If I squinted really hard, maybe I could pretend the weeds were grass and the fence wasn’t so rusted that it glinted a bright red color against the sun.
“How much would the shelter need to raise to be able to do all of that?” I asked quietly, trying to do the math in my head.
My parents had turf near the pool for the dogs and that was at least ten dollars a square foot. Plus fencing. Plus the equipment for this place?
As I rattled off numbers in my head, Aubrey’s voice sliced through my thoughts. “Sixty-thousand to get it started, plus the cost of maintenance”
“And...how much does the shelter have now?”
She pressed her thumb and forefinger together, forming a circle with her fingers.
“Zero?” I choked out.
“Dogs medical bills, plus our own building maintenance, and Emma as an employee take up most of what we bring in. I was just lucky you were willing to come on as an unpaid intern, or else...” her words trailed as she looked back to the rusty fence.
For one of my last semester classes, we had to come up with a successful business plan and implement it in a virtual environment. I successfully came up with an online video monitoring system for dog parents to keep an eye on the fur babies while at work. The project netted me an A and the eye of Aubrey, who after I told her about it during one of her Starbucks runs, immediately offered me this job.
I guess I should have asked more questions, like how much of a budget I had, for starters.
“Okay. Yeah. Um. We might just need to get creative, especially if we figure out how much Adrian Chase is planning on buying the lot from the city for. Do a cost benefit analysis. Maybe even survey some other people around the area, people with families, seeing if they’d rather have a park to take their kids here or another building.”
Aubrey’s hand squeezed my shoulder and I finally relaxed the tension gathering along in my neck. “I knew you were the best person for this job.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Did anyone else apply.”
She laughed. “No, but that’s because you should have had it all along.”
I blew out a slow breath. “We’ll see. You might not be saying that if I can’t figure this out.”
She smiled, squeezing my shoulder again before dropping her hand. “You will. Now come on, it’s almost quitting time and I’m going to put in a to-go order at Vinny’s.”
“That’s right around the corner isn’t it?”
She nodded, already starting back down the sidewalk. “Yeah, which makes it the perfect place to stop for a drink while we wait for my order.”
I glanced down at my watch, a chill creeping down my back. “Um...well...it’s almost five, but I probably shouldn’t have a drink while on the job.”
“My best ideas always come after a few drinks and you’re almost off the clock, so it’s a win-win for both of us.”
I glanced back at the mound of dirt again, trying to imagine it as a green space with dogs and kids running around.
It was going to take a hell of a lot more than a bunch of puppy dog eyes and sixty-grand to turn this place around.
Was I really up for this challenge?
“Are you coming?” Aubrey yelled, as Pixy pulled her along the sidewalk.
I tried to push through my mental fog and forced a smile. “Yeah, coming.”
Chapter 4
Vinny’s was a staple of the neighborhood for as long as I could remember.
Every Friday night, my dad used to come home with one of the brown boxes, a picture of a mustached man on the cover as the warm smell of mozzarella and marina wafted from inside.
My parents’ house was a few blocks over from the squat, stucco building, the only change to the exterior in the last twenty years being the small covered patio in the back where Audrey and I now perched on a set of bar stools. Vinny’s nephew, Frankie, stood behind the bamboo bar shaking us up a few limoncellos.
“Oh, don’t forget to put in my to-go order too,” Aubrey tapped her finger on the granite bar top.
Frankie smirked, barely visible behind his burly beard. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Aubrey, we’ve always gotchu.”
Frankie looked almost identical to his uncle, but with less gray hair. Both squat men usually covered in flour from their slicked back hair down to their massive biceps, each one covered in fur and tattoos of the Italian flag.
“You’re the best, Frank. How’s your Mom? She still doing good with the Pekinese?”
He laughed as he set down two martini glasses, filled to the brim with bright yellow liquid.
I’d never seen such a heavy pour and knew I should probably stop at one if I wanted to get home tonight.
“Ma loves little Gnocchi. She even got her a dog stroller from Amazon so her little paws didn’t need to touch the pavement on walks.”
Aubrey’s genuine smile bloomed. “I’m so glad she finally adopted her. I think Gnocchi was definitely the right pick.”
“Yeah, maybe next time though you could swing her toward one of them bulldogs or something instead? Ma might love the stroller, but Pops said people are looking at him funny when he walks Gnocchi down to the bodega with him.”
“You know...” I interrupted, swirling my finger around the cool glass. “If there was a dog park near here, you wouldn’t have to worry about the hot cement on Gnocchi’s feet.”
His dark gaze turned toward mine.
If I hadn’t known Frankie all of my life, I might have found that flare of his nostrils intimidating.
But it was the exact same thinking face he’d had since we were in Kindergarten. The teddy bear of a man hadn’t changed a bit and I could read him like a book.
If only everyone were that easy.
“Yeah...you know that would work out for Mom and Pops, but how the hell would that happen around here? Adrian Chase was yapping in the bar about putting a new strip mall in that empty lot on Center street and that’s the only thing in this neighborhood that hasn’t been bought up for a nail salon or doctor’s office.”
My fingers tightened their grip on the glass as the hair raised on the back of my neck. “Adrian Chase?”
Frankie hitched a thumb behind him at the screen door. “Yeah, in there now, probably still flapping his lips to anyone who will listen.”
A million thoughts raked through my brain as a cold chill crept down my fingers, now tightly entwined with the cool glass.
The man who was standing in the way of the biggest obstacle of this internship was only a few feet away.
My heart thumped hard against my chest as Frankie kept talking but I only got every other word, most of them of the swearing variety.
“Hold on, Chance is calling me,” Aubrey’s voice pushed through my fog as she bounced off the bar stool.
But even as her words echoed, there was a part of my brain that was fixated on one thing: Adrian Chase.
I didn’t even realize my hand was moving until my glass clanked against the counter and Frankie stopped ranting to grab it. “Need a refill, Miss Melanie?”
The lemon liquor burned down my throat, sloshing in my belly as I stood up.
“Yeah but put it on Adrian’s tab and tell Aubrey I’ll be right back.”
I glanced over my shoulder, her back to me as she leaned against the railing, deep in conversation that had something to do with the color of a berry that a kid ate.