The Charm Offensive

Sophie pressed into the hard cherrywood table to keep from swaying backward. She felt pummeled like Kay’s croissant: ruined and unrecognizable. The loss of two more sponsors threatened the gala’s success. She had a vision for this gala. “They are my next two stops.”

“It’ll be fine. I’m sure Pete was mistaken.” But Kay’s voice lacked conviction.

“I don’t understand. When we’d met not long ago, they were excited and willing to help with the event. Everyone believed they’d help the animals first and foremost, and also boost their brands or businesses in the process. It’s a win for everyone.” For the Pampered Pooch, Sophie was hoping the event advertising would lead to more sales and subsequently allow her to venture into service-dog training.

“Pete claimed he’d made another commitment that he couldn’t break. And he mentioned something about the first-quarter budget.”

“But he could break his word to me.” Sophie cleared her throat. “Sorry, this isn’t your fault. I wanted this to work.” She’d wanted the Paws and Bark Bash to become the premier nonprofit event in the city. She’d wanted to make a difference beyond her small store. She’d wanted to do something that mattered. Ensuring forever homes for rescues and service dogs mattered.

“And it will.” Kay pushed her chair away from the table. “You just need to find new sponsors. More committed sponsors. We’ll think of businesses to approach.”

“I approached most of the city a year ago when I started planning the gala,” Sophie said. “It was hard to get those sponsors to commit ten months ago. Now we’re less than a month before the event.”

And she was broke, aside from Ella’s eye-surgery fund and the little she had in the Pooch business account. Final payments were all due within the next few weeks. She pushed out of the chair, trying to leave her distress in the leather imprint. She still had two more sponsors to visit this morning. And her father could call back or realize his mistake or return her money. She refused to give up—at least, not yet.

“I can help,” Kay said.

“You’re here more than sixty hours a week and you have April to think about.” Sophie pressed the chair to the table’s edge, trying not to panic.

“I want to help,” Kay insisted as they left the conference room.

“I appreciate it.” Sophie walked to the door. “I’ll figure it out.”

“I’ll text you when I get home.” Kay placed her headset back on.

Sophie nodded and hurried outside. She needed to check the contracts she’d signed and reread the section on cancelations and penalties. She couldn’t handle forfeiting the 50 percent deposit she’d given the caterer and the venue. More than the lost money was the damage to her reputation and the Pampered Pooch. She’d forged relationships, given her word to service-dog breeders and foster organizations. She’d vowed to find homes for every rescue she encountered and minimize their costs with affordable vet services and discounted dog supplies.

An hour later, Sophie stood in front of the insurance corporation and stared at her distorted reflection in the silver-plated serving tray. She wanted to bash the platter against the cement wall of the building, but the dish was worth at least a hundred dollars at the silent auction. That money alone could feed a kitten like Stormy Cloud for several months.

Three sponsors lost in one day. A savings account emptied overnight. And her full-time employee on bed rest. The day was turning out to be something for the record books. She squeezed the embellished silver handles, wanting to absorb the steel into her spine, and stepped into the fog that refused to give way to the sun.

Her first encounter with the city had been on a foggy night, when she’d stepped off the passenger bus holding her sister’s hand. Her grandmother had emerged from beneath a dull streetlamp to wrap both girls in her embrace. There’d been comfort in that night such that Sophie had always welcomed the fog. Greeted the fog like a lost friend.

Except today. Today, no one was coming forward from the mist to embrace her and lie to her about everything being all right, like her grandmother had done all those years ago.

CHAPTER FOUR

BRAD TOSSED THE wrapper from his breakfast burrito into the trash and checked the time. He’d planned on returning to the Pampered Pooch after a quick breakfast, but Evelyn Davenport had texted while he was in line at the Gourmet Burrito that she wanted to meet with him as soon as possible. He’d taken his burrito to go and messaged her that he was heading back to his temporary living quarters at his friend Zack’s loft. She hadn’t arrived yet, so he took a spot on the couch and left a voice mail at Delta Craft asking for an update on the Freedom Seeker’s restoration.

