Mai Tai'd Up(17)

I had some money squirreled away from my days on the pageant circuit, although it wasn’t much. Even when you’re winning, which I did the last few years, it was mostly scholarship money, not a ton of cash payouts. But I’d saved what I could, and would be able to get by for a while. I knew what my mother was saying: don’t take your father’s money. Funny, she had zero problem with that when it came to her alimony checks . . .

And my father would happily fork it over to keep me happy, but that wasn’t the point. I’d felt funny about jumping from my parents’ payroll over to my husband’s. And it wasn’t as if I hadn’t tried to get a job over the years; I had. But my mother wanted me to focus on school, and then pageants, and then I was engaged. My year as Miss Golden State had taken place my senior year of college, and then once I graduated I was still volunteering extensively for the therapy dog charity. And once the wedding planning began, that became all consuming. I’d attempted to broach the subject several times to Charles about working once I was married, but it wasn’t something he was too keen on. So my résumé, other than countless titles and work for my charitable organizations, was thin at best.

I’d been thinking more and more about the conversation I’d had with Lou Fiorello the other day.

“We’re finally ready to open a second Our Gang location, and we’re starting to scout possible sites. We know we want to go north, somewhere like Santa Cruz, Salinas, maybe even as far north as San Jose.”

“That’s so great!” I said. “I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to have a location up there. Same business model as the one you have now?”

“Yeah yeah, pretty much the same,” Lou said. “Part rescue, part shelter, part rehab, and of course, the adoption center. That’s the whole point: getting these guys a good home.”

“Sounds amazing. If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

“Well, why do you think I emailed you, princess?”

“To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure,” I said.

“I thought maybe we could persuade you to come join us, get your hands dirty a bit.”

“You want me? To work with you?”

“Hell, yes. You love dogs, you’re great with the pits, and they need all the good PR they can get. Having a Miss America running a shelter for rescued and abandoned pit bulls? How great will that look on the six o’clock news?”

“Miss Golden State,” I corrected as I doodled on the legal pad. “So what are you asking me, exactly?”

“We’ve already got the startup money for the new location. We just need to find it, staff it, and train the team that’ll be working there. Interested?”

Goodness yes, but there was something that was a bit off here . . . “Lou, you knew I was supposed to be getting married this weekend, right?”

“I did.”

“Yet you’re offering me a job that would move me out of San Diego, right?”

“I am.”

“Well, now, how’s that gonna work out?”

“I got that pretty invitation you sent me stuck up on my bulletin board. The wedding date was yesterday, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“Well, I’m not calling you from my honeymoon, if that gives you any clue.” I grimaced.

“I had a feeling,” he said, and I rolled my eyes.

“Would have been nice if you’d told me,” I replied, and he chuckled.

“Well now, that was something you had to figure out for yourself. Sounds like you did.”

“Humpf,” was my reply.

“Listen, I gotta get going, making a run to Torrance to check out a fighting ring we heard about. You think about what I said. If you’re interested, let’s talk soon, okay?”

“Okay, Lou. Thanks for thinking of me.”

“You kidding? I’ve already got fliers designed in my mind: you in your tiara and sash, surrounded by forty pit bulls. It’ll be a hoot,” he cackled, and I grinned into the phone.

“I don’t like the idea of you daydreaming about me in my tiara, Lou,” I teased, and he gave a whoop of laughter as he hung up the phone.

I’d thought about that conversation a lot over the last few days. And while driving up to Monterey, I couldn’t help but think that it was situated right between two of the towns he was considering.

I fired off a quick email to him now, while I was thinking about it, then got ready to head out and grab some breakfast and hit up a grocery store. And then maybe take a dip in that gorgeous pool. By the time I got my hair brushed and tucked into a neat bun, dressed in a simple sundress with a jeans jacket, and added the barest hint of makeup, there was already a reply waiting for me from Lou.