Cute as a Button

by Chloe Taylor

  “Okay, I’ll come to the shelter. Just stop with all the mushy love talk before I regurgitate my kung pao chicken,” Marcus said.

  Zoey giggled, because she knew that deep down, her brother, Marcus, was just as mushy as the rest of them, especially when it came to dogs.

  Zoey’s dad said he’d clean up the dishes—and Marcus offered to help—so that Zoey and Aunt Lulu could work on the business plan. Aunt Lulu made Zoey get all her receipts from A Stitch in Time so she knew exactly what her costs were.

  “How long did it take you to make the outfit?” she asked.

  “About two hours,” Zoey said. “But that’s because it was the first one. Also because Draper wasn’t very cooperative about being fitted. He kept wanting to lie down when I needed him to stand up.”

  “That was my Draper,” Aunt Lulu said with a sad smile.

  “So maybe making other ones would take a little less time, because I know how to do it already,” Zoey said.

  “Let’s be conservative and factor in two hours of your time,” Lulu said.

  She put all the numbers into a spreadsheet and worked out how much Zoey had to charge for each dog outfit to break even.

  “But you don’t want to just break even—you want to make a profit,” Aunt Lulu said.

  “Definitely,” Zoey said. “Because the whole point of Doggie Duds is to make money for new fabric.”

  Aunt Lulu looked up prices of dog outfits online.

  “We have to get an idea of the market,” she said. “See, this outfit is cheaper, but yours is cuter and looks more upscale, so you should be able to get away with charging more.”

  When they agreed on the price, Zoey talked through the different reward levels with her dad and her aunt.

  “Don’t forget that you have to work in the costs of the rewards,” her aunt said. “And the postage.”

  “Wow.” Zoey sighed. “I never realized how complicated it was to start a business.”

  “It’ll be worth it when the orders start rolling in,” Lulu said.

  “If they start rolling in,” Zoey said.

  “Well, you can count me in as a customer,” Lulu said. “As long as you come help me pick out a dog to wear your wonderful Doggie Duds.”

  “Deal,” Zoey said. “Oooh, wait! I almost forgot! I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  She ran up to her room and got the ballroom dance skirt she’d made, which she’d wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a piece of colored ribbon. Returning to the kitchen, she handed it to her aunt.

  “What’s this?” Aunt Lulu asked. “Did I forget it’s my birthday?”

  “No . . . ,” Zoey said. “It’s just a special something I made to cheer you up.”

  Aunt Lulu opened the package.

  “Oh, Zoey!” she exclaimed, holding the skirt up to her waist and twirling around. “It’s beautiful!” She hugged Zoey tight. “You’re as thoughtful as you are talented. I’m one lucky aunt!”

  Aunt Lulu picked Marcus and Zoey up after breakfast that Sunday, and together they drove to the Mapleton Animal Shelter.

  “I’m so nervous,” Aunt Lulu said. “I feel like I’m going on a first date.”

  “Did you know Dad went on a first date while you were away?” Zoey asked.

  “He did? How did it go?” Lulu asked.

  “He said she was pretty and nice, and she even laughed at his corny jokes, but there wasn’t the same kind of connection he felt on his first date with Mom,” Zoey said.

  “Well, your mom was an amazing lady. I remember when she told me about that date,” Aunt Lulu said. “She said she’d met someone special. And she was right.”

  “Let’s hope you meet your special dog,” Marcus said.

  “Let’s hope!” Lulu agreed.

  There were so many cute dogs at the shelter, Zoey wondered how Aunt Lulu would know which one was her special dog. Zoey wanted to take them all home, but she was pretty sure her dad would have something to say about that . . . something like “Take them back, right now!”

  Zoey loved a little puggle named Mikey, and Marcus was lobbying for a golden retriever mix called Buddy. But Aunt Lulu wanted to keep looking. And then she said, “Look. There.” And she walked over to a crate holding a golden-haired, floppy-mopped poodle mix named Maxi.

  “Hello, gorgeous,” Lulu crooned, petting the dog through the bars of the crate.

  Maxi wagged her tail and licked Aunt Lulu’s hand.

  “I think I’ve found my special dog,” Aunt Lulu said.

