Pardon My Frenchie

27

Thad wedged his finger between the bow tie and his neck while he silently cursed whoever had come up with the idea that dogs deserved to be on calendars.

Why had he agreed to do this photo shoot?

He felt like every kind of fool known to man, standing under these hot-as-hell lights dressed in a top hat and bow tie. His only consolation was that Puddin’ was stuck wearing the same, and he didn’t seem to be enjoying himself either.

Ashanti, on the other hand, was living this up, snapping pictures with her phone and shouting out words of encouragement to Puddin’. Seeing the smile on her face as he and the dog were instructed to strike pose after ridiculous pose was the only reason Thad hadn’t thrown this stupid hat and tie in the trash and hauled ass out of here.

And his grandmother, of course. He couldn’t help but think about how much Grams would love these pictures when they were done. She would probably buy a calendar for every resident of the assisted living facility.

“Smile, Thad,” Ashanti called out to him. “Not everyone gets to be the very first month in the calendar. You should feel like a rock star.”

“Every rock star I’ve ever seen has had sweat dripping down their faces like a waterfall, so in a way, you’re right.”

“Just a few more shots,” the photographer said. “I want you to hold up Puddin’s paw so that it looks as if you two are high-fiving.”

Thad barely managed to hold in his groan.

Of course, Puddin’ didn’t cooperate. It took another ten minutes before the photographer was able to get the shot she wanted.

“We’re done with January,” the woman called. “Now it’s time for my birthday month: May! Ashanti, your costumes are behind the curtain. You and Duchess can get ready while I replace the backdrop and props.”

Ten minutes later, Thad’s attitude about today’s photo shoot had taken a complete one-eighty.

He stood to the side, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Ashanti pose in an airy, soft peach dress with a crown of colorful flowers propped on her head. Duchess looked as if she had been made for the camera in her matching peach tutu. Even a non–dog lover like him couldn’t deny that she was cute with her flower crown askew on her head and her stubby tail wagging like a flag in a windstorm.

“I have to stop snapping, but I can’t,” the photographer said. “These are just too adorable.”

“Well, if you don’t stop soon both me and Duchess will probably have an accident,” Ashanti said.

“Okay, okay.” The photographer lowered her camera. “Both dogs probably need a potty break, but I would like to get a few shots with both of them together before we wrap up.”

Thad took Duchess and Puddin’ out to the tiny six-by-eight patio that was conveniently equipped with a couple of squares of landscaping sod for the dogs to use to relieve themselves. He returned to find the photographer up on a ladder, unclipping the spring meadow backdrop from the rod that held it up. Ashanti was scrolling through her phone, a smile brightening her face.

“What has you smiling?” Thad asked.

“Instagram.” She took only a second to glance up at him before returning to her phone. “Kara or Dom added still shots of our interview and people are losing their minds over how cute Duchess and Puddin’ were this morning.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Unfortunately, those rumors seem to be spreading.” She looked up at him again. “Everyone thinks we’re a couple.”

Thad hunched his shoulders. “I usually don’t care what everyone thinks, but in this instance…”

Ashanti sent him what she probably thought was a mean glare. All Thad could think about was how cute she looked when her freckles deepened with her blush.

“I’m pretty sure you’re going to approve of this last backdrop,” the photographer said. She hooked the grommets through two hooks then let the backdrop unfurl with a flourish. It was a portrait of Buckingham Palace.

“Ah!” Ashanti squealed. “I love it!”

“Aaaaand,” the photographer said, drawing the word out as she darted to the boxes of props. She pulled out a tiara and crown. “Accessories worthy of a duchess and her duke.”

They were nearing the two-and-a-half-hour mark of what was supposed to be a two-hour photo shoot, but Thad knew better than to say anything. Other than that stupid bow tie that had tried to choke him, the afternoon had not been all that painful.

But he was still relieved when, ten minutes later, the photographer wrapped up the photo shoot. They left shortly after.

“We are totally having picture day at Barkingham Palace,” Ashanti said. “I’m ordering one of those backdrops as soon as we’re back home.”

“I could have predicted that the moment that backdrop fluttered to the floor. Your eyes lit up.”

“It’s so adorable! This is also a genius fundraising tool. I’ll probably buy three dozen of those calendars for holiday gifts.”

They spent the next hour playing tourists, snapping pictures in front of Penn Station, the Garden, Macy’s and, of course, the Empire State Building. Thad found out the Flatiron Building was on her list of must-sees, so they headed south.

