Lost, Found, and Forever

by Victoria Schade

  Justine scrunched up her face. “No big deal.” She waved her hand to indicate that she didn’t want to talk about it.

  “It is a big deal. We don’t have to get into it, but I just want you to know that I’m proud of you. Here’s to many more trail runs.” Ruth raised her glass to Justine, then took a sip. “Back to the real gossip. How was spending the night at that guy’s apartment?”

  Justine hid a smile. Ruth knew almost everything about her, but not the fact that Griffin was starting to feel like something other than just “that guy.”

  “Fine. Aside from the fact that I couldn’t figure out the temperature control, so I sweated the whole night. Oh! Speaking of, I said I would text him about how it went today. Gimme a sec.”

  She pulled her phone out and tried to figure out a way to spin their first day on set into a happier reality than what they’d dealt with. She settled on sending a photo of Spencer grinning next to Anderson in his Izzy costume.

  His reply came a minute later. CAPTAIN ZALTAN AND SPENCER TOGETHER! Ahgrhrh! with an exploding-brain emoji. Did it go okay?

  Justine looked at Freida curled up in her lap. Honesty, or more spin?

  Not great tbh. I screwed up, Spencer did his best.

  That sucks. But I bet you’ll kill it next time. You 2 are an amazing team. He attached a photo she didn’t know he’d taken the night they were out for a walk. It was from behind and she and Spencer were midstride with Justine in profile smiling down at him. His front paws were a few inches off the ground and he almost looked like he was dancing with joy. Most important, her ass looked amazing. It was a great shot.

  Why are there flowers here? Did someone send them to you? Griffin texted.

  She sent a crying-with-laughter emoji followed with I wish! I couldn’t resist bodega flowers to brighten up the apartment. Enjoy.

  He texted a photo of his hand flashing a thumbs-up in front of the bouquet of sunflowers.

  Justine set her phone in her lap and stared out the window. How refreshing it was to get a message of support after she’d told him about the bad day instead of an inquisition of exactly what she’d done wrong.

  “Why are you smiling?” Ruth asked.

  “What? I’m not.”

  “You are. What’s going on?”

  Justine felt heat flood her cheeks. “Nothing.”

  Ruth leaned forward and studied Justine. “Oh my God, you like him! Sienna called it!”

  “I absolutely do not. I’m still on a dating hiatus. Besides, he’s not interested in getting involved with anyone because he has a trajectory.” Mentioning it made her insides twist a little.

  “How would you know that?” Ruth’s eyes were shining.

  “It came up. We took Spencer for a walk and talked a little.”

  Ruth nodded and squinted her eyes. “Aha, okay. Thus far we’ve had a candlelit dinner, a romantic walk, and you spent the night at his place. Sounds like the beginning of something to me.”

  “Excuse me, but there was no candlelight at the dinner but there was an annoying art bro, the romantic walk was actually a potty break for Spencer, and I spent the night at his place . . . alone.” Justine mimed a mic drop.

  “But could you like him?”

  Justine shook her head vigorously. “We are so different.”

  “Like how?”

  “Like he’s perfect and I’m a total fuckup. He’s got a five-year plan; I own a shop that’s had two zero-dollar days in the past month. He can pack for a weeklong trip in a carry-on; I drag half my closet for an overnight. He’s got abs; I’ve got this.” She patted her tummy.

  “Wait, how do you know he’s got abs? You’ve been leaving a lot of details out, I think.” Ruth tapped her bloodred nails on the side of her wineglass impatiently.

  Visions of his accidental free show danced through her head. Normally Justine told Ruth every detail about her life, but she felt weird talking about Griffin.

  “Don’t get any crazy ideas. That first day I went to his apartment, his shirt came up when he was taking off his sweater. And he is definitely not into me; I overheard him call me a less-cute Reese Witherspoon.”

  “Oooh, no way! What a dick! He went full Darcy on you. ‘Not handsome enough to tempt me.’ Does Spencer still love him?”

  “Spencer loves everyone, even the guy who let him run away.”

