“Well, I stand by my statement. The pet industry makes tens of billions of dollars a year. Duchess Delights is a solid investment. You could be selling so many more of those treats if you had the money to scale up this business.” She used a penlight to check Sparkle’s eyes. “I wish things weren’t so tight at the practice. I would invest in Duchess Delights in a heartbeat.”
“What’s going on with the practice?” Ashanti asked, reaching over to rub Sparkle’s head with her free hand.
Ashanti was ashamed to admit it, but it had taken a while before she could talk to Evie about her veterinary practice without feeling both jealousy and longing. The longing lingered a bit, but it had lessened over the years. The jealousy was gone completely.
She and Evie had met on the first day of organic chem during their junior year at LSU. Evie had been on track to become a family general practitioner, but by the time they finished undergrad, she was applying to the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine along with Ashanti. The only difference between them was that Ashanti’s life had imploded during their final year of vet school where Evie’s had not.
“The practice is doing okay, but it would be doing even better if the Walmart of pet stores would stop taking huge chunks of our business,” she said. “Remember Cassandra Dutton? She was in Systemic Pathology with us.”
“Curly blond hair?” Ashanti asked.
“Yep. She runs the clinic at the new chain store that just opened.”
“Traitor,” Ashanti said.
“Yeah, well, if the landlord raises the rent on us one more time, Cameron and I may join the ranks of traitor,” Evie said.
“Don’t give in. That’s what they want.”
“I’ll try not to.” Evie examined Sparkle’s teeth and gums. “This little one looks good, but she can stand to gain a pound or two. She weighs less than her sister.”
“That’s because Lulu steals all the treats,” Ashanti said, nuzzling the dog again.
The door to the exam room swung open and Ridley King barged in wearing one of her signature Scanlan Theodore mid-calf skirts and mohair sweater combos, and looking like she owned the world.
“It’s about time you got off the pot,” Ridley announced. “Hey, Eve.” She gave Evie a kiss on the cheek before coming over to the side where Ashanti sat. Lulu barked. Ridley pointed at her. “Shut up, Toto,” she said, before planting a kiss on Ashanti’s cheek.
Ridley had become their suite mate during their third year of undergrad. Despite not sharing their love of animals, she had agreed to move into an apartment with Ashanti and Evie while she pursued her MBA. A decade later and they were all still the closest of friends.
“It looks as if you finally took my advice.” Ridley squeezed Ashanti’s shoulders in a one-armed hug. “Congratulations on making the big move.”
“What are you talking about?” Ashanti asked.
“That house in the Bywater. You bought it, right?”
Ashanti stiffened. It felt as if someone had shoved ice directly into her veins.
“Please, tell me you’re the one who bought the house,” Ridley said.
She shook her head, too stunned to speak.
“Oh no,” Evie whispered.
“Dammit, Shanti. Didn’t I tell you this would happen?”Ridley pointed a stiletto French-manicured finger at her. “This is what they mean by fuck around and find out. You fucked around, dragging your little size-seven feet, and now you’re finding out what happens when you don’t pull the trigger fast enough.”
“You just used like five different metaphors,” Evie said. “Besides, what’s the point of saying I told you so?”
“The point is Ididtell her so! I’ve been telling her so for the past month. A building like that will not just linger on the market forever, especially in that neighborhood.”
“But Lena Clark told me I didn’t have anything to worry about,” Ashanti said. Ridley had to be mistaken. There’s no way someone had bought her house.
“Who is Lena Clark?” Ridley asked.
“Zuzu’s mom. He’s another Pomeranian that boards here. Lena is a real estate agent who specializes in commercial properties. She said the house was priced too high for the amount of work that had to be done in it. She told me to wait it out, that the seller would have to bring the price down.”
“Well, I guess Lena was wrong, because there’s a big, fatSOLDsign on it and a black pickup truck in the driveway,” Ridley said.
“Right now?” Ashanti asked.
