“Yeah, well, now he has my house too,” Ashanti said. “He and his business partner are turning my house into a sports bar!”
“Whose house?” Ridley asked.
Ashanti leveled her with a look she usually reserved for the twins to let them know she was done with their bullshit.
“I’m just saying.” Ridley raised her hands. “If you had made an offer on the house when I told you to, Mr. Hottie would not have had the chance to swoop in and buy it.”
“You’re not helping,” Evie said. She turned to Ashanti and enveloped her in a hug. “I need to get back to the practice. I’ll call you later, okay?” She captured her chin in her palm and smiled. “You bounce back better than anyone I know, Shanti. Don’t let this get you down.”
They were used to heralways look on the bright side of thingsattitude, but Ashanti couldn’t summon up a bit of that right now. The most she could manage was a wan smile.
“Thanks for coming in to check on Lulu,” she told Evie. “I owe you.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll get my invoice at the end of the month as usual.” Evie laughed. She hugged Ridley, then gave her a playful punch on the arm. “Ease up on her. It’s not about you being right all the time.”
“Says who?” Ridley asked.
Evie rolled her eyes as she hefted her ever-present backpack—she’d upgraded to higher-priced designer brands since college—and left the daycare.
Exhausted, Ashanti took a handful of treats from the reception desk and started toward the back. Ridley followed.
“Will I not be allowed to mourn losing my house in peace?” Ashanti asked over her shoulder.
“Again, it is not your house. I warned you about claiming it before buying it and now look what’s happened.”
She usually didn’t mind a goodI told you so, but this time it grated on her still very raw nerves. Probably because that house was integral to all her plans. Without it she didn’t have a place to expand the daycare or to start her bakery. Without it, the kitchen at home would have to continue working overtime to churn out doggy treats.
But how long could she sustain that? Something would have to give.
Ashanti felt the seductive pull of negative thinking creeping along the edges of her mind and forced herself to snap out of it. She did not have the luxury to spend time wallowing. She had too many responsibilities tugging at her from every crook and crevice of her life.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ashanti said. “This just means the house was not meant for me and that something better will eventually come along.”
“Oh, so this is what we’re doing? You spend over a month detailing all the ways you’re going to turn this house into the perfect new spot for your daycare, yet now it wasn’t meant for you?”
“Evie was right, you’re not helping. You harping on me won’t change anything.”
“First of all, I do not harp,” Ridley said. “Secondly, I don’t want to see you lose out on something fantastic, Shanti. You, of all people, deserve a damn break. And this could have been your big break if you had not been so hesitant to pullthe trigger. Stop betting against yourself, sweetie. That’s all I want for you.”
She would give anything to deny Ridley’s words, but her friend had just read her like the latest Brit Bennett novel. Ashanti had allowed fear to stop her from making an offer on that house. Fear that this business, which had already proven to be successful by its rapid growth over the last three years, would suddenly fall out from under her. She had been afraid that the doggy treats were just a fluke, despite now getting so many orders that she had to turn some down.
Why was she so afraid that someone would show up and tell her this was all a lie? That her accomplishments were not real, and that everything she had worked so hard for since losing her parents would be taken away from her?
She stopped at the door that led to the pet suites and turned to face Ridley.
“There’s nothing I can do about any of this now, Rid.” Ashanti shrugged. “All I can do is make sure I never let another opportunity like this one pass me by.IfI ever get another opportunity,” she added.
“You will,” Ridley said. “And you had better believe that I will hold those petite feet to the fire.” She held her arms out. “Give me a hug. I’m not going in there. You know I don’t like being around those dogs.”
“Yet, you’re always here.”
“Which should tell you how much I love your ass.”
Ridley headed back to her office in the Central Business District, and Ashanti went in to check on the dogs. All were doing fine, except for her dog.
A French bulldog’s smushed face could look forlorn even at the happiest of times, but it was obvious Duchess was backto missing Puddin’. She refused to play with the other dogs and ignored her favorite chew toys.
“I’m sorry, baby,” Ashanti said, rubbing behind her little bat ear. “I know you miss him, but maybe we’ll run into Puddin’ somewhere around town.”