Two photos filled the screen of his laptop on the steel-and-chrome coffee table. One picture was of a well-groomed, debonair man in his early fifties. The other was a woman in her late twenties with a baseball cap, ponytail, purple sweatshirt featuring a familiar paw-print logo, and running shoes. Sophie and George Callahan might dress differently, but they shared a similar undeniable charm. Sophie was the girl next door every boy wanted to ask to prom, and George was the one the accounting floor went to happy hour with every Thursday night at Mac’s Tavern—a guy’s guy and a woman’s best confidant.

People were masters at pretense: pretending to listen to their children, pretending to be committed to charity work, pretending to be good, honest citizens.

But there had been nothing fake about Sophie’s interaction with Ella, from the tenderness in the kiss she’d pressed to the girl’s forehead to the patience and understanding in her calm voice.

Brad’s mother had treated her boys like adults from the time they could crawl. The Harrington boys did not need toys—Nancy Harrington’s boys needed calendars to keep them on task, wristwatches to keep them to a schedule and foreign language tutors to keep them civilized. She’d happily listened to their Latin recitation and would never have pandered to such a nonsensical thing as pairs day.

But Sophie had given pairs day the utmost importance because it mattered to Ella. And that had touched Brad on a level he wasn’t entirely comfortable acknowledging. Sophie’s compassion hit somewhere close to that tender spot he still harbored from the morning his mother had summoned him to her sterile office to enlighten him about the truth of Santa.

She’d considered it a favor to her five-year-old son, who considered it a betrayal, a childhood robbery that stole the magic from the season. He’d bet Sophie gave Ella a Christmas full of magic, wonder and fantasy. Good thing he’d long since filed Christmas into one more retail marketing scam, or he might’ve entertained the idea of spending the holiday with Sophie and Ella, just for the experience. Not that it mattered, since he intended to be lounging on some empty beach on some forgotten island this December twenty-fifth.

A new email message from his assistant Lydia flashed on his screen. A very large sum of money had been withdrawn yesterday from the Callahans’ joint account. That wasn’t the update he’d expected on George Callahan. Fortunately, the teller at Pacific Bank and Trust was a former client of Brad’s firm, and even more fortunate was the teller’s penchant to divulge too much information.

He clicked over to Sophie’s picture. Surely she’d given George the funds so that he could pay back the money he’d stolen from Evelyn Davenport. Now Evelyn was on her way over to surely tell him the matter was closed. Brad scrubbed a hand along his jaw, pleased to be done with the case. He could install Sophie’s security system and move on, like he wanted. Like he planned.

It wasn’t as if he wanted to see more of Sophie Callahan. She’d made him lie. To his good friend and then to her. Zack had never rescued a dog, although he’d talked about it on his last trip when he’d come across the stray near a dirt airstrip. Now Brad could stop with all his pretending.

A buzzer pulled Brad away from his indigestion. Opening the front door, he greeted Evelyn.

She thrust several large shopping bags at him and wiped her knee-high plaid rain boots on the welcome mat. “This loft is smaller than I expected, but it’s much more lived in and comfortable than that last boxy, sad condo you referred to as home.”

Brad walked into the kitchen. “It’s like that because it belongs to my friend and not me.”

“I should have known.” She set a stack of three plastic containers on the table.

Brad peeked into the shopping bags and grinned at the cookies inside. “Let me guess. George Callahan returned your money with copious apologies and all is forgiven. Case closed.”

“Bradley Trent Harrington, you cut off the bulbs of all my tulips and roses in my award-winning garden when you were four years old.” Evelyn untied the thick scarf that matched her rain boots and frowned at him. “You of all people know I do not forgive easily.”

“Nor do you forget.” Brad opened the top container. “I just want to stress that I’d turned four the week before the garden incident.”

“You didn’t leave one flower intact.” She ripped a paper towel off the roll and tossed it at Brad.

“I’d discovered the power of scissors.” Brad lifted a still-warm banana muffin from the container. His mother had never baked anything, not even the ready-to-bake cookies that required only several knife cuts to complete. And now he blamed his mother for his insatiable weakness for home-baked goods.

“If only you’d stopped with the flowers.”

“It isn’t my fault Shakespeare liked to sleep away his afternoons in the garden.”

“He never left the house after his haircut.” She tightened the lid on the banana muffins.