They ended up at Madison Square Park. Puddin’ and Duchess were both recognized, of course, and after taking pictures with fellow dogs, Thad unclipped both their leashes and let them run free in the smaller, enclosed dog park.

“What an afternoon,” Ashanti said as she plopped down on a bench. “I needed this.”

“I could tell,” Thad said without thinking.

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

Shit. If he’d just messed up the lighthearted mood of their afternoon, he would assign fifty push-ups to his damn self.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but earlier, when we were still at the Luke and Leah show, you seemed upset,” Thad said. “You always have such a positive vibe about you. Even when you were chewing me out for buying the Bywater house out from under you, it was the politest chewing out I’ve ever seen.”

She laughed. “And here I thought I was being too mean to you,” she said.

“My sister has given me more attitude when wishing me a happy birthday, Ashanti. You are seriously the most upbeat person I’ve ever met. Seeing you upset earlier threw me a little. You said all was okay with your sisters, but…” He shrugged. “It still threw me.”

“Everything is okay,” she said. Then added, “For the most part.”

“And the other part?” he asked.

This time her laugh held very little humor. “You know that saying ‘smile to keep from crying’?”

He didn’t like the sound of that. Thad settled his elbows on his thighs and looked over at her. “You want to talk about it?”

She sent him a wan smile. “Thanks, but you didn’t come to New York to be my therapist, Thad. I’m not unloading all of my shi—crap on you.”

“First, it’s okay to say the word shit around me. I promise I won’t judge you, because I will likely say much worse without even realizing it. Second, I would never suggest that I’m capable of being anyone’s therapist. I’ve been seen by enough therapists to know that I could never do the work they do.

“Yes,” Thad said at the sight of her arched brows. “I have no problem admitting that I’ve been to therapy. Some mandated by the US Army and a couple of times just on my own. I’ve got shit I’ve had to work out. I could probably do with a few more sessions. My point is that I’m not trying to be your therapist. Just a friend,” he said.

“And as your friend, I want you to feel comfortable enough to share what’s bothering you. I’m pretty good at listening to people get things off their chests. It was a requirement of my job for a long time.”

“That sounds like a therapist.”

Thad laughed as he realized she was right. “I guess a commanding officer does have a few things in common with a therapist.” He nudged her with his elbow. “What’s going on, Ashanti?”

She tilted her head back and pinched her eyes shut.

“It’s Kendra, the twin you haven’t met. She’s been so sullen and moody lately—far beyond typical teenage moodiness. Kara is pulling the twin sister code of silence on me, so I can’t get anything out of her.” She released a deep sigh, running her fingers through the skinny braids she’d unbound after they left the photo shoot. “The thing is, I’m not sure Kara knows what’s going on either, and that worries me more than anything. I’ve gotten the silent treatment before—Kendra didn’t speak to me for a week after I wouldn’t allow her to go to a school dance last year—but freezing out Kara is different.”

“Do you think it’s boy trouble?”

“That would be girl trouble if you’re talking about Kendra—she came out two years ago.” She shook her head. “But it’s not that. She and her girlfriend broke up last year, but they’re still good friends. Zalia doesn’t know what’s going on with her either.”

She hunched her shoulders. “The good thing is, today Kendra told me that she’s ready to talk. Or, at least, she will be ready to talk once I get back home.”

Ashanti rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“I just… it’s so hard to figure out if I’m doing the right thing with them. Sometimes, every decision seems like the wrong one.”

“Yeah, I’ve been there,” Thad said. “I got off on somewhat of a rocky start as a commanding officer. Von said it’s because I wanted to be more friend than CO, but that wasn’t it. Some of those kids needed a father figure and I wanted to do for them what my grandfather did for me.” He shrugged. “But, of course, some tried to take advantage of my benevolence.”

“Because teenagers will always try you,” she laughed.

Damn, but he loved her laugh. He wasn’t sure he had ever even taken note of another woman’s laugh before.

Thad glanced out at the park to make sure Duchess and Puddin’ weren’t getting into anything dangerous, then angled toward Ashanti. “What makes you think you’re messing up with your sisters?”

“I don’t know. With the daycare and now Duchess Delights, it feels as if I’m not devoting enough time to them. Yet, when I ask if they want to hang out, they say no. Especially Kendra.”

“They’re teenagers.”

“I know. I just… I wonder if they wouldn’t have been better off with my dad’s older sister.” She immediately shook her head. “That’s not true. If there is one thing I do know, it’s that they are better off with me than with Anita. The girls call her Atilla, as in the Hun.”

