asked. “That was an epic fall.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Embarrassed.” She scratched behind Darcy’s ear. “I blame you, by the way,” she said to her dog.
Darcy licked Kamila’s hand while wagging her tail, and Kamila remembered that she couldn’t be mad at her sweet dog.
“I have bad news, Kamila,” Asha said.
Kamila shook her head. “Please, no. I can’t take more.”
“Just got a text from Derek. Someone put in an application for Potato today—before you.”
Kamila’s face fell. “Fudgsicle. But I can still put in an application, too, right?”
“Yeah, but you know we process them in the order we get them. No preferential treatment for people who work, or volunteer, at the shelter. So, you can only hope the other applicant is, like, a slob, or owns eight bearded dragons, or is a pet anti-vaxxer.”
“Oh my god, are there pet anti-vaxxers?”
“Human intelligence comes at all levels. I’m sorry, Kamila.”
Kamila sat on the floor and scooped Darcy into her arms. “It’s just you and me, then, girl. We’re in this alone,” she said with a shaky voice.
“No, Kamila.” Asha joined her on the floor. “You’re not alone.Ever. You have me, Nicole, and Lizzy. Even Jana is your friend now, right? We’re all going to be here for you through all this.”
Kamila nodded, still rubbing Darcy’s sweet little head and trying not to break down in tears. “I know, I know. I’m being ridiculous. I should be happy, right? I have Emerald. Dad is healthy. It’s just…” She sniffled loudly. “I don’t like being feeling-y.”
“He’s here, you know.”
“I know. He’s who distracted Darcy. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Of course it means something! He didn’t have to come. He’s not mad at you.”
Kamila shrugged. He came because he was Rohan, and he’d always be there for his friends. She had her friend back.
All she had to do was figure out how to stop loving him.
“Hey, there,” Tim said, walking into the room and frowning at the three of them sitting on the floor. “Whatcha doing down there?”
“Oh, you know,” Kamila said, wiping a tear. “Bit of dog therapy. You’re supposed to cry at proms, aren’t you?”