“Shakespeare lived longer as an indoor cat. I did him a favor.” Brad laughed and lifted the muffin toward her. “If these aren’t celebratory baked goods, what are they?”

“Products of a guilty conscience.” Evelyn unzipped her raincoat and draped the down jacket over a chair. “They’re guilt goods.”

“You made a mistake. Those happen.” Brad finally sampled the muffin.

“I’m not guilty because I chose to date George. I was lonely and vulnerable and stupid. I’m working through all that.” Evelyn pulled out the tall chair at the kitchen bar and sat, her shoulders dipping forward as if she was an inflatable pool with a leak. She was definitely not acting like a woman whose retirement account had been restored in full.

Brad stopped peeling the wrapping off his second muffin and studied Evelyn. “George hasn’t contacted you, then?”

“Not even a text,” she said. “Should he have?”

If he’d intended to pay back her money. If he’d intended to make things right. If he’d intended not to be prosecuted. Apparently George Callahan had other intentions. Brad shook his head. “There are too many desserts here not to be celebrating.”

“It’s quite the opposite,” she said. “I admit I’ve tried to bake away my guilt. It seems I might’ve ruined George’s daughter’s event.”

“I doubt that.” Sophie hadn’t looked defeated this morning. She’d been determined to help the kittens and turn Ella’s day into the best one of the week.

“I’ve caused her stress.” Evelyn straightened the stack of Tupperware, aligning the containers. “If she’s innocent and not involved with her father’s schemes, I need you to fix it. If she’s like her father, then let it go.”

He set the muffin on the paper towel. The first muffin fought for space beside the burrito. Unease oozed through his suddenly full stomach. “What exactly did you do?”

“Mary Kate Hampton was waxing on about her grandkids at yesterday’s breakfast. No one else had a chance to talk. We don’t invite her often because she can occupy the entire conversation. We invited her this time because she’s dear friends with the owner of the new wellness center. The service is impeccable in their café and the manager comps our appetizers and smoothies, which is always helpful as this group prefers to eat out unless your mother is hosting. When Mary Kate finally paused to sip her Bellini, I mentioned that George had left me.”

Brad leaned back in his chair. Evelyn’s daily vocabulary did not include words that would stir up scandal. The Davenports were the only really honest political family Brad had ever encountered. Evelyn would never confess such a gossipy detail now and mar the Davenport reputation. “You told Mary Kate and the others about the money?”

“I told them George went off with a woman in her thirties,” she said. “I left out the part about George emptying my savings account on his way out the door.”

Brad broke his muffin in half. “How does Sophie fit into this?”

“George and I attended the theater league ball last autumn. George always spoke about his daughter with such pride, and he mentioned to Mary Kate and her husband that his daughter was putting on an event that would rival the theater ball and he was certain she’d accept more sponsors. After several martinis, Peter promised to speak to his partners about sponsoring Sophie’s gala.” Evelyn rose and opened cabinet doors until she found a plastic sports cup and filled it with water. Zack’s modern style didn’t yet extend to his kitchenware. “That was the last I’d heard of it until this morning when Mary Kate phoned to tell me she had Peter rescind the firm’s sponsorship. I’ve ruined Sophie’s event because I was tired of listening to Mary Kate prattle about her exceptionally well behaved, musically inclined, ‘ready to take the fashion world by storm and steal Disney acting parts’ grandkids. All of her grandchildren are under the age of four.”

Brad nodded, although he didn’t understand. The law firm could’ve pulled its sponsorship for any number of reasons. “I didn’t think you’d met George’s daughter?”

“I haven’t,” she said. “She’s protective of her niece and her situation.”

“Situation?” Brad repeated.

“The little girl is blind. Can you imagine? George’s daughter watches her while the child’s mother discovers herself. She needs to discover her parenting skills, if you ask me. A mother belongs with her child.”

Brad disagreed. He’d seen the love and affection between Sophie and Ella in the little girl’s clutching of Sophie’s hand to make her point. In Sophie’s gentleness as she’d freed the hairbrush. In the softness in Sophie’s gaze and the relaxing of Ella’s stiff shoulders with the knowledge that her aunt would make her world right again. He couldn’t recall going to his mother as a kid to fix his problems. Perhaps because he’d been too busy just trying to capture her attention. “The little girl might be better off with the current arrangement.”

