Page 44 of Pugs & Kisses

I s there a reason you’re so quiet?” Bryson asked from behind the wheel as they waited for the light to change at Napoleon and South Claiborne Avenues.

Evie shook her head, not bothering to look up from her phone. She knew if she tried to speak, her voice would shake with the violent fury she was working with all her might to suppress.

“Forget about what Cameron said,” Bryson continued. “That guy has always been an asshole and he’ll continue to be one. It’s probably in his DNA.”

Evie nodded. The rage still wouldn’t let her say a single word.

The moment he pulled up to the curb in front of her house, she hopped out of the Jeep and went inside. She went straight for the dogs, guiding them both to the backyard. She heard the door leading to the backyard open a few minutes later, but didn’t turn.

Bryson came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. Evie flinched before she could stop herself.

She felt Bryson grow still.

“Ev?” he said, his voice a mix of confusion and concern. “Are you okay?”

“No.” She shook off his hands and took a couple of steps, putting distance between them. Evie pulled in a deep breath, then turned to face him.

“What did you mean by ‘you won’?” Evie asked.

He frowned. “What?”

“You told Cameron that you won everything, including me.” She tilted her head to the side and stared up at him. “Is that what this has been about all this time, Bryson? Has this been some twisted game of one-upmanship you’ve been playing to get back at your old rival?”

Hurt flashed across his face. “Is that what you think?”

“That’s what it sounded like to me. ‘I have a more successful career. I have the accolades. I have Evie.’ As if I’m just an item on a scorecard you’ve been keeping.”

A nerve ticked in his jaw. “You know that’s not the case.”

“So you’re not in competition with Cameron? Explain it to me, Bryson.”

“Look, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t?”

“No, Ev, you wouldn’t! How would you understand what it’s like to have to deal with people like Cameron day after day when you are a person like Cameron?”

“Excuse me? Didn’t you just tell me last night that I’m not like the people who were at my parents’ party?”

“It’s what I told myself.” He shook his head and huffed out a humorless laugh.

“But we both know it isn’t true. Go out and ask the average unemployed person on the street if they can just decide not to look for a new job because they’d rather work on a little pet project in order to feel better about themselves.

People who are not like you and Cameron have to work for a living.

We don’t get to just play at it when the mood hits us. ”

The anguish that struck her was sharp and debilitating, rendering her momentarily speechless. She had to swallow several times before she could speak.

“You can leave,” she told him. “Now.”

Bryson’s eyes slid closed. He brought his hand behind his head and kneaded the back of his neck.

“Ev.”

“I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say, Bryson. You convinced yourself a long time ago that we could never be together because we’re from two different worlds, and you were not going to stop until you proved it. Congratulations. You proved it.”

“Evie.”

She pointed to the back door. “Just go.”

He stared at her, his eyes a storm of hurt, despair, and disbelief. But he didn’t say anything. He went over to where Bella and Waffles sniffed at a pile of leaves, scooped his dog into his arms, and walked right past her.

Evie wrapped her arms around her middle and pulled her trembling bottom lip between her teeth. The pain in the back of her throat made it difficult to swallow, but the pain in her chest made it difficult to breathe.

Where was the numbness? She needed the numbness now!

“No.” She shook her head.

She was not going through this again. She would not spend the next two days spiraling, watching breakup scenes from her favorite rom-coms on the couch while the rest of the world passed her by. She had a gala to produce.

Two hours later, Evie sat on Ridley’s sofa, cradling a glass of wine and massaging Waffles’s back with her bare toes. Ashanti sat on the floor with Duchess, feeding her blueberries from the carton she’d brought with her.

Ridley came in from the kitchen, carrying a mug. “The dogs have their own room. Why are they not in it?” she asked.

“Because Waffles really likes your rug,” Evie said. “He keeps rubbing his belly against it.”

Ridley pointed at Waffles. “Don’t get fresh with my rug, dog. I just had it cleaned.”

She sat on the other side of the sofa and brought her mug to her lips.

“Are you drinking tea again?” Evie asked.

“I like it.” She shrugged as she took a sip. She nodded at Evie. “So, the fine basketball player from LSU turned out to be just a man like all the rest of them, huh?”

“I guess he did,” Evie said, a fresh stab of misery piercing her chest. “Surprised the hell out of me.” She kneaded her left temple with her thumb and forefinger, still working to overcome the shock of what happened today. “I really thought Bryson was different.”

Ashanti raised her hand. “Uh, I know I don’t have to point out that it’s not all men.”

“You are not about to ‘not all men’ her,” Ridley said.

“But it’s true.”

“Nah-uh.” Ridley wagged a finger. “Happily coupled people do not get to participate in the bitching fest. Go back to feeding your dog her blueberries.”

Ashanti stuck her tongue out at her before popping a blueberry into her own mouth.

“I don’t want this to turn into a bitching fest either,” Evie said with a heavy sigh. “It’s my fault I didn’t sense Bryson’s resentment.”

“Ev, I saw the way that man looked at you,” Ashanti said. “I didn’t notice any resentment. He looked infatuated with you.”

“Well, it didn’t sound like there was any infatuation once he finally got everything off his chest,” Evie said.

“I think he’s been resenting me this entire time and was just stringing me along until he got the chance to rub his success in Cameron’s face.

It was an added bonus that he could tell Cam that he was also screwing his fiancée. ”

“You’re Cameron’s ex-fiancée, so why the hell should he care?” Ridley asked. “And at least the sex with Bryson was good, so you got something out of it.”

Evie huffed out a laugh. “You always know how to find the bright side, Rid.”

“It’s my gift,” Ridley said.

