Chapter Twelve
Emily
“Those mozzarella sticks and calamari did not taste as good coming up as they did going down,” I said, walking out of Cassie’s bathroom the next morning.
“You threw up?” Cassie asked, pulling herself out of her bed.
“Yeah. Whose bright idea was it to do those shots after three glasses of wine?”
Cassie raised her hand guiltily. “I only meant for us to do one. But the first was so yummy I wanted another. Sorry.”
“It was worth it,” I said. “I haven’t been hung over like this in a long time.”
“Me either.”
I tossed the bottle of aspirin to her.
“Thanks for the best night,” I said, helping as she made the bed.
“I had so much fun,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much I needed it too.”
I spun around to grab my bag and felt the floor tilt under my feet. “Whoa,” I said, cupping my stomach as it churned.
“You okay?” Cassie eyed me curiously.
“Yeah. I just need to eat something,” I said, walking out to the kitchen.
“Banana. Water,” Cassie said, placing the items in my hands. “And some crackers, just in case.” She put some saltines into a baggie and tucked them into my purse.
Squinting against the morning sun, I slid my sunglasses on. They helped, but not much. I scarfed the banana down and popped a few more aspirins. I had clients to meet today, and I wouldn’t be much good with my head pounding.
Even if a gnarly hangover was the price I had to pay for an unforgettable night with my best friend, I’d do it a hundred times over.
Saturdays were typically busier days, but because of the beautiful weather, Bark Park was overflowing with dogs and their humans.
Bundles of fur raced past me, chasing bright green tennis balls.
Their humans clapped, signaled, and called out for the return. As before, the dogs zoomed past me again.
“Good job, everyone!” I said, making my way toward the group, I caught Evan and Michelle’s attention. Michelle was a client from a few years back and recently returned because she talked her friend into getting a puppy. “If you can stay for a couple more minutes, I’d like to work a little more with Turbo and Vinnie.”
The two friends moved to the side as I made my way to say goodbye to the other dogs, congratulating them with one last treat.
I made a kissing sound, getting Turbo’s attention. He angled his head at the sound but was alert and attentive.
“Sit. Good boy. Michelle, I’d like to have Vinnie and Turbo do a couple more drills if that’s okay.”
“Sure,” she said.
I tossed a ball in the air and watched Turbo’s focus.
“Vinnie, Turbo, race!” I yelled, hurling two balls in the same direction as before.
Vinnie sprinted off, and Turbo, being a puppy and all, clambered after her.
“He’s got good instincts, Evan. And he likes to play.”
“You’re telling me. Damn dog wakes up at three every morning like he has an alarm clock I can’t hear.”
Michelle laughed. “Vinnie did that too. It’s a puppy thing.”
“Yes, puppies do love to play at the most inopportune times,” I said.
“He’ll grow out of it.”
“When?” Evan asked.
The dogs came back. Only Vinnie had her ball with her.
“Great,” Evan said.
“Hey, he’s like you when you play golf,” Michelle teased. “Now you have to look for his ball too.”
I kept my chuckle in. As much as I wanted to laugh, professionalism dictated I let them hash it out.
Michelle turned to me and said, “You don’t need to stay, Emily. We got this.”
“I don’t mind.”
“No, no. We’ll do this a little more and take them for a walk down by the water before we go to dinner.”
Evan came closer with Turbo’s ball in his hand. “Yeah, please. I’m embarrassed enough as is.”
This time I did laugh when Evan groaned and rolled his eyes because Turbo decided to try and hump Vinnie.
“He reminds me of my boyfriend’s dog,” I sputtered, remembering Luke when I first met him.
“Off. Turbo, off!” Evan said, getting his attention while simultaneously pushing him off Vinnie.
“You’ve got this,” I said, praising both human and dog.
“Thank you,” Evan said, doing his best to hide his embarrassment.
Grateful my nausea had cleared, I packed up my gear and headed out. My brain was still in a hangover kind of fog, so I had to do a doubletake when I got to my car and saw Cassie waiting for me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Where are the boys?” she asked, dodging my question but genuinely surprised that Moose and Rufus weren’t glued to my side.
“With Chris. I didn’t have the energy to deal with them when I got back. Plus, Hudson promised to work with them and Luke this morning. I think we might have a future dog trainer in our midst.”
“How was Gigi this morning?”
“She was still sleeping when I got home. She woke up before I left but went right back to her bed. She’s loving her naps.”
“That’s a normal part of pregnancy,” she said.
“True. But part of me secretly thinks she’s just trying to avoid the boys.”
“Dr. Gray said she’d deliver before New Year’s, right?”
“Yeah, and Celine’s coming back this week. And she’s bringing her sister back with her.”
“I wonder what Elodie’s like,” Cassie said.
“If she’s anything like Celine, she’ll be full of glitz and glamour.”
“Right?”
“I’m sure Gigi can’t wait to be back in her own space. She’s had about enough of a house full of boys. I swear she looked at them the other day and rolled her eyes. But I’m going to miss having another girl around the house. Plus, she’s so cute with her little belly. I felt the puppies move the other day.”
“So,” Cassie said, helping me load everything into the back of my car, “I had a thought.”
“Yeah?”
“And you’re either not going to like it or you’re going to completely freak out.”
“O-kay.” Neither of those sounded like great outcomes.
“Well, I was thinking. And doing a little math.”
“You and math—dangerous combination.”
“Well, here.” She shoved a package into my now empty hands.
“What is it?”
“Open it.”
Knowing something was amiss, I narrowed my eyes at her. When my eyes landed on a home pregnancy test, I busted out laughing.
And then I stopped.
“You think you’re pregnant?” I asked, suddenly realizing that she must have bought this for herself and not me.
“What?!” she barked. “No!”
“Then who’s pregnant?”
“Just take it.”
“I’m not pregnant, Cassie. I shouldn’t have had that much to drink last night. I’d barely gotten over the flu, and I mixed alcohol on an empty stomach?—”
“Then explain your weird reaction to the wine at Thanksgiving. And you’ve been complaining about being tired more often than not.”
“Cassie, it’s just crazy busy with everything. Besides, I just had my period?—”
Never in all the time I’d known her had I ever seen Cassie’s eyes get that big. “When?”
“Shit,” I whispered as my stomach dropped. “I’m late.”