  “She’s so cute!” Zoey exclaimed.

  “Look at those big brown eyes,” Marcus said. “They’re saying ‘Take me home, Aunt Lulu!’ ”

  Aunt Lulu waved to the shelter worker, who came over and asked if they had questions.

  “Can you tell us about this darling dog?” asked Aunt Lulu.

  “Oh, Maxi’s a doll,” the shelter worker said. “She’s really sweet and playful. She came to us from a family that didn’t realize their child was allergic to dogs. They had to bring her here and get a hypoallergenic breed. The poor kid was heartbroken when they left her, but I promised we’d find her a great home.”

  “I think you might have just done that,” Lulu said. “I just lost my fourteen-year-old dog, Draper, and I’ve fallen in love with this one.”

  “Me too,” Marcus said.

  “Me three,” said Zoey.

  “Well, you’re in luck,” the shelter worker said. “She’s housebroken and has had all her shots. You can take her home today!”

  “Oh . . . I was hoping I could pick her up in a few days,” Lulu said. “I’ve got an on-site decorating consultation this week, and I’d rather not leave her alone the first few days at home after being adopted. I thought it would take a few days to do the paperwork.”

  “No, unfortunately, we can’t hold her for you,” the shelter worker said. “Too many people say they’ll come back for dogs, and then they don’t.”

  Aunt Lulu gazed at the dog longingly.

  “Let me get her out of the crate for you,” the shelter worker said.

  She got a leash, opened the crate door, and hooked it to the collar on the dog’s neck. As soon as the dog was out of the crate, she made a beeline for Aunt Lulu.

  “It looks like she’s chosen you too, Aunt Lulu,” Marcus said.

  Aunt Lulu stroked the dog’s head. “I think we’ve chosen each other,” she said. “But I don’t know what to do. What if someone adopts her before I can come get her?”

  Zoey and Marcus exchanged glances.

  “What if we took her home?” Zoey suggested. “I mean, if Dad says it’s okay.”

  “Then you can pick her up when your consultation is over,” Marcus said. “That way, we’ll know she’s ours. I mean, yours.”

  “Ours,” Aunt Lulu said. “That’s a great idea. Let’s call your dad and see what he thinks.”

  A quick call to Mr. Webber sealed the deal. Aunt Lulu signed all the papers, and the shelter worker handed her Maxi’s leash.

  “One question,” Lulu said. “I’m not crazy about the name Maxi. I don’t think it suits her. Can we change it, or will she have some kind of doggie identity crisis?”

  “Absolutely, you can change it. We actually recommend our dogs start their new lives with a positive new name to go with it,” the shelter worker said. “One tip: Dogs respond well to names with a lot of hard consonants.”

  “Well, we have a new game to play on the ride home,” Lulu said. “Name That Dog!”

  The Dog Who Needed a New Name trotted out to the car beside Lulu and jumped into the backseat as soon as Zoey opened the door.

  On the ride back to the Webber house, they brainstormed potential names.

  “Rosie?” Zoey said.

  The dog ignored her.

  “She’s coffee colored,” Marcus observed. “How about Latte or Cappuccino? Cappuccino has a lot of hard consonants.”

  The dog drooled on the window, ignoring him, too.

  “Hmm. I don’t thi
nk she likes it,” Zoey said.

  “Besides, can you imagine calling for her in the park?” Lulu said, laughing. “I’d sound like I was begging someone to buy me coffee! And a pricey one, at that.”

  Many other names were tried and rejected before Lulu pulled into the Webber driveway. The trio rattled off the names of their favorite characters from books and movies and looked at street signs for inspiration.

  “I think you’re going to have to keep working on it while I’m doing the design consultation,” Lulu said. “Hopefully, Miss Doggie will let you know when you’ve come up with a name she likes.”

  “She’s so smart,” Zoey said, stroking the dog’s ears. “I’m sure she will.”

  Chapter 8

  Cute as a Button!

  We have a new dog! Well, when I say “we,” I mean Aunt Lulu, but the Dog Formerly Known as Maxi (and currently known as Doggie No Name; Jane Doggie, and Here, Girl since we’re still on the hunt for the perfect name) is staying with us for a few days.

