“Stopwhispering!” Maggie shouted again.
Darnell started toward the family room and called to Cora over his shoulder. “Your Léger is still in hiding, and now it’s on sale. When are you coming to buy it for that fairy-tale gig you got coming up?”
“Soon,” she answered vaguely, trying not to think about what might happen when Charlie saw her body weaponized in that dress. She whistled for Fritz, who trotted out of her bedroom with sleepy eyes. “I can’t believe you didn’t wake up! Uncle D is here! Go see him!”
Darnell dropped to the floor and allowed Josie and Fritz to snuffle and lick him, laughing the whole time. It was hard to tell who was doing the most kissing, Darnell or the dogs.
“You love those dogs more than me,” Maggie pouted.
“Never, my darling,” he said, getting up and planting a kiss on her cheek. “You’re my work wife for life.”
“Speaking of work, I still haven’t gotten my nom and I’m getting pretty stressed about it,” Maggie said.
“Aw, baby, it’s coming. Don’t worry.” Darnell had already been nominated for the Saks Excellence program, which would fast-track him to a promotion as a buyer.
The doorbell rang, and Josie sounded off anew. Cora followed her to the door, worked the “hush” routine again and opened the door. She was shocked to see Winnie and Vanessa standing there.
“This is your intervention!” Vanessa exclaimed, holding a bottle of wine above her head.
“What? Why are you guys here? Did Maggie ... ?”
The duo pushed past her and cooed over Josie, greeting her gently and allowing her to sniff them one at a time.
“Maggie asked us over for your intervention. Your audition intervention,” Winnie said, as if it would make sense to her.
“What does that even mean? I don’t understand.”
Vanessa stood up. “We thought it might be helpful to do a practice run to get you ready for the audition, so the Hounds are here to help you with the dog part of it, and Maggie is going to do the acting part of it.”
“And I’m your swagger coach!” Darnell called out.
Cora couldn’t say a word, overcome by love for her friends.
“And who better to help you than the newly crowned queens of social media?” Vanessa asked. Winnie and Vanessa had become minor Internet celebrities after their Ershovich protest, christened “Hot Pink and Woodstock” by the likes of Buzzfeed andThe Huffington Post. Winnie’s training business had tripled, and Vanessa was finally taking clients on her own to meet the demand. Their stunt had also reignited the conversation about Ershovich’s methodology, leading to debates on morning news shows featuring telegenic vets and trainers on both sides of the equation. Cora studied the experts as they weighed in with their arguments. They were all a mix of flawless logic, perfect brows, and flat ironed hair. She didn’t have a chance.
“You guys...” Cora struggled to put her gratitude into words.
“Come on, slackers, let’s get to work,” Maggie ordered.
The group gathered in the crowded family room, Josie and Fritz sitting at attention side by side while the rest scattered on the floor and couch. Someone’s phone went off.
“I almost forgot—tonight is the finale ofAmerica’s Hottest Landscaper!” Vanessa exclaimed as she turned off the ringtone.
“You set an alarm for that crap?” Winnie asked.
“I know, I know, I hate myself. It’ssobad. Sorry, Cora, but I can’t help it.”
Cora hadn’t watched it in weeks, but she couldn’t avoid the online gossip about the show. The final three contestants were Carly the hot girl, James the underdog, and Aaron, of course. How he didn’t get kicked off after that slur was a mystery to her.
“Let’s try to cram some practice in before we turn it on. It is okay if we watch, right?” Maggie said, turning to Cora.
“Sure, whatever.”
“Are we ready to do this? I’m going to critique you and make suggestions as we go along.”
Cora looked around the room sheepishly. “This feels really weird and embarrassing, you guys.”
“You’re gonna be great, don’t worry. Okay, stand in front of the TV. Boozehounds, you ready?”
