Addison automatically backed away, but Kitty grabbed her. Addison turned her body to shield Princess and tensed for the worst. She was completely unprepared for what came next. Kitty wrapped her thin arms around Addison and hugged her.
“Thank you,” Kitty said. “Thank you for finding my Elvis.”
Julia was right behind her, pushing her way past Piper and Zoe. “Yes. Thank you for what you did for my Precious. I thought I’d lost him forever.” She bent down to be closer to her cocker spaniel, her midnight blue ball gown trailing in the dirt. She didn’t seem to care. “Now that’s what I call good service, right Precious?”
“Above and beyond,” Kitty agreed.
Other dog show owners gathered behind them, carrying or leading their pets protectively, their leashes choked up so they remained close by their sides. Their faces, which had been tainted with suspicion and allegation for the past two weeks, were now smiling, filled with appreciation and humility.
Rex Harris clung to his pinscher’s leash like it was a lifeline. “I’m so sorry we accused you. Thank you for saving Rosie.”
Addison recognized Kayleigh, the girl who had clung to Phillip at his fundraiser and had supported Penny’s story about her and Felix being partners in crime. “Yes, thank you!”
Addison stood there, shocked by the overwhelming support. “It wasn’t just me,” she said, when she’d found her voice. “Felix Vaughn and I worked together.”
“I heard he was shot,” Julia said, with more excitement than concern.
Piper, Aiden, and Zoe all turned to her in varying degrees of shock and horror.
“You were shot at?” Piper asked, or rather nearly screamed.
“Yes, Felix was shot, but he’s okay.” She added quickly. “And I’m okay,” she assured her friends. “I’ll tell you all about it later.” When I’ve had time to process it all first, she thought.
“I’m just so happy to have Precious back,” Julia said. “And in time for the competition tomorrow.”
“I don’t think Gumball will be ready,” the man in the toupee from Phillip’s fundraiser said. He rubbed at his dog’s snout. “Is this blood?”
“I don’t think any of the dogs will be ready in time,” Kitty said, assessing the group with a practiced eye. “So much for this year’s conformation. All the likely candidates have been ousted before it’s even begun.”
Addison took in the competitors as well, but compared to Kitty’s taste for perfection, her eye for potential saw things a little differently. “Not necessarily,” she said.
“I don’t see how they can compete,” Kitty said. “They look like a pack of wild animals.” Her nose turned up slightly at the sight of her bichon frisé’s stained red fur.
Addison laughed humorlessly, shuddering as she recalled the gory scene in the cellar. Kitty didn’t know how close to the truth she was. “Well, I just happen to know of a dog spa well versed in specific breed styling for show dogs. And I think the owner might be willing to help out a few special new customers.”
“Yes!” Julia shouted. “Absolutely! Can you schedule Precious in?” She hoisted her cocker spaniel in the air, practically thrusting it at Addison to be first in line.
They began to argue over who should go first because their dog had a better chance of winning. There was a chorus of eager requests volleying back and forth through the crowd of dog show enthusiasts.
Addison held her hands up, shouting over the din. “Don’t worry! I’ll fit everyone in. Pampered Puppies will stay open all through the night if need be.”
“But how can you manage all on your own?” Rex asked. “Who gets to go first?”
There must have been fifteen or more owners wanting her services. A single dog could take hours. It wasn’t possible to get them all done by the time the show began first thing in the morning.
She scanned the crowd in front of her. “Are there any handlers here with grooming talents?” she called out.
A couple of hands shot up.
“Okay, great. Owners, you’ll have to get your hands dirty tonight. We’ll need all the help we can get.”
Taking out her phone to text Melody for help, she turned to Piper and Zoe. “We’ll have to take a rain check on ice cream,” she said. “Feel like getting dirty tonight?”
Zoe gave her a saccharine look, full of promise. “You know I like it dirty.”