“You won’t be better off without your mother.” Evelyn tipped her water cup at Brad. “No matter what you’ve convinced yourself.”

“We aren’t talking about my mother.” He pushed the half-eaten muffin aside. “We’re discussing the Callahans.”

“That’s settled.”

“What did I miss?”

“You’ll make it right if George’s daughter isn’t a lowlife like her father.”

“You want me to fund her gala?” he asked.

“I want you to ensure that gala doesn’t fail because of me. I won’t act as low as George. It’s possible he gave my money to his daughter for her event.” She dumped her water in the sink. “Bradley Harrington, stop frowning at me. I know that didn’t happen, but still, I like that thought.”

“Even if he did give the money to Sophie, which he didn’t, George still stole from you.”

“Yes, but at least the money would’ve gone to rescue needy animals and not to rescue George’s own pocketbook.”

“Perhaps the gala should fail. Perhaps you did Sophie a favor.” Brad pressed his fingertips to his forehead. He kept getting stuck on images of dogs in bow ties, drinking from crystal water bowls. Whoever heard of a dog ball anyway? No doubt it was another Callahan con job. Nobody could be this altruistic without exploding.

“No. Sophie has a real purpose for her event, beyond her own needs. With patience and guidance, it could become a premier fund-raiser. But with a few blows, like a lack of sponsors, it’ll be a mere afterthought. A might have been, like my relationship with George. No one deserves to feel like that.”

“You want me to have George Callahan arrested and help his daughter?” Brad asked.

“Exactly.” Evelyn wrapped her scarf around her neck before bussing his cheek and squeezing his shoulders like she’d been doing since he was four. Here there was the affection and trust and encouragement that Sophie and Ella shared. Evelyn continued, “I’ve provided you with ample snacks to fortify you. There’s nothing complicated about this.”

Brad felt irritation pushing away the comfort he usually found in Evelyn’s hugs. This wasn’t how his cases usually went. Not the protocol. Ever. There was an order. Steps to be taken. He’d labeled this a favor, not a case. Maybe he hadn’t been lying after all. Favors were unpredictable and often unwieldy and usually snowballed into something bigger, something more involved.

But he wasn’t getting any more involved with Sophie Callahan. Installing her security system was enough help. She was on her own with her dog ball.

CHAPTER FIVE

SOPHIE YANKED HER hair into a tight braid to keep from throwing her cell phone against the wall. Unfortunately, her older sister wouldn’t feel the impact. Tessa was thousands of miles away in India and only visible on Sophie’s phone screen thanks to modern technology and phone apps.

Sophie stared at her sister’s thin, tan face filling the screen. Tessa looked rested, relaxed, pretty even. Her lips were stained red like their mother’s, her eyes were sky blue like their mother’s and her auburn hair was full of effortless curls like their mother’s. And just like their mother, Tessa was a wanderer.

“My Yogi master suggested I stay for another six weeks to make sure I’ve fully committed to my new path.” Tessa traced her finger over one naturally arched eyebrow.

“You told me the same thing eight weeks ago.” Sophie tugged on her hair.

“No, I needed the last eight weeks to embrace my new path.” Tessa leaned into the camera. Her blue eyes were wide and clear and no longer haunted. “I need the next six weeks to commit.”

“What am I supposed to tell Ella?” Sophie asked. “I told her two months ago that you’d be coming home. It’s time to come home, Tessa.”

“I left so I could become a better mother.” Tessa leaned away, but Sophie caught the white of her teeth biting into her bottom lip. Her sister always did that when she was scared. She’d chewed her lip raw on their fateful bus ride to the city.

Tessa’s voice lowered, her words tumbling out in an urgent rush. “Mom’s voice is still too loud inside me. And you promised me that you wouldn’t let me become like Mom.”

Sophie had made that promise when Tessa had come home high and clutching a pregnancy test. But Sophie had long since stopped believing in empty words and put her faith in actions. Too often people claimed to be pet lovers, then threw away newborn kittens. Too often parents promised to return to their children, then continued moving on, sending an occasional postcard or making a quick phone call. Too often her sister said she’d put her family first and then disappeared.

