“Perhaps you should. Perhaps that would make you excel at what you do. Or excel more. I wouldn’t presume to suggest you’re not already excellent.” Cooper’s lips ticked up.

Felicity ignored the humor and everything else because Cooper had a good point.

She thought about it some more while Cooper effortlessly hauled two dozen animal crates into the back of the van, slapping dust off her jeans with mighty whacks that absolutely didn’t make Felicity squirm a little in her seat. Cooper gave a smirk at Felicity’s obvious uselessness as she slammed the van doors shut.

* * *

Later that night, Felicity turned over the idea again: how much power she was inheriting.

Elena wore power effortlessly. It didn’t seem to trouble her much at all, but then she was used to it, wasn’t she?

But Cooper was right. It was a lot for one person.

Elena was never cavalier with flexing her power, although her many former personal assistants might take a different view. Firing them so easily wasn’t, for Elena, about showing off her clout. It was about having standards and her employees not measuring up.

Power—its use and reach—was a different animal entirely.

Elena had wanted to know how Felicity handled herself outside her comfort zone of boardrooms and deals. At the time, it had seemed so random. Just another curious whim in a long line of them from her unknowable boss.

Questions and doubts churned as Felicity gazed unseeing out her balcony. Then came a blinding insight: being a leader of a corporation wasn’t just about allocating resources in the most efficient way, was it?

So little in life was black-and-white, rule bound, and about the letter of the law. Sometimes things like, say, illegal iguanas, didn’t neatly fit. Throwing a bureaucratic mindset into a delicate situation would be a disaster. Adaptable, open minds were needed to look at the impact of decisions, not just the rules. The best managers could navigate those shades of gray effortlessly.

Felicity could see now that need for nuance, as Elena had called it. Taking into account more than just the end goal.

Which begged the question…

Do I have what it takes to do my new job?

For the first time, Felicity couldn’t answer that. Not decisively the way she’d always been able to in the past.

She drew in a shaky breath. Well, that was depressing.

Either way, Cooper was right about one thing: it was a lot for one person.

CHAPTER 6

Pets in the Park

The next day, Felicity was up early after a sleepless night filled with far too many doubts. Resolving to dwell on it no more under the auspices of WWED (What would Elena do?), she instead threw herself into the day ahead.

The Pets in the Park event was pretty much what she had expected. Lots of animals, lots of homeless, lots of tents all crammed into one place.

She wandered through the park, taking in the array of minibuses and stalls. She was impressed at the number of volunteer organizations that had shown up to offer services to homeless people and their pets, including mobile showers, dentists, hairdressers, and animal groomers, along with suppliers of free clothing, toiletries, food, and blankets. Tents were manned by government representatives keen to explain educational, legal, healthcare, and housing opportunities.

At least a hundred people had gathered so far. Felicity was surprised to recognize a couple of them from rounds with Cooper.

One in particular was headed her way, a trademark smirk firmly affixed.

“Look who it is,” Kristie drawled. “The me I used to be.”

“Really? I didn’t realize you were once a lawyer for a media corporation,” Felicity shot back.

“Someone woke up on the nitpicky side of bed today. I meant you remind me of my glorious type-A self back in the day.”

“Well, there are lot of type-A people in New York.” Felicity gave her a stubborn look.

“Whatever.” Kristie snorted. “I think I almost like you. You don’t fake being interested in me, suck up to me, or try to rescue me like the social workers. They want to save me from myself and get quite worked up about it because I’m too corporate white girl for them to ignore.” She rolled her eyes. “They try to hide how much I rattle them—the way you’re trying right now.” Her look was goading.

Felicity refused to be baited, no matter how close Kristie was to the truth. “You know, you could just let them help,” she said, tone dry.

Kristie folded her arms. “Why should I? It’s always about them and their insecurities, not what I need. If they really wanted to help me, they’d know it’s me and Ruby or don’t bother.” She nodded to the dog in question, presently up to her neck in shampoo at a grooming stall, tongue lolling. “She’s saved my life twice, and I owe her everything. She’s family to me, but they act as if she’s disposable. They say earnest shit like, ‘Kristie, dear, we need to work out who’ll take your animal for you while you get clean.’” Her tone as she imitated them was saccharine. “Fuck off. They don’t understand anything.”

“So if there was a way to keep Ruby with you, you’d do their programs?”

“What do you think? You think I like this life? That my BA in marketing is best spent on working out where to sleep each day?” She glared at Felicity. “Or how it feels begging money for tampons every month but you can’t say what it’s for because that’s too embarrassing, and people only want to buy you a meal because you apparently can’t be trusted not to blow their precious five bucks on drugs? Or what it’s like to always be hunting for a safe place to take a crap where sleazes don’t jump you and security guards don’t rough you up? Then there’re the creeps in executive suits offering you food or a shower for sex, who look at you like you’re a worthless piece of shit.”

Anger flashed in Kristie’s eyes. “I hope you never know how that feels. Worst part is that the threat is constant. It hangs over you twenty-four seven and never leaves. You wake up exhausted. You have so many stress conditions, it’s insane. But I’d still put up with all of that for Ruby.”

Felicity felt nauseous just imagining that much anxiety. She wasn’t exactly physically tough to start with. Not that Kristie looked any more solid. “You’re right. I had no idea.”

Kristie exhaled. “I know you didn’t. No one does till it’s them.”

A blow-dryer started up, and Felicity glanced over to see Ruby now getting A-list treatment from the groomer. “She’ll never want to leave. Look at that smile.”

“Right? Only reason I drag myself to these things. Everyone needs their pamper day. Ruby’s owed.”

“And you, too?”

Kristie shrugged. “Ruby comes first. Now and always.”

They watched for a few minutes as Ruby turned into a tongue-lolling, gently dried ball of contentment.

Genuine delight crossed Kristie’s face. “I’m really glad I came,” she said quietly. She glanced at Felicity. “Well, thanks for treating me like a normal human being. I’ve missed that. Although I bet it’s killing you at least a little not to do something to save me.”

“Thought never entered my head,” Felicity protested, lips quirking a little.

“Thought so.” Kristie’s eyes crinkled. “Look, just don’t take for granted what you have.”

“I don’t.”

“You do.” Her expression turned rueful. “But that’s okay. Everyone does. I did, too.” Kristie collected Ruby, thanked the groomer, shot Felicity a knowing look, then the pair wandered away.

Felicity was still thinking about Kristie when she finally noticed a big handmade sign in front of one of the tents that said: Free vet care! Come on in! Living Ruff New York.

Cooper was busy cleaning a small cut on the paw of on an enormous Doberman when Felicity found her. A white-haired, toothless woman with an infectious cackle sat in a chair beside her chatting away.

“And then Blunders ran off and brought back the shoe. I have no idea to this day whose shoe it was, but I just added it to the pile. She’s a real shoe thief. Wouldn’t mind if she stole something in my size, but she never does.” The woman threw back her head and laughed, a naughty guffaw she accompanied with a thigh slap against her thin, flowery dress and black leggings.