As determined as she had been to save every stray as a child, Evie had been on track to follow in the footsteps of the other members of her immediate family and go to medical school. It’s what the Williamses did. But when her bubbly, freckle-faced roommate discovered that Evie had always dreamed of working with animals—which, let’s face it, were so much better than people—Ashanti urged her to go for it.
The day she’d decided to finally tell her parents that she was changing her major to veterinary medicine was seared into Evie’s mind. Her father thought she was joking, but once it became clear that she was not, it was her mother who’d lost it. She still hadn’t forgiven Evie for undermining her dream of being a dynamic mother/daughter cardiologist duo.
Evie was grateful they hadn’t gone into full controlling-parents mode and refused to pay for her schooling unless she majored in the field they chose for her. But, even if they had, she would have found a way to pay for vet school on her own. Because once she’d made the decision, it was as if someone had flipped on a light—one of those cool lights that cast rainbows and stars on the ceilings and walls. She’d suddenly felt excited about her future instead of simply accepting of it.
The only thing that would have been better was going into practice with Ashanti as they’d always planned. And maybe they would have if Ashanti had not been forced to quit vet school to raise her twin sisters after losing both her parents. She knew her friend was more than satisfied with how thingswere going with the daycare, but Evie still found herself asking,What if?Especially over the past forty-eight hours.
“How are you feeling?” Ashanti asked. She reached toward Evie’s forehead with the back of her hand, but Evie dodged it, turning and grabbing the otoscope again.
“I’m better,” she said as she unnecessarily reexamined Cassiopeia’s ear canal. Quickly changing the subject, she said, “The progress you all have made on this building is phenomenal. The remodel looks amazing.”
“What do you think aboutthisspace?” Ashanti gestured to their surroundings. “It’s nice having a dedicated exam room, right?”
“There are no words,” Evie said. “Don’t get me wrong, I still love Barkingham Palace’s original location, but I amsoglad Ridley convinced you to stop worrying about the cost and buy this building.”
“Convinced me? She bullied me.” Ashanti laughed. She scooted onto the exam table, picked up the Maltese, and sat it in her lap. “But I’m grateful for our bossy friend sticking her nose in my business too. I’ve always adored this building. I knew it would be perfect for a second location.”
“When do you think you’ll be ready to accept more pets?”
“Hopefully soon.” She ticked items off on her fingers. “I’m interviewing two more people on Monday, including a new dog groomer. The last of the beds for the signature suites should be here in another couple of weeks. I’m going to do a few more test runs, but I’m hoping by the end of the month I will officially be the owner of a fully functioning doggy daycare chain!”
She kicked her legs out and wiggled her feet like a five-year-old on a park swing. Evie couldn’t contain her smile. Her friend deserved this.
When the subject of that viral video came up yesterday, she hadn’t been surprised that Bryson knew what Doc had been referring to. Six months later and the video of Ashanti’s French bulldog and her boyfriend Thad’s standard poodle sharing a doggy treat made its way into Evie’s Instagram feed at least once a week.
Ashanti had started selling the homemade treats as a side hustle. After Duchess and Puddin’ became internet sensations, a national pet food company bought the doggy treat portion of the business for millions, giving Ashanti the capital to expand the daycare by purchasing this second, much larger location.
“Hey, I wondered if you could do me a favor,” Evie said as she moved the exam light back into place. “I know the waiting list for Barkingham Palace is out the door and down the street, but do you think you can find a spot for my new dog?”
Ashanti stopped in the middle of scratching Cassiopeia’s backside. The dog responded with a displeased bark.
“Umm… did I hear that correctly, or doIneed ear drops?” Ashanti asked. “Did you just say you have a dog?”
Evie nodded. “I visited The Sanctuary yesterday and fell in love with the sweetest pug and beagle mix. He issoadorable. I had to bring him home.”
“Hold on.” Ashanti made a time-out signal with her hands. Cassiopeia barked again. “Rewind this conversation back thirty seconds. How did you convince Cameron to finally get a dog? He’s always been adamant that he didn’t want one.”
Evie had every intention of eventually coming clean to her friends about what had transpired over the past couple of days, but maybe she should have thought this through. Herbandwidth for dealing with this right now was at a negative seventy-five.
“Ev?” Ashanti prompted.
But she also knew her friend well enough to know that Ashanti wouldn’t let this go. She could be as tenacious as any of the dogs in this daycare when it came to getting to the bottom of a story.
Conceding that her chances of leaving here today without telling Ashanti the truth were slim, Evie decided to rip off the proverbial Band-Aid.
She sucked in a deep breath, looked Ashanti straight in the eyes, and said, “I didn’t convince him to do anything. We broke up, and I kicked him out of the house. Cameron and I are done.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Evie would have laughed at the shocked look on Ashanti’s face if her own mood hadn’t just plummeted to the bottom of the sea with that pronouncement. Despite knowing she’d done the right thing by putting Cameron out, it still stung.
She loathed to admit that she was still hurting, but dammit she was! How could she not be after all she’d given to their relationship?
“Evie!” Ashanti screamed. “What in the heck are you talking about? You broke up?” She clutched her head. “You broke up with Cameron and you are just now telling me! You’ve been here all afternoon!”
“Actually, it’s only been about two hours,” Evie corrected. “I had a doctor’s appointment this morning.”
“Wait.” Ashanti made the time-out signal again. “Wait. Wait. Wait. What happened? Start at the very beginning and don’t youdareleave anything out.”