“Damn,” Thad said.

“Yes, she’s that bad,” Ashanti said. She pulled her lip between her teeth. “It’s just… I have to look on the bright side of everything, because if I allow myself to wallow in all that bad—the shitty stuff—I’m afraid I’ll drown.”

“I’ve met your friends, Ashanti. They wouldn’t let you drown.”

He wanted to touch her so badly. To reach out and take her hand in his and bring it to his lips. And then bring his lips to hers. He wanted to kiss that sad smile from her face.

But that wasn’t what she wanted from him.

“That’s true,” she said. “Evie and Ridley are amazing.”

“And now you have this new friend in your life who doesn’t mind listening to you rant about insufferable teenagers.”

She looked over at him, her eyes glinting with amusement and something else. Something more. Something that made him wonder if he was wrong about how she would react to him kissing her again.

“That’s true,” she repeated, her voice as soft as her gaze as she regarded him with an awareness Thad had never seen from her before. As if she was only now recognizing what he had been feeling since that first day he walked into her daycare.

But then she tore her gaze away from his, focusing on the stand of trees on the opposite side of the park.

“Um, I think I owe you an explanation,” she said.

He frowned. “For what?”

“For why I keep insisting that we ignore what we both know is happening between us,” she said. She glanced at him, then at the trees, and then finally back at him. “Like I said, it’s complicated.”

“I can handle complicated,” Thad said.

“Even though my parents specified in their will that I be granted custody of Kendra and Kara if anything were to happen to them, Anita petitioned the court for legal custody. She said I was too young to raise them, and that my workload as a fourth-year veterinary school student would be too much for me to handle.”

“So you quit school,” Thad said.

She shook her head. “I tried to make it work for a while. The judge decided it was unfair to assume I would not be able to take care of the girls while also pursing my degree. Everything was going okay until one night when I got caught up at a study group.” She massaged her right temple with her thumb. “Kendra and Kara were at day camp, so I asked my boyfriend at the time to pick them up. I didn’t realize he’d spent the day out at the Lakefront drinking with his buddies.”

“Don’t tell me…”

She nodded. “Thankfully, he got stopped for a DUI before he picked up the girls, but he told the arresting officer that he had been on his way to get them. It was all the ammunition Anita needed.”

“Shit,” Thad whispered.

“Anita tried to convince the courts that I was unfit because of Simon’s actions.” Her bottom lip trembled, a clear indication the accusation still affected her. “That’s when I quit school. It’s also when I decided that putting dating off for a few years wasn’t a big sacrifice if it meant not jeopardizing my guardianship of the girls.”

“But you quit veterinary school in your final year. Wasn’t that enough of a sacrifice?”

“When it comes to Kendra and Kara, there is nothing that I will not do to ensure that Anita never gains custody.” She cut her eyes at him, though a grin tugged at her lips. “I was doing just fine until you came along with your cute smile and that sexy tattoo on your arm that keeps playing peekaboo.”

Thad wanted to laugh, but the steadfastness he heard in her voice as she explained her rationale for not dating wrecked him. Her aunt’s unreasonable expectations were straight up bullshit.

“You didn’t ask for my opinion, and yeah, my motives are selfish,” Thad admitted. “But this is just wrong. You were young, and your boyfriend, though an asshole, was also young. It’s unfair that your aunt can continue to hold something that happened years ago against you.”

“Tell that to her,” Ashanti said with a humorless laugh. “This isn’t solely about her though,” she continued. “The incident with Simon reminded me why I need to be careful about who I bring around the girls. I’m raising impressionable teenagers. There’s a responsibility that comes with that and I refuse to take it lightly.”

How could he argue with that?

“I get it,” Thad said.

He didn’t like it. He fucking hated it, to be honest, but he understood and respected her stance.

Duchess came waddling over to the bench, with Puddin’ not far behind. Ashanti leaned over and rubbed the Frenchie’s head and Thad automatically did the same to Puddin’. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Thank you,” Ashanti said. “For listening. For… all of this. If you’d told me a few weeks ago that you would be one of the friends I shared anything with, I would never have believed you. But life is funny. It has a way of moving in directions you could have never imagined.”

She nudged her head toward Puddin’. “It looks as if you two are finally starting to get along.”

“See what I mean?” Thad said. “You’re eternally hopeful, even when it’s a lost cause.”

She laughed. “Nothing is ever a lost cause,” she said.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said.

He was counting on it.