But Tessa had booked her healing trip to India on her own. She’d made a plan for a new life. She’d asked for Sophie’s support. Now Sophie had to trust her sister would do the right thing.

“I need these last six weeks to become my best,” Tessa said. “You understand, right?”

“Of course.” Sophie wanted her sister to be home. To be healed. To be a parent. For once in Ella’s life, Sophie wanted Ella to have a real mother. Not a stand-in aunt, who covered for her absentee mother with constant assurances of how much Tessa still loved Ella, even after all these years. But her sister feared coming home. She couldn’t blame her. “No more after this, Tessa. You need to be here. There are decisions to be made about Ella’s next surgery. Her parent needs to sign those medical forms.”

“You have all the paperwork I signed before I left, Soph,” Tessa said. “You just have to submit it.”

“We aren’t talking about that paperwork.” That paperwork made Sophie more than Ella’s aunt. That paperwork relinquished Tessa of her parental rights. That paperwork she’d stashed in the bottom drawer of her dresser under keepsakes from Ella’s first year: hair from her first haircut, her pacifier and a milestone book of Ella’s first five years. Sophie hadn’t opened that drawer since Tessa had boarded the plane to India.

“Fine, but we need to talk about it sometime,” Tessa said. “For now, I’ll put the charges for the next six weeks on the credit card.”

Her sister wasn’t coming home and she expected Sophie to fund the extension. Sophie didn’t have the funds for the electric bill. She closed her eyes and saw only the image of her sister after she’d given birth on her supplier’s cold basement floor. Both mother and baby had barely been breathing. Sophie had vowed that night she’d do anything to keep her only family safe. She dropped her hair and let the braid unravel. “You’re supposed to be teaching classes to help cover your room and board.”

“I do teach,” Tessa said. “Just not regularly. I’ll pay you back. We talked about this before I left.”

They’d talked about many things, some irrelevant like the weather and some relevant like missing Ella’s ninth birthday. Sophie watched her sister wrap a silk scarf over her head. Ella’s tenth birthday was next month. Shouldn’t her sister remember her own daughter’s birthday? If her sister had grown as a person from her year of discovery in India, then Ella’s birthday should’ve mattered.

Sophie shook her head and prayed six more weeks was the answer to Tessa’s lack of parental inclination. “Put the charges on the credit card.”

Tessa kissed the phone screen. “I love you, little sister.”

“I love you, too.” Sophie meant those words and believed her sister did, too.

Sophie just wasn’t sure that love mattered. Love was empty without support and commitment and trust. That’s what made love a bond that lasted and endured. Sophie knew that love existed. She’d seen it with Ruthie’s parents who’d recently celebrated forty years of marriage, and now between Ruthie and Matt. It was rare and precious and magical. But only children believed in magic and fairy tales. And a childhood built on abandonment and dysfunction severed any belief in happily-ever-afters. Instead, Sophie strove for happy-for-nows.

“I have to run,” Tessa said. “Class begins in five.”

“Wait.” Sophie grabbed her phone. “Don’t you want to talk to Ella?”

“I will soon,” Tessa said. “It’s better if you tell her. You can hug her and make her smile after delivering the news. If I tell her, then we’ll all be in tears. That won’t be good for anyone. She already thinks I’m a huge disappointment.”

Tessa ended the call before Sophie could respond. Sophie stuffed her phone into her back pocket, checked the locks on the front doors of the Pampered Pooch and switched off the lights. She glanced at the boarded-up window. Brad hadn’t made it back to the store. It meant she’d get to see him again. She might’ve warmed to the idea if her sister hadn’t doused her with a cold bucket of broken promises.

The outside fire escape, with its sturdy thick wood stairs and reliable handrail connected the backyard to the third-floor apartment she shared with Ella. Sophie ran up the stairs, bypassing the empty second floor that would one day hopefully house a vet’s office. This staircase meant Ella and she never had to go outside on the front sidewalk to deal with the steel gate at their main apartment entrance and they could avoid the strangers at the bus stop four steps from their front door.

She wiped her shoes on the mat outside the back door and strode through the kitchen down the hallway. She’d planned to cook a marinara pasta dish with Ella, but her appetite had disappeared when Tessa had signed off. Just thinking about adding garlic to her too-sour stomach made her insides cramp even more.