She tried to be light and breezy with Dad at breakfast. She still didn’t want him knowing how upset she was about his news on Thursday. He was so giddy, eating his yogurt parfait and drinking his green tea while showing her pictures of the activities area of his new condo in Florida. She was pretty sure he didn’t notice her foul mood. After finishing her breakfast, she dressed, packed up the outfit to wear to the canine couture fashion show, put Darcy in her yellow sundress, and kissed Dad on the forehead. She headed for the festival.

Kamila wandered the green space behind the shelter where the event was being held. She did some shopping, let Darcy play in the dog ball pit, and chatted with a few friends. After having a hot dog with Tim and Jerome, she found Maricel at the dog-and-car wash. Maricel’s clothes were completely soaked, but she looked thrilled to be helping unruly, and wet, dogs clean cars.

“Hi, Kamila! I’m glad I found you!”

Darcy pulled on her leash to try and hop into the tub of soapy water, but Kamila wasn’t having that. She held her dog tight.

“I meant to call you last night,” Maricel continued, leaning down to greet Darcy. “But I was here so late making decorations for today. The Dogapalooza is packed! Did you see my email?”

Kamila frowned, pulling out her phone. She hadn’t checked her email this morning, mostly because she assumed Rohan would choose that format to send her a long, drawn-out rationale for why he’d done what he’d done. She owed Rohan a lot and fully intended to listen to his side of things, but not quite yet. She needed to get through this weekend first. Opening her mail app, she saw that, yup—there was an email from Rohan. She didn’t open it. She opened the one from Maricel instead and skimmed it briefly, but she couldn’t make sense of it. Probably because Darcy was still pulling on her harness, so Kamila couldn’t keep her phone steady.

“What’s this about, Maricel?”

“That lady we talked to last week at East End New Business Development called me yesterday. She remembered me and really liked my business plan. They have an unexpected opening for a start-up in a co-op space, and it comes with a new business grant. The deadline for the application is Monday. She even said she’d look over my application for me if I applied. But I’d need a business license and I’d have to be willing to open in a month.”

Kamila grinned. “That’s awesome! Send in the application! Opportunities like this are rare!”

Maricel shook her head. “I can’t get a business license in two days. We need more time, don’t we?”