Page 7 of Pugs & Kisses

D elightfully chaotic.

That was the best way to describe the atmosphere at Barkingham Palace on any given day. Evie had smiled more in the two hours since she’d entered through the freshly painted doors of the pet daycare’s newest location than she had in the past two days.

Since arriving, she’d witnessed a cocker spaniel and a bichon frise engaged in a fierce tug-of-war over a stuffed Baby Yoda, a long-haired Chihuahua executing a perfect backflip in exchange for a doggy treat, and she was certain her favorite corgi, Franny, had said the word store .

Or maybe it had been stove . Either way, the dog had talked.

This was the kind of mayhem she needed in her life—not the kind Cameron had wreaked.

Not to mention what seeing Bryson Mitchell had done to her.

She paused for a moment, giving her brain time to adjust to the cosmic shift that took place whenever she so much as thought his name.

The intense reaction that went through her the moment she turned around and saw Bryson standing behind Doc Landry yesterday had been involuntary.

And inevitable. How could her body not react to seeing him again after all this time?

Over the years, she had tried to convince herself that she had created an unrealistic memory of him, but that was not the case.

At all. Bryson Mitchell was still one of the finest men to ever walk the planet.

Smooth, dark brown skin. A smile so bright it made her want to put on sunshades.

A cut jawline that fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. Lips that…

Don’t go there!

She would not think about his lips and all the places they could and did go.

He still had that tall, svelte physique he’d had as a basket-ball player at LSU, but his chest and shoulders had filled out even more over these past eight years.

The way the lightweight sweater had contoured to his pecs left an imprint on her mind, one that refused to leave no matter how many times she tried to blink it away.

Had she opened an umbrella indoors? Walked under a ladder?

Encountering the only other man who’d managed to break her heart within hours of having her heart broken by the man she’d been engaged to marry was next-level bad luck.

Maybe it was karma for hitting that pothole on Poydras Avenue last month and splashing a woman waiting to cross the street.

She’d felt horrible, but that had been the Public Works Department’s fault, not hers.

“Whatever it is, you’d better fix it,” Evie whispered.

She had been lucky to get through that hour-long encounter with Bryson without having the emotional meltdown she’d desperately needed. She didn’t want to chance anything else happening that would send her over the edge.

As she used her penlight to examine the ear canal of a Maltese new to Barkingham Palace, her nerves began to settle. She relished being able to lose herself in the familiarity of doing her job. It was therapeutic. No, it was necessary .

If she really was done with the clinic on Maple Street—and she was; there’s no way she could go back—she would have to find a full-time job soon.

For one thing, she could use a steady paycheck, but she needed the comfort of being around animals more than she needed the money.

Hopefully she could convince her patients from Cameron’s practice to follow her wherever she landed.

He would be so pissed. It’s exactly what he deserved.

There was a soft knock a second before the door opened and Ashanti slipped inside the exam room. She was dressed in Barkingham Palace’s signature purple polo shirt and wore her skinny micro-braids down around her shoulders.

“How is Cassiopeia’s ear?” Ashanti asked. “Is it infected?”

“Slightly,” Evie answered. “I have some drops at—” She paused. She no longer had a practice from which she could simply pick up medication. “I’ll prescribe some drops. It won’t take long to clear this up.”

“Gentamicin and clotrimazole?” Ashanti asked.

Evie welcomed the grin that tilted up the corner of her mouth. “You’ve still got it, my friend.”

Ashanti licked her finger and tapped herself on the ass while making a sizzling sound. “At least all of that schooling didn’t go to waste.”

Before her best friend became the owner and operator of the most popular doggy daycare in the Gulf Coast region, she had been a fourth year alongside Evie at LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine. In fact, it was Ashanti who had convinced Evie to become a vet.

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 things were 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 about this space?” 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 am so glad 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 do I need 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 is so adorable. 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. Her bandwidth 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.”