32
Every Dog Has Its Day
Addison sat in her car, staring up at Felix’s front door and feeling her chest tighten like her bra was too snug. She wanted to see Felix and yet she didn’t. Maybe he wouldn’t even answer the door. Or maybe worse. Maybe Charlotte would answer. Or if Felix didn’t answer, maybe it was because Charlotte was keeping him busy. It was late after all, almost ten o’clock. Maybe they were already in bed.
But she didn’t want to think about that. She’d tortured herself enough over him. Maybe it was best to just slip Naia’s stuffed bunny in the mailbox where he’d find it the next day.
Don’t be stupid, she told herself. It was just a stuffed animal. She’d hand it over, see they were both okay, and then move on with her life. A life that, only two weeks before, had felt so perfect. Like a blockbuster movie. But now it seemed like the crappier sequel that was banged out on the heels of success but had none of the original cast. It had lost its magic. Its heart. And she knew it was because her heart belonged to Felix.
Her perfect life now seemed empty. Maybe it always had been. Nothing had changed, after all. Except she got a preview, however small, of how full it could be with Felix and Naia in it.
Addison sighed and stepped out of her car. With heavy feet, she climbed the steps to the front door because she knew Naia would want her bunny. She would have returned it earlier if she could have, but she’d worked through the previous night with the help of her friends, the dog owners, and a few handlers.
Bleary-eyed and exhausted, they’d taken the dogs straight to the competition early that morning. Then before she’d headed to the precinct to answer a few more questions, Addison helped those customers without handlers primp and preen the competitors throughout the morning.
Customers. She liked the sound of that. Something she’d thought she’d never see again. Now she had some of the most loyal customers a business owner could ask for. She’d certainly risked enough to get them—as in, her life.
Addison’s finger hovered over the doorbell, shaking slightly in anticipation. Before she could chicken out, she pushed it. She heard the muffled ding, followed by shuffling inside. Her stomach clenched with nerves. Her heart thudded so fast it felt like a hundred bouncy balls careening around inside her chest. She worried that if she opened her mouth to speak, one might come flying out.
The door squeaked open and Felix was standing on the other side. At least it wasn’t Charlotte. The moment he saw her, his dark eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t speak until he wiped his face clean of emotion.
“Hi,” he said—a little guardedly, she thought.
She gave an awkward little wave. “Hi.”
“What are you doing here?”
It was still unclear if he was happy to see her or not. She couldn’t read the blank expression or the impersonal tone of voice. Those balls in her chest increased speed. She regretted not going for the mailbox option.
“Sorry to bug you. I just thought Naia might be missing this.” Addison practically threw the bunny at him. “But I’m sure you’re busy, so I won’t keep you long.” She took a step back from the door, already fishing her keys out of her purse.
“No, not at all.” He reached out to her like he wanted to pull her inside. “Please, come in.”
“Really?” She hesitated, poking her head inside, checking for signs of Charlotte; a pair of shoes, a coat. “Are you sure?”
Felix stepped aside and tilted his head in invitation.
She swallowed a bouncy ball and stepped onto the welcome mat, staring at her shoes while he closed the door.
“So how is
Naia?” she asked.
“She’s good. She finally went to sleep way past her bedtime. She kept asking for bunny.” He jiggled the stuffed animal in his hand. “I’m really glad you found it. Thanks.”
Felix was being so distant, so unfamiliar, like they hadn’t faced death together just the night before. Hadn’t spent the last two weeks fighting their attraction. Hadn’t ever kissed. Like he didn’t know how to make her body, and her heart, sing. But then again, maybe it was because she hadn’t looked him in the eye since she arrived.
Forcing her eyes to meet his, she noticed he wasn’t wearing his sling anymore. “How’s your arm?”
“Good. Good. A bit sore, but not bad.” He rolled his shoulder freely, wincing only slightly. “How are you after everything?” He gestured stiffly, like he was having an awkward conversation with a mere stranger.