“Enough about Bryson,” Evie said. “I have a puppy gala to pull off, and I want to earn enough to buy a new building outright. I’ve already found a few options.

I even looked at a few outside of the city that aren’t as expensive.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. What I need to focus on right now is getting the word out about the gala.

” She turned to Ridley. “Have you talked to Dom?”

Ridley held up her cell phone. “You are lucky as fuck. Her latest client had to cancel, so her schedule just opened up. And when I say you are lucky, I truly mean that you are lucky ! Because Dom said she will do this pro bono. You all have turned her into a dog person too.”

“That’s fantastic!” Evie clapped her hands.

“And you don’t have to look for a venue, because she has already pulled in a favor and secured the Audubon Tea Room.”

The Audubon Tea Room, along with the gorgeous grounds surrounding it, would be the perfect location.

Evie was afraid to feel too hopeful, too soon, but she couldn’t fight the excitement that began building in her bloodstream.

“I’m going to pull this off,” Evie whispered.

“Damn right you will,” Ridley said.

She would. But Evie knew there was another person whose help she needed in order to make this gala the success the rescue deserved. It was time to swallow her pride and do what was best for The Sanctuary.

She called her mother and learned that she was at the hospital today, which was located downtown, not even ten minutes from Ridley’s condo. Ashanti offered to take Waffles to the dog park where she and Duchess were meeting up with Thad and Puddin’.

When Evie arrived at her mother’s office, she was told Dr. Williams was consulting in the Cardiac Care Unit. Evie opted for the stairs since it was only one flight up and found her mother standing at the nurses’ station, surrounded by six people in white coats.

Even though she couldn’t hear what was being said, the respect on the younger doctors’ faces as they listened to her mother filled Evie’s chest with a level of pride she wouldn’t even try to deny.

The group broke apart a minute later and her mother, who hadn’t shown any indication that she’d noticed Evie, headed straight for her.

“What’s so urgent, Evelina?” Constance greeted. “Your call made it sound as if the world was on fire.”

“Not the world,” Evie said. “Just my world. And I’ve put the fire out, for the most part, but I’m not above asking for help when I need it. And I need your help.”

“Oh?” Constance’s brow arched. “It must be important if you’re willing to come to the hospital to get it. I know how you feel about this place.”

“It is important,” Evie said. “It is one of the most important things I have ever attempted, and I want to see it through. Can we go to your office?”

“I don’t want to leave the CCU,” Constance said.

Her mother tapped the old school pager on her hip.

She was one of a surprising number of doctors at the hospital who still used them.

“I have two post-op patients I’m monitoring and don’t want to be too far away if I’m needed.

We can use one of the consult rooms. Follow me. ”

They started down the hallway. Once again, Evie noticed the deference being paid to her mother by everyone who passed them.

There was outright hero worship on the faces of some of the younger doctors wearing the shorter white coats.

Just before they reached the consult room, they had to move aside for a patient on a gurney being wheeled to their room.

Constance held the door open for Evie to go in ahead of her.

“You know, every time you’re here, I realize how much you don’t fit in,” her mother said.

Evie narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure if I should take that as an insult or as the truth.”

“It’s not an insult, Evelina.” Her mother perched against the arm of the standard-issue upholstered chair.

“I have been thinking about our… discussion, if you will… last night.” She released a breath.

“You will rarely hear me say this, but it’s probably a good thing you didn’t listen to your mother and become a cardiologist. Both you and your patients would have suffered for it. ”

“Wait a minute.” Evie put her hands up. “Did you just feel the earth shake underneath your feet?”

Her mother rolled her eyes. “Always with the dramatics.” But then her expression softened. “I do not always say it, but you do know that I am proud of you, don’t you?”

Evie stiffened with shock. The emotion that welled in her throat was instantaneous and abundant enough to choke on.

“Sort of,” she managed to say. Then she shook her head.

“No. Actually, I did not know that. I have never doubted your love for me, but pride?” She shook her head again.

“It has always been a struggle for me to decide what meant more: my happiness or earning your respect and approval. It’s something I still struggle with, if I’m being honest.”

“That’s my fault,” Constance said.

“It is,” Evie said with a hiccupping laugh. “But mine too. I should have spoken up a long time ago.”

She studied her mother’s face, wondering how they had arrived here. She’d come to ask for her mother’s assistance in planning the gala. But now that they were finally having this conversation, Evie decided to go all the way.

“I never should have gotten back together with Cameron after the first time I broke up with him,” Evie said.

“I continued to go back to him because I thought becoming a veterinarian was my little act of defiance, and I owed you something for not choosing the career you wanted for me. But it’s my life.

And I’m grateful for what you and Dad have provided, but it should not come at the cost of my happiness or my dignity. ”

Constance stood and reached for Evie’s hands. She took them in hers and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

“I never want you to compromise your happiness for anyone, even me. It is no secret that I have made compromises and sacrifices for things that I think are important, but you are your own person, Evelina.”

Evie was overwhelmed by the gratitude that filled her chest. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known hearing these words from Constance would affect her; she just had not realized how much it would mean to finally have her mother see and accept her for who she was.

“Thank you,” Evie said. It’s all she could think to say. It’s all that needed to be said.

Well, that wasn’t all that needed to be said.

Evie let out a cleansing breath. “Okay. Now that we’ve established that I am my own person who can accomplish anything on my own, I need my mommy’s help.”

Constance’s face lit up in a rare smile.

“Oh, you do?” she asked, amusement brightening her brown eyes, which looked so much like Evie’s that it felt as if she were staring into a mirror. “And just what do you need my help in accomplishing?”

“You know that fabulous, over-the-top party you threw last night? How about a repeat, but on an even grander scale?”