  But we’re having a real problem finding the right name. Yesterday, when we got home with her, we sat around the kitchen table, trying out different ones. Doggie just raised an eyebrow and ignored us, finally curling up into a ball of fur under the table and settling down for a nap.

  Even though she doesn’t have her forever name yet, she has already found a forever place in our hearts. She is sooooooooo cute! She’s here with me now, sitting under my worktable, just like Draper used to, looking up at me with her big brown eyes and her button nose. . . . I just bought a bunch of buttons and none of them are as cute as this dog. Wait a minute. Buttons! That’s it! She’s cute as a button . . . so that should be her new name! I just tried calling her Buttons, and she got up and wagged her tail and came and licked my hand. I think Doggie No Name just chose Buttons! I hope Aunt Lulu agrees.

  And here’s some more good news! I’m almost ready to launch the Doggie Duds campaign! Aunt Lulu helped me work out all the business stuff, and I’m putting the final touches on the launch page. Stay tuned! I can’t wait for you all to see what I’ve got planned!

  “I’m here!” Aunt Lulu said as she came in through the front door. “Where’s my puppy?”

  She’d promised to visit every night until she could take the dog home.

  At the sound of Aunt Lulu’s voice, the dog got up from where she was sitting nestled next to Zoey’s feet, and went running toward the front door.

  Zoey heard Aunt Lulu fussing and crooning over the puppy, telling her she’d brought her presents. The pooch was not going to lack for anything, especially love, that was for sure!

  “Aunt Lulu, she’s chosen her name!” Zoey exclaimed.

  “What’s that?” Aunt Lulu asked.

  Zoey walked to the opposite end of the hall.

  “Buttons! Come here, Buttons!” she called.

  Buttons pricked up her ears at the sound of her name and scampered straight to Zoey.

  “Good girl, Buttons!” Zoey said. “Buttons, sit!”

  And the dog sat at Zoey’s feet, looking up at her expectantly with her big brown eyes.

  “Look at that! She has chosen her name, hasn’t she?” Aunt Lulu chuckled. “How did you come up with Buttons?”

  “I was looking at the cool buttons I’d bought at A Stitch in Time for my Doggie Duds outfits and thinking how she is cute as a button with her little button nose and . . . well, I tried the name, and she liked it,” Zoey explained.

  “Well, Buttons it is!” Lulu said. “I’ll get her tags engraved tomorrow.”

  Aunt Lulu fed the brand-new Buttons her dinner and cooked for the family as a thank-you for looking after her dog.

  “So when is the big launch of your Doggie Duds business?” she asked Zoey when they’d finished dinner.

  “I wasn’t sure what to do about the rewards and the video,” Zoey said. “Like the basic reward is a sketch of Draper’s paw print—but I can’t do that now, can I?”

  “What about a paw print from Buttons?” her father suggested. “I don’t think people would mind, if you explain what happened.”

  “I guess,” Zoey said. “But what about the video? I don’t want to change it because Draper was the inspiration behind the whole thing—”

  “Not to mention it took me forever to make that video,” Marcus said.

  “Well, yeah, that, too,” Zoey agreed. “And you did an amazing job.”

  “Leave it,” Aunt Lulu said. “You can always add additional photos and videos to your page, right?”

  “Yes,” Zoey said. And that’s when she looked at Buttons and got an idea.

  “Can I be excused?” she asked. “I have . . . something important I have to do.”

  “Okay,” her father said. “Just put your dishes in the dishwasher first.”

  “See you tomorrow, honey,” Aunt Lulu said.

  Zoey cleaned her place, kissed her aunt good night, and then raced up to her room. She picked one of the fabrics she’d gotten on sale in the remnant bin at A Stitch in Time and chose some buttons to match. But one critical thing was missing.

  “Buttons!” she called. “Come here, girl!”

  She heard the padding of paws up the stairs, and Buttons came trotting down the hall to her room.

  “Good girl,” Zoey said. “Now let me measure you. If you’re going to be the new spokesdog for Doggie Duds, you need a seriously cute outfit!”

  Buttons stood patiently, wagging her tail, while Zoey measured her.