Maybe that’s what he wanted to be. Strangers. Old acquaintances. Addison could be “this girl he once knew.” Perhaps that was better, she told herself. That could make it easier to move on. To stop thinking about how he’d saved her life, how easy it was to be herself when she was around him. To stop thinking about his arms around her, his laugh, his charm, and just how much she wanted to kiss him right now.
“I’m fine,” she said, finally. “A little tired.” She leaned back against the front door because “a little” was an understatement.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say good-bye last night,” he said. “Or thank you. If that even covers going through something like that with someone.” His cool behavior warmed a little. “You helped me save my daughter. You helped me clear my name. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Same here,” she said. “Now maybe you’ll start getting gigs again. Maybe it’s too late for your friend’s Irish pub, but there will be another bar, I’m sure.”
“Actually. There already is.” His face lit up, the rest of the frostiness melting. “Turns out my boss is looking at jail time for his involvement with the dognappings. With all that gambling debt Penny mentioned, he’s selling the bar to pay it off so no one is hired to shiv him in jail.” He grinned, like the threat of a good shivving was the best possible news. “The bar is up for sale.”
“That’s great.” She smiled. “Yay for shivving.”
“And with forty percent of Alistair’s reward money for finding Lilly, I’ll have more than enough for the down payment.”
“Make that fifty percent,” Addison said, with a smile. “And that’s great. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks. But what about you? You can use the reward money to keep your business afloat for a little longer.” As their natural connection began to flow again, he seemed to forget his aloofness altogether. It felt so easy to be around him. So instinctual.
“Actually, thanks to our solving the case, business is looking up,” Addison said. “The fashion show, on the other hand, might still be a bust.” She dreaded finally facing Aiden and telling him his sure-thing investment had become a bottomless money pit.
He pulled a sympathetic face. “Still no reservations?”
“No.” She shook her head. “But it’s not until tomorrow afternoon. Still a few more hours yet. Things might pick up.”
He chuckled, almond eyes sparkling down at her, making her tingle inside and then hurt all over again at the feeling of the loss in front of her. “Ever the optimist. There’s the Addy I know and…” He petered off. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “But surely Phillip will be there. Maybe he has a few rich friends he can invite.”
“Phillip?” Her forehead winkled. “I don’t think he’ll be coming.”
Felix gave her a questioning look, and that’s when she realized he still thought she was interested in Phillip. That they were dating. The match with Phillip seemed so out of the question to her now, but she’d never actually had the chance to tell Felix, what with the dogs and Naia being stolen from the boat, and being held at gunpoint and all.
“I’m not with Phillip.” She wrinkled her nose. “I realized he wasn’t for me.”
The rest of his strangeness fell away like he pulled off a mask. But he was still hiding some emotion, she just didn’t know what it was. “What happened? I thought he was Mr. Perfect.”
“He is,” she said.
A flicker of that hidden emotion broke through before he suppressed it again.
“He’s just not perfect for me,” she shrugged. “Anyway. I’m sure Charlotte is happy you’re going to buy the bar.”
He seemed to take a moment to redirect his thoughts. “She’ll definitely have a better boss to work for.”
“Well, you’d be more than a boss.”
That little crease between his brows appeared. “What do you mean?”
“I just mean…” Her throat suddenly felt tight. She swallowed. “I’m happy for the two of you.”
“You mean Naia and I?”
“No. You and Charlotte.” She struggled to explain herself, feeling heat build beneath her carefully placed makeup. She was so tired and her thoughts were difficult to put into words. “Since you two are starting to date now. You were at the gala together and everything.”
He was kind of smiling, but in a very confused way. “I wasn’t on a date with Charlotte.”
“Well, not technically a date. I know you were really there to investigate but—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I mean we weren’t on a date.”
“But you went there together.”
“Because my car was still in the shop. She drove. We’re not dating. It’s not like that.”
Oh God, she thought. They were even more serious than she’d suspected. “When Naia was taken, Charlotte said … she said she was going to make a terrible mother.”
Felix crossed her arms, and she wondered if she was overstepping the line. It was none of her business.
“Yes,” he said. “She meant to her own child. Charlotte’s pregnant.”
Oh God! They were having a baby. That explained the rush for getting serious so fast. Maybe they’d even be married soon. Her brain, which had been struggling to keep up with only a couple of hours sleep, suddenly failed her. She leaned back against the door like the news just blew her away.
“Pregnant.” The word came out in a rush of breath. “That’s … great.” She tried to sound enthusiastic, truly she did, but it was hard to smile with the tears building in her eyes.
“Our boss found out she was expecting. Joe’s notorious for laying girls off when they’re pregnant so he doesn’t have to pay maternity leave.”
Addison scowled, trying to pull herself together. “He can’t do that. There are laws to protect her.”
“Joe’s done it before. He builds up files on everyone, a list of probationary stuff, discipline letters. It’s all total made-up bullshit, but whenever he decides he wants to get rid of someone, it looks like he has enough on them to make it legal.” He shrugged. “It’s not fair. But it’s a dive bar. It’s not exactly like we have a union.”
“That’s terrible,” she said.
“He’s a cheap bastard. She’d worked for him for five years, had earned maternity leave. When he found out she was expecting, he blackmailed her into helping load up the dogs into the van at Phillip’s fundraiser. He needed someone on the inside. Said if she didn’t do it, he’d suddenly run out of work in the next few months and lay her off.”
Addison nodded slowly. “So that’s why she helped steal the dogs.”
“She didn’t think anything bad would happen to them.” He stopped and shook his head. “I know that’s no excuse, but with a baby on the way and her man recently laid off of his job, I don’t envy the position she was in.”
Addison noted how casually he called himself “her man.” She wanted to condemn Charlotte, but then she thought about what she’d been willing to do to save her own business. And it was just her and Princess. She couldn’t imagine the pressure Charlotte had been under to keep her job.
“Well, congratulatio
ns,” Addison said at last. Trying really hard for that earnest smile. “I’m sure you and Charlotte will be very happy.” But those tears were building again, and the last thing on Earth she wanted to do was cry in front of him. She reached for the door handle behind her, getting ready to leave.
“Wait. What?” Felix blinked. He opened his mouth, his kissable mouth, and closed it again. He rubbed a hand over his face and considered Addison for a moment. “Charlotte’s pregnant. You understand it has nothing to do with me, right?”
“What?” Addison’s eyes widened and then quickly narrowed. “How can you say that? You can’t just turn your back on her. Take some responsibility, Felix.” Her voice rose, but she tried to keep it low as to not wake Naia.
“Addy. Listen to me.” Felix gripped her by the shoulders and gave her a soft shake. “Charlotte is pregnant, but not with my baby. She’s pregnant by her boyfriend.”
She blinked. “Boyfriend?”
“Yes. Boy-who-is-not-me boyfriend.” He spoke slowly and clearly so she could understand.
“Not you?” Blink, blink went her eyes. “You’re not pregnant? You’re not marrying Charlotte?”
“What? No!” He laughed his rich belly laugh. “Where is this coming from? I told you we’re just friends.”
“B-But the flirting,” she stuttered. “And you seemed so close at the gala. And … and…” She didn’t know why she was arguing, like she was trying to convince him he was really dating her, whether he knew it or not. She couldn’t wrap her head around it. After everything she’d seen. “What about the night you went to her house?”
Felix grew quiet and still, his hands dropped from her shoulders. Addison bit her lip. She hadn’t considered how he’d react to the news before it flew out of her mouth. She’d glazed over that tidbit of information on the Belle. Now that she’d reminded him, his gaze narrowed.
“You were following me?” he asked.
She raised her hands, holding off his anger. “I had no idea you’d be there. I know that you insisted Charlotte was innocent, but I just didn’t trust her. I felt there was more going on.”
Beauty and the Wiener Page 33
