“Don’t remind me,” Becca had groaned. “If I don’t think about it, it didn’t happen.”
Nikita had stood there with her arms folded over her chest until they had drunk the entire glass down. Kalista had shuddered at the foul taste of the drink, but amazingly enough she began to feel better almost immediately.
Nikita had turned to Kalista, her violet eyes bright with humor. “And aren’t you glad I talked you out of getting a tattoo last night?”
Kalista had blinked at her in surprise. “What?”
“You wanted to go to my shop last night and get a tattoo.”
“Oh my God…”
“Don’t worry. I’d never ink someone who was as drunk as you were. Hell, I drank too much to pick up my needle. I liked your idea though. If you change your mind and still want to do it, just let me know.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“You wanted to get a little hammer tattooed on your breast,” Nikita had told her with a laugh.
Kalista shuddered as she thought about how glad she was she hadn’t woken up with a tattoo she couldn’t remember getting. And didn’t it say something that she had wanted to get a hammer tattooed on herself, like a stamp of ownership or something?
Trying not to dwell on it, Kalista focused on parking the van the bakery used for large deliveries and specialty items such as wedding cakes, which was now loaded with goodies they’d made for the event. They ended up making three types of cookies and cupcakes to go with the three types of dog treats they had for the canine participants of today’s festivities, and they had made sure to make extra so they wouldn’t run out.
They were an hour early for the event to give them plenty of time to set up, but Kalista could see that Evie and her crew had almost everything done already. There were four large, red and white striped tents arranged near the main rescue center, with dozens of cages lined up in rows under the shaded canopies. Volunteers and staff members took the dogs out of the cages in turn to take them for short walks, while others were let into the play area or allowed to try the obstacle course in the fenced in area. In the tent closest to the building was a separate fenced-in area where all the pit bull puppies were playing together.
Kalista looked over to her passenger seat where Becca was napping and nudged her none too gently on the shoulder. “Wake up, Becca. We’re here.”
Becca’s eyes popped open and she yawned. “Ready to work, boss.”
Kalista rolled her eyes as she got out of the van and went around to open the back doors. There were two part-time workers who pulled up in another car and hurried over to help them as they began unloading the containers of baked goods. Anna had chosen to remain at the bakery with the rest of their staff since Valentine’s Day was one of their busiest days. She promised to make it out to the rescue center later when Nate got out of school so she could drive him over.
Evie and Francesca walked over just as Kalista set down a large box of cookies. Both women were wearing sweatshirts with the Beaumont Rescue Center logo on them. Earlier that week, Evie had dropped off similar items for Kalista and her employees to wear, and she made sure to pass them out to each of her staff members that would be attending today. Kalista let out a laugh as Evie hugged her.
“This is amazing! Thank you so much for doing this,” Evie exclaimed, delighted as she looked at all the boxes of goodies.
“It’s our pleasure,” Kalista said. “Where do you want us to set up?”
Evie picked up one side of a large cooler and helped Kalista carry it over to a huge white canopied tent. There were small tables and chairs set up for the guests and three long tables towards the back that had been decorated with heart-covered tablecloths for the baked goods to be displayed. On each table was a spectacular cartoon drawing, two of people playing with dogs, while the third was just a cute picture of dogs staring hopefully at a jar filled with treats. Kalista was touched to see that not only were the cards and pamphlets she had dropped off spread over the table, but a large pink and black sign had been put up promoting Sinfully Sweet.
“Wow, that’s awesome. Thanks for putting up the sign for us,” Kalista said.
“It’s the least we could do after all the goodies you brought us,” Evie told her. “We’re also promoting the pet store and the animal clinic in the dog tents. I’m hoping for a big turnout today.”
“We’ve gotten a lot of questions about the event from people who have stopped by the bakery. If that is any indication, we should have a lot of people coming today.”
Evie braced her hands on her hips and smiled. “Looks like you might be right. People are already starting to show up.”