  “You’re a lot more cooperative than Draper was,” Zoey told her. “You could be on Fashion Showdog.

  Buttons licked Zoey’s nose.

  “Okay, I’m done,” Zoey said.

  Buttons sniffed around the room. She seemed particularly interested in the chic-on-the-cheap dress Zoey had made, which was on the floor, waiting to be washed so Zoey could wear it to be twins with Libby.

  I really need to do that, Zoey thought.

  “No, Buttons. Leave my dress alone,” Zoey said. She picked it up off the floor and put it on the back of her chair.

  Buttons looked up at Zoey, then settled under the sewing table, just like Draper had done.

  Zoey adjusted the pattern she’d made for Draper’s outfit for Buttons’s measurements and started cutting the fabric. She decided to cut some extra fabric to make ruffles. Buttons’s outfit needed some girly flair. If it turned out well, maybe she could offer Doggie Duds customers two choices of outfits—the original Draper and the more feminine Buttons.

  But first she had to make Buttons’s outfit. She picked a spool of thread that matched the fabric, threaded it into the sewing machine, and then got to work, edging fabric and making buttonholes.

  It took her almost as long as it did to make the original Draper outfit, because of the ruffles, but it was worth the effort. When she tried it on Buttons, it fit perfectly.

  Zoey took Buttons down to the living room, where Marcus and Dad were watching TV, to model the latest Doggie Duds creation.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “Cute,” her dad said.

  “Buttons seems to like it,” Marcus observed, watching the dog prance around the room, tail wagging.

  “Can you take a picture of her in it?” Zoey asked. “I want to add it to the Doggie Duds page.”

  “Sure,” Mr. Webber said.

  He went to get his digital camera, the one that took really good quality pictures.

  Marcus and Zoey acted as dog wranglers, with Zoey standing next to Buttons, just out of camera range, encouraging her to sit, and Marcus standing behind Mr. Webber with a toy, squeaking it to get Buttons’s attention, just before their dad took the picture.

  “I’ve got to admit, that is one incredibly cute dog,” Mr. Webber said as he reviewed the pictures.

  “And the outfit is pretty adorable too, don’t you think?” Zoey asked.

  “The outfit makes the dog even cuter, definitely,” he said, ruffling Zoey’s hair. He took the memory card out of the camera and handed it t
o her. “Okay, kiddo. Go get this business launched.”

  Zoey picked the photo that showed off both Buttons and the ruffled outfit to the best advantage and uploaded it to her project page. Before she made her campaign live, though, she decided she needed to update the description to let pledgers know about Draper.

  Since we created the video for this project, Draper, the star of the video and the inspiration for Doggie Duds, has sadly left us for dog heaven. He’ll always be with us in our hearts. I’d like you to meet our new Doggie Duds spokespuppy, Buttons, who I’m sure you’ll all agree is as cute as a button in her Doggie Duds outfit, complete with a girly ruffle. Supporters of Doggie Duds who contribute at the dog outfit level can choose if they want the Draper or the Buttons. I’ll also be basing the paw print drawings off Buttons’s paws, not Draper’s.

  Thank you for considering the Doggie Duds project!

  Zoey read through the campaign page over and over, checking for mistakes. Then she took her laptop downstairs and got her father to check it before they launched it.

  “Looks good to me, honey,” her dad said. “You can go ahead and make it official. Good luck!”

  “Yeah. Make lots of money!” Marcus said.

  Her finger trembling with nervousness and excitement, Zoey pushed publish, and with that, the project went live. Doggie Duds was in business . . . assuming people pledged.

  She texted her friends and her aunt Lulu to tell them and asked them to tell everyone they knew. Lulu texted back to say she’d already made a pledge, and she would send an e-mail blast to her friends. Libby texted back to say that her mom was online right now ordering the Draper for Chester. Zoey checked the website, and sure enough, the campaign was already at 4 percent of its goal of five hundred dollars. The goal had sounded too high to Zoey at first. It was almost the amount Aunt Lulu had come up with to cover materials for outfits and rewards, with some money left over for Zoey’s fabric fund. Not bad for the first twenty minutes! Zoey announced each new pledge to her dad and Marcus as they came in.