She smiles. Her extremely kissable lips sparkle under the fluorescents. Maybe it’s from donut glaze, or maybe she’s just really that beautiful. Wish I could kiss her and find out.
I clear my throat.
“We’re celebrating,” she says, turning those sparkly lips and eyes in my direction. “Sorry I showed up so early, I couldn’t wait any longer.”
My eyes widen. “The donor?”
She nods, biting her lip.
“You got another twenty five thousand dollar donor?”
Her grin gets wider. She shakes her head. “Try fifty.”
The room fills with my brothers’ whoops and cheers. My jaw drops. Maybe it’s just too early in the morning but I’m having trouble comprehending what she just said. “Fifty. Thousand.Dollars?” I say slowly, realizing the impact this will have on our nonprofit.
“Yes, sir,” she says, scrunching her shoulders in this cute little “I’m so awesome” way that does things to my heart. This woman…and the money…I don’t know how to handle it all. Most women disappear from my memory the second our conversation is over.
“You’re incredible,” I say. With a donut in my hand, I rush forward, wrapping her in a one-armed hug. She giggles and I lift her off her feet, swinging her around. When I set her down, she brushes hair out of her face, revealing flushed cheeks.
“You’re very welcome,” she says, doing a little courtesy. “Though I didn’t do it for you. I did it for the dogs.”
My brothers watch this whole scene with rapt fascination. I’m going to get so much shit for this later, but I don’t care. Charlotte’s right. We’re doing this for the dogs.
They matter more than my feelings, my heart, my crush on this woman.
The dogs are the most important thing.
chapter nine
Charlotte
It was nearly impossible to keep this secret for as long as I did, which was about fourteen hours. After leaving the Alden farm yesterday, I ventured to the next town over and stopped in at the animal hospital, thinking they might know some dog-friendly businesses I could ask to donate. Instead, they brought me to the head veterinary oncologist, Dr. Felicity Magana, who listened to my spiel and immediately said she’d like to donate.
When she found out we no longer had a platinum level sponsor, and then who the previous sponsor was, her eyes glinted with joy. “Whatever he was going to donate, I’ll double it.”
“Are you sure?” I’d said. “He was in for twenty five thousand.”
She shrugged. “Let’s do it. I’ll write a check for fifty-k right now.”
The accomplished doctor obviously has some disdain for William Bryan, and I can’t blame her. I didn’t ask what it was, I just thanked her so much I’m surprised she didn’t call security tokick me out of her office. I cried happy tears the entire drive back home.
Then, like a total lunatic, I texted my boss. I’m still not even sure why that was my first move. I knew I’d rather keep it a secret from Caleb until I could see him in person, but the joy and accomplishment of having secured such a huge donor was so exciting I had to tell someone. So I told Jenny.
She replied with a novel-length text telling me to make lots of social media videos about this for Perfectly Planned, and ordering me to do a dozen other