  Ruth sucked in her breath. “Harsh.”

  A shout of victory echoed up from the basement.

  “How’s Dillon these days? I haven’t seen him in ages.”

  Ruth rolled her eyes. “He’s a preadolescent nightmare. Please hurry up and marry that guy and have kids so you can experience the joys of parenthood.”

  “I told you, not happening.”

  Ruth snorted. “Talk to your favorite local high priestess. She pulled tarot cards on you two. It’s happening.”

  chapter twenty

  Ferrets need hats?” Sienna asked, holding up the toy ferret display model wearing a jaunty blue beret.

  Justine shrugged. “Not my jurisdiction, but if I had a ferret I’d be down for some hat photo ops.”

  They were at SuperPet, the annual national trade show for pet retailers at the Javits Center, and Justine was having a hard time focusing on the plethora of pet products surrounding them.

  “Good point,” Sienna replied. “Speaking of . . . take this.” She handed the toy ferret to her and fished her phone out of the pocket of her overalls, then pointed it at Justine. “Smile!”

  “Sienna, no, I look gross.” She held the toy so it covered her face.

  “Stop, you always look good. I’d kill for your cheekbones. Hold it up. Kiss it.”

  “Gross, who knows where this thing has been.”

  Sienna sighed. “You have me doing the T&B social media for a reason, so let me do it! A toy ferret in a hat is cute and weird and shareworthy. Do it for the ’gram, okay?”

  Justine placed the toy next to her cheek, pointed at it with her other hand, and gave an exaggerated smile.

  “Perfect level of cheese. Love it.” Sienna showed her the picture and all Justine could see was bad hair and worse lighting.

  They walked on through the show, sidestepping overeager sales reps trying to sell them revolutionary kitty litter and organic parrot chew rings.

  “I made a list,” Sienna said, pulling out her phone again. “This trade show is overwhelming, and I thought it would be best to map out our go-to vendors; then we can float and check out extra stuff if we want to. I also have a wish list of restock items since tons of vendors have sales going on during the show.”

  Justine pushed down her credit card worries and gave Sienna a side hug as they strolled. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

  “Aw, thanks!” Sienna squeezed her back. “And you’re a great boss.”

  Sienna paused to admire a waterproof hoodie, not noticing the booth she was next to.

  “Wait, stand there,” Justine exclaimed. “Don’t turn around!”

  Sienna was photo-op-worthy herself in her overalls over a tie-dyed boatneck top, with her hair in a high, messy ponytail. The fact that she didn’t realize that she was in front of a giant tank filled with live feeder crickets made the image that much better, so Justine pulled out her own phone and snapped a quick photo.

  “Look how cute you are,” she said, showing Sienna the photo. “This is going up on the employee-of-the-month wall.”

  Sienna squealed and ran a few steps away when she realized that the wall of bugs was right behind her.

  “Speaking of employee of the month . . .” Sienna said once she’d calmed down from the fright.

  “What? You actually want me to make a wall dedicated to you? Don’t tempt me, because I’ll do it.”

  “No.” Sienna shook her head. “But maybe we should talk head count?”

  Sienna
had asked about hiring someone else in passing before, but each time it came up Justine managed to change the subject to avoid getting deep about it. The thought of more head count led to financial gymnastics and a stomachache. As it was, she was barely paying herself.

  They walked on and accidentally turned down the grooming-supplies aisle, nearly running into a standard poodle decked out with rainbow fur and a Mohawk. Between the barking, buzzing from clippers, and chatter from shoppers, the row was mango-scented chaos.

  “Wait a sec.” Justine stopped in her tracks in front of a booth filled with scissors. “Are you quitting?”

  “No, oh my God, no! I love T&B, you know that. Plus, it’s a great pipeline for Like Family. Anytime someone mentions going on a trip I slip them a business card.” Sienna winked at her. “No, I’m talking about bringing in a floater employee, like for those times when I have a pet-sitting emergency, or when my cycle and the moon cycle are out of whack.” She shrugged.

  “Okay.” Justine nodded. “You’re right. It’s something I should think about.”

  Justine swallowed hard. Sienna was right, but adding someone new would muddy her decision-making process. She was a few days late looking at her numbers, which she blamed on The Eighteenth but was actually because she couldn’t bear to deal with them. Her first check from the show was still a few weeks away, and once it came it would allow her to pay down some of her bills and consider making some of the changes that Sienna kept suggesting in persistent emails and text messages. But all she really wanted to think about was polishing up Spencer’s performance for their next day on set.

  “I can help with interviewing, and then training.” Sienna seemed to realize that she was pushing and laughed at herself. “Geez, slow your roll, S.”

  Justine chose her words carefully. “No, that would actually be great, if the time comes. I think you’re better at reading people, to be honest.” Griffin’s face popped into her head. Dimpled, generous, unknowable Griffin.

  “Okay . . . what are the next steps?” Sienna asked.

  “Next steps are freaking out about this adorable powder puff,” Justine exclaimed, thankful that she could change the subject as she made a beeline for a bichon in a booth whose head was groomed into a perfect white circle. “There’s your next photo op, Miss Social Media.”

  They fussed over the adorable dog and Justine made a mental note to add “figure out WTF you’re doing with T&B” to the list in the “Get Shit Done” notebook she kept under the cash register. Her to-do list was pages long, with more items getting added than checked off. But it made her feel good to make a little dot and write something that felt important at the time in her messy scrawl.

  “So, should we hit the toy aisles now?” Sienna asked. “Best Boy Toys is doing a buy one, get one; can’t beat that.”

  “Sure, we can look,” Justine answered, giving the bichon one more pat.

  They continued down the aisle surrounded by people carrying oversized tote bags crammed with catalogs and giveaways. Justine had a single postcard from a dog-themed nightlight company in her bag, while Sienna’s promotional tote bag was loaded down with every handout she could grab. It was as if Sienna could sense that she was running interference for her boss, who couldn’t pretend to be interested in bold collar patterns for dogs on the go.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Sienna said tentatively. “It’s kind of personal.”

  They were standing in front of a booth filled with bespoke beef jerky chews displayed on silver platters, with flavors like Teriyaki and Wellington. The smell was nauseating, which meant the treats would be a hit with the four-legged crew.

  “Um, yikes? But okay.”

  Sienna studied Justine’s face. “Do you want to close Tricks & Biscuits?”

  “Oh, wow,” Justine answered because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. “You went there. Huh.”

  She was convinced that she’d hidden her worries, but Sienna was next-level perceptive to the point where Justine almost believed her when she said she had spirit guides whispering in her ear.

  “Excuse me,” a chipper male sales rep in a black logo shirt interrupted them, holding out a tray of jerky studded with sesame seeds. “Would you like to sample our Wagyu beef treats? It’s premium Japanese beef.”

  “We didn’t bring a dog,” Justine said, gesturing to the empty ground in front of them.

  “It’s human grade!” The rep picked up one of the squares and popped it in his mouth. “Delicious!”

  Sienna pointed at herself. “Vegan.” She pointed at Justine. “Training-wheels vegetarian.”

  “Understood! But our dogs aren’t vegetarian, so allow me to give you these samples and a Waggy You price list, ladies.” He handed Sienna a shiny one-sheet with two cello-wrapped bags stapled to it.

  Sienna studied the price sheet as they walked away from the booth.

  “Three ounces for fifteen dollars wholesale? These guys won’t be here next year, that’s for sure.”

  Justine gestured to the cluster of tables off the main show floor. “Why don’t we sit for a minute?”

  Sienna dropped her overstuffed bag on the table with a thud, sat down, and stared at Justine.

  The question Sienna had asked before the beef chat hung in the air.

  “Obviously, you still want to talk about the future of T&B,” Justine said.

  “Sorry if that’s not my business!” she blurted out as if she’d been waiting for the invitation to discuss it. “It’s just a vibe I’ve been getting lately.” She paused. “Well, not just lately. It’s been like a year.”

  “What have you noticed?” Justine was worried that her regulars could also sense that she was pulling back.

  “You don’t seem, I don’t know, excited anymore. I mean, it’s obvious you still love your customers, but you spend so much time looking at the numbers . . .” She trailed off and shrugged.

  Justine sighed and stared off into space. “Yeah, the numbers.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  She was about to launch into her typical spin but realized that Sienna deserved to know the truth of what was going on behind the scenes. “No, it’s not. Things are rough.”

  Sienna met Justine’s candor with wide-eyed shock. “Really?”

  Justine nodded. “I’m trying to figure everything out right now. But you know I love the shop, right?”

  “I do.”

  “Our customers are the best. And I love serving our little community. But the truth is I’m not doing the numbers I need.”

  “Well, what about the stuff we’ve talked about? Going green, adding an online component, changing the footprint to improve the dog food section? Based on my research that could help.”

  Justine hunched over the table and stared at her hands. “Okay, here’s the truth truth . . . I’m not sure I want to keep going. I hate the thought of shutting down Tricks & Biscuits, but I also sort of hate the idea of staying there. I’m ready for . . . I don’t know?” She shrugged. “My next adventure, I guess?”

  Sienna leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed.

  “Is that why you haven’t signed the lease?”

  Justine nodded.

  “But what will you do if you close the shop?”

  She shrugged. “I’m working on that part.”

  “When is the lease due?”

  “End of next month.”

  Sienna nodded and stared at the crowds streaming through the trade show. “Okay, then. Got it.”

  “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. You deserve to know what’s going on. You’ve been such an important part of the shop. Hell, I probably wouldn’t have lasted this long without you!” She laughed, hoping to get a smile out of Sienna, but all she got was a half grin. “I’m not going to leave you high and dry. I promise from this point on I’ll keep you in the loop, okay?�
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  “Thanks. I need to make plans too, you know?” Sienna’s blank expression suddenly shifted. “But I’ve got some ideas coming to me. . . .” She trailed off.

  “Uh-oh,” Justine replied. “Watch out, universe.”

  “Yup, you know it.” She stood up and heaved the bag onto her shoulder. “Okay, let’s do the toy thing now. The Best Boy Toys reps are all hot and I need some of that in my life right now.”

  “Oh really?” Justine drew out the question with a wicked smile. “Because if you’re in the market for hot guys, I know of one who’d fit the bill.”

  Sienna scrunched up her face in confusion. “What? Who?”

  “You know who.”

  “Stop. Luis doesn’t like me; he barely even looks at me when I’m at Monty’s. If he liked me he would’ve asked me out by now.”

  They headed down the toy aisle, dodging a tennis ball being chased by an influencer pug being chased by a camera crew.

  “I thought you were evolved,” Justine scolded gently. “You could ask him out, you know.”

  “Blech, whatever,” she replied as she got on her knees to snap a photo of Insta-famous Pepper the pug. “I’m evolved, but I still like to be asked out, and he hasn’t, so whatever.”

  Justine felt relieved that they’d moved on from talking about the store, but the nagging questions remained.

  chapter twenty-one

  Amazing! Fantastic! We got it! Reset, people.”

  A few crew members applauded, and Justine blushed at Ted’s praise. Spencer had just nailed his third take of the day, an easy shot of him cocking his head, running to peer out a window on his hind legs, and then exiting the set. She could tell that Spencer knew he’d done a great job by the way he wagged and danced in place. Justine shot a look at Malcolm where he stood in the shadows and he flashed her a thumbs-up.

  They were back.

  “Justine, go ahead and give Spencer a quick 10-1,” Ted said. “We’re resetting for Claire’s scene; then we’re back to you two for the barking reaction shots.”

  She headed outside with Spencer. She’d figured out what a “10-1” was based on context clues; when one of the guys who worked on the cabling hunched over and complained about needing to 10-1 it was clear that it was code for bathroom break.