by Nancy Adams
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. This was all news to me.
“And when I realized you were seeing Hugo and that you weren’t as into me as I was into you—”
“That’s not even true! I meant to end things with Hugo, but I just didn’t get a chance…”
“Water under the bridge now,” Ash cut in. “Anyway, I guess I really didn’t leave my marriage unscathed. I had a fear that you would react to finding out about my disease in the same way Elizabeth did.”
“And so you dumped me before I could dump you?”
“Pretty much.”
“Brilliant move. Do you feel better about yourself now?”
“I feel like crap.”
“Good. You should.”
“Ouch.” He winced at my words, and then he surprised me as he leaned forward and said softly, “I’ve missed you so much.”
The anger I felt towards him earlier melted away at his words, and to my surprise I found myself saying, “I missed you more.”
He took my hand and cupped it between his own. “I was an idiot.”
“Yes, you are.”
He winced again. “I made a mistake.”
“Yep, you sure did.”
“If you give me a chance, if you can accept me, my mistakes, failures, CMT and all, I would like to give us another shot. That is…if that’s what you want.”
I pretended to be considering his words, and when he seemed to be about to speak, I said, “You are all I could want.”
And he responded with, “Ditto.”
I couldn’t help myself. I smacked him on the shoulder and he laughed and slowly stood up, bringing me to a standing position with him.
“Do you have to be so unromantic all the time? ‘Ditto’ was the best you could do?” I said, as I circled my arms around his neck.
He nuzzled my neck and I felt my pulse quicken. “I don’t know…” he said wryly as he raised his head and looked directly into my eyes. What I saw in his eyes warmed my heart. Apparently, my happily-ever-after wasn’t just a farfetched possibility, but now my current reality. I could see clearly that the expression in Ash’s eyes was love. “I’m not the best with words, but I sure do know how to kiss.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I joked, as I raised my lips to his and became lost in the feeling of being wanted, cherished and loved.
BOOK THREE
SARAH'S SOULMATE
Chapter One
I stared into Hugo’s eyes as he prepared to say the words I’d been waiting to hear. He placed his hands over mine and I leaned towards him, my heartbeat racing. We were having brunch in his home, a pretentious mansion that he had recently inherited from a great-uncle. The entire setting was what dreams were made of, and although I had gone to school with very wealthy children, none of them had invited me to their homes, with the exception of my best friend Marie. But honestly, Hugo’s mansion was so luxurious that it made Marie’s home look like a shack. It was that ornate, an over-the-top display of wealth. The mansion unapologetically relished in its own grandeur. But as much as I was impressed by my surroundings, I was more eager to hear what Hugo had to say to me. I knew the next words out of his mouth were going to change my life.
He had at least told me that much when he called me at eight that morning, insisting that I join him for brunch. I had asked him why and he had gotten secretive and tight-lipped, not giving me any details when I pressed him for answers. He had just told me succinctly that he would tell me what was going on when I arrived and just insisted that I show up. At the time, I had been too busy trying to chase my dog Machiavelli through the house to get him to take a bath to think much about what Hugo might want to talk about.
We had known each other for about a year now and to say we had grown close over that time period would be an understatement. And proof that he felt the same way was evident in his next words to me.
“Sarah, dear…” he started.
“Yes, Hugo,” I said, leaning in even more as he gripped my hands between his. He had a beautiful smile on his face that reached his eyes. It was those eyes that had first attracted me to him. So honest, without a hint of guile.
I gulped hard and waited for him to continue.
“I…” He paused dramatically and then said, “…found you an investor!” I jumped up from my seat and practically tossed myself on top of him as I enveloped him in a tight bear hug. Too bad I could barely fit my arms around him. He was that big and I was pretty petite.
“Oh my God, Hugo! Thank you! Thank you so much!” I was still blubbering my thank yous when a troubling thought came to me. “Hold on, you’re not the oh-so-secret investor are you?” I said suspiciously as I straightened up and looked him directly in the eye. I was too proud to take money from a friend.
He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak when a high-pitched female voice from behind me said, “Oh gosh no, Larry Stein’s the investor. You remember Larry, right? Always came in with the two poodles, Tippy Tippington and Marsala Tikka? Such crazy names. But anyway, turns out he owed my honey bear a favor and so when I mentioned that we were looking to expand to two new locations, he jumped at the chance to help out. Isn’t that right, Honey bear?”
She then proceeded to sit down in Honey bear’s lap. Oops, I meant Hugo’s lap. I reprimanded myself for using his girlfriend’s pet name for him. I tried not to grimace whenever she called him that in public. But Hugo loved it, and it was kind of sweet to watch them fawn over each other even though she had stolen him from me. Well, technically, I had pushed her to date him and she had been reluctant, but that was all water under the bridge now.
Like I said, technically she hadn’t stolen him from me. Hugo and I had figured out pretty quickly that it would be awkward dating each other after he had so soon before dated my other best friend, Libby. Hugo and I had tried to go on a few dates, but it had been uncomfortable for the both of us. We realized that we made better friends than a potential couple so we had stopped seeing each other and I had pushed my kennel’s manager instead to date him after noticing all the long looks she gave him whenever he stopped by the kennel to visit me.
The woman in question was Eleanor Monroe, and she was currently the manager at one of my ritzier kennel/dog spa locations. She was a short, sassy redhead who loved Pilates and sleeping in late. She also happened to be a former Marine. She was tough and yet sweet; she kind of reminded me of Libby, so I had hired her immediately as my right-hand woman at the new dog spa I opened. That’s how she had met and eventually fallen in love with Hugo. And Hugo, being a smart man, had just as readily fallen in love with her.
Eleanor had done an awesome job as a manager, freeing me up to look into opening another location, but the funds had fallen through until now.
“Hugo, thank you so much. I so appreciate it. You have no idea.” I struggled to keep the tears of gratitude at bay.
He shrugged. “No problem. It was actually Eleanor here who thought of it.”
Eleanor shrugged. “I just came up with the idea, and then when Hugo told me that Larry owed him a favor for saving his butt years ago, I mentioned that maybe he would be willing to settle the debt by investing in our kennel’s expansion.” She moved from Hugo’s lap and instead sat down in one of the antique chairs circling the little patio table next to Hugo.
“Our kennel?” I said with a laugh in my voice.
She shrugged and then gave me an unexpected shy look. “I might not show it, but I’m really grateful you gave me this opportunity. To prove myself…”
Her voice trailed off, and I found myself moving towards her and placing my hand on top of hers. “You really need to stop thanking me. You deserve all that you’ve earned, and you’ve worked hard to be where you are.”
“Yeah, but if it weren’t for you and your mom—”
“You would have still turned out okay,” I interrupted, meaning every word. Eleanor had actually come recommended from my mother, who had met Eleanor while she was struggling to get her life b
ack in order. I didn’t know all the details. I just knew that at one point Eleanor had been a chemical dependency counselor and needed a change of scenery. My mom had been one of her clients and had mentioned that I was hiring. The rest was history, as they say. I trusted my mom when it came to people. God knows she had her faults, but she understood people. If she vouched for Eleanor, that was good enough for me. And Eleanor proved to be the ideal worker. I didn’t know too much about her past, but what I knew about her, I liked.
And more than that, I loved how happy she and Hugo seemed to be together. And it wasn’t until then that I noticed it. Eleanor was wearing a ring.
“Oh my gosh!” I said, bringing my hands up to my cheeks in shock. “You’re engaged!”
She nodded happily, and I jumped up to hug them both. I said my congratulations, and eventually we celebrated with mimosas, but as I watched them together, clearly in love, I couldn’t help but wonder if it would ever be my turn.
* * *
An hour later, I stood back and looked at the mural in front of me. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of self-satisfaction as I surveyed my work. Yes, it looked like something a grade-schooler might have created, but I was pleased nonetheless.
It was a mural of a very badly drawn momma dog dancing in a circle with a group of puppies that were equally badly rendered, but hey, it was cute. I wasn’t looking for something that was Sistine Chapel quality; I just wanted something adorable on the wall that the customers would see upon walking in. It fit the bill, I thought to myself as I painted a flower behind the momma dog’s ear. I was so deep in thought, trying to get the daisy just right, that I literally jumped when someone cleared their throat behind me.
“Oh my god,” I said, turning around immediately and placing a hand to my heart. “I didn’t hear you guys come in.”
Two people stood there. A little girl around nine years of age and a pretty young lady with dark brown skin and long straight black hair. She wore plain black jeans and a loose-fitting blouse. She held the little girl’s hand and looked nervously down at the girl, as if hoping to follow her lead. In the girl’s arms was a scruffy-looking dog that was missing patches of fur. He also seemed like he couldn’t stop scratching. The little girl had an amused look on her face as she stared at me.
She slowly raised her hand up and pointed towards my hand, which I finally realized was still plastered to my chest from shock. “You’re getting paint all over your pretty shirt.”
I looked down and realized she was correct. It was the hand that had been holding the paintbrush, and I was making a mess of myself.
“So did you do that drawing?” the little girl asked as she approached me.
I nodded. “I know it needs some work—”
“No. It’s perfect. I love it. Especially the little sunflower in the mama dog’s hair. Cool picture.”
“Mural,” corrected the young lady suddenly, “it’s called a mural.” And then, as if gathering her courage, she said, “I, errr, need some help. Kitty found this animal searching for food as we were leaving the grocery store. She insisted that we rescue it, but there’s no way we can keep it.”
Kitty interrupted. “That’s not true at all. We just need to ask Daddy. Daddy will let me keep it.”
The young lady looked nervous as she said, “No, Kitty. Your father is a very busy man. Too busy to take care of a dog.”
“He doesn’t need to take care of it! I can take care of it!” Kitty said in protest, pulling her hand from the woman’s and holding on to the dog tightly as it began to lick her face.
She giggled, forgetting her anger towards the woman briefly. The woman took that opportunity to continue her argument.
“We can’t keep him; her father would be angry.”
“No he wouldn’t! You don’t know that! You haven’t even asked him!”
“Your father’s a really busy man, Kitty. There’s no way he can raise you and a dog. He’s too important—”
Kitty rolled her eyes dramatically as she interrupted with, “O-M-G. I’m tired of hearing about how important Daddy is. He’s just my dad. Not the president of America or something.”
“Nevertheless, Kitty—”
“Aanya, please. Please let me keep him. Please…” Kitty’s bottom lip began to tremble and I swallowed hard, not knowing if I would be able to hold back the tears if she started to cry. I didn’t know her, but my heart went out to her. I didn’t have any pets growing up and every pet I found, my mom promptly dropped off at a shelter. I suffered heartbreak after heartbreak, so my heart went out to the young girl standing in front of me, holding the questionable-looking dog.
I straightened my shoulders, determined to keep my emotions in check. I nervously cleared my throat and said, “I, uhh…is there some way I can help? I assume that’s why you all are here.”
Aanya nodded in relief. “Yes, we’ve been hiding him in the garage for the past three days and it’s wearing on me.”
“It’s no big deal, Aanya.”
“If it wasn’t a big deal, you would have asked your dad already.”
Kitty looked down sadly. “You should ask; he’ll just tell me no.”
“Exactly!” Aanya said. “Which is why we’re here…” She said turning back to me. “We can’t keep him hidden much longer. I don’t want my employer to find out and fire me.”
“He’s not going to fire you because of a dog,” Kitty mumbled, although honestly she didn’t even seem that sure anymore.
“No, but he might fire me for keeping secrets. And I’m terrible at keeping secrets.”
Kitty smiled at her. “What?! No. You’re great at keeping secrets. We’ve had Henrik for days now.”
“Henrik?” I said with a smile.
Aanya shrugged. “It was either that or Bubbles.”
“I wanted to call him Bubbles because he tried to eat all the bubbles while I was washing him,” Kitty volunteered.
I giggled. “Listen, I’m sorry to disappoint you both, but I’m not even open for business yet. And I run a dog kennel and spa, not a rescue.”
Aanya bit her lip. “We’ve been to all the rescues. They’re all full. No one will take him. What am I going to do?” she said, looking clearly dejected as she sat down heavily on the couch in the lounge area. Her eyes were wide and I knew she was on the edge of tears, but even so, I still didn’t expect the sudden downpour when it came.
She began to sob heavily, and Kitty immediately went over and wrapped her one available arm around Aanya. I moved to look for some tissue and only found paper towel. I quickly went over to her and pushed it into her hand, feeling terribly sorry for her. Her boss must be quite a terror, I thought to myself, if the thought of doing something to displease him made her cry as she was doing.
Kitty seemed ready to cry too, so I felt that I had to keep it together for all three of us. “It’s okay, Aanya? That’s your name, right? It’s okay.”
She sniffled and looked up at me. “I’m so sorry. I’m such a mess. I’m just really stressed right now. I’m studying for the bar and this is my second time taking it. If I fail again, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m just really stressed right now and this whole Henrik situation isn’t making me feel any better.”
I tried to distract her from her problems by asking, “So you’re trying to become a lawyer?”
She nodded. “My friend told me that being an au pair was pretty easy and pays really well. So I got this gig and I love it. I’ve always gotten along with kids. I have like five younger siblings, so I figured why not? And Kitty’s amazing. I feel so guilty trying to take away her dog. Henrik’s cute, but cute doesn’t pay the bills. I really need this job, and I’m afraid that I’ll get fired if Mr. Wilkins finds out that I’ve been keeping this secret from him. And then I’ll have to worry about finding another job and helping out my Mom and passing the bar and I’m just so scared that I’ll fail and have to live under a bridge with my whole family—” She started sobbing again, and Kitty and I tried our best to s
oothe her.
“Listen, I have an idea. Why don’t I take Henrik? I can board him here until we find a really good home for him.”
Aanya looked up with gratitude, and Kitty gasped and said, “No!” She held Henrik tighter and I came up with an even better idea.
“You really love Henrik, don’t you, Kitty?”
“Yes,” she said softly, burying her face in what remained of his fur. I figured he had a serious flea allergy, which was why he was missing hair and couldn’t stop scratching.
“And since you love him, wouldn’t you want him to have the best home possible? One where everyone loves and takes care of him, so he doesn’t have to be a secret?”
Kitty refused to answer.
“I know how you feel, Kitty. I really do. And I want to help. But Aanya is right. You can’t keep Henrik a secret from your dad forever, and it seems to me that you already know he’ll say no if you ask to keep Henrik.”
Kitty sobbed a little and my heart went out to her as I struggled to keep the pain I remembered from my youth from interfering with the logical thing to do.
“So here’s an idea: How about I take Henrik and you come visit him every chance you get? Every vacation, every weekend…or whenever your dad permits you? He’ll be like our shared dog. How does that sound?”
Kitty looked up and wiped at her eyes, and the little white hairs from Henrik’s patches of fur stuck to her face. “You’re just saying that. And then as soon as I leave you’ll give him away.” She seemed ready to cry again, so I rushed to soothe her.
“No, Kitty, you have my word. I’ll keep Henrik here with me and you can visit any time you like.”
“Do you really mean that?” she asked with hope in her voice.
“Of course.”
“Can you put it in writing?” she said suddenly, and I looked at Aanya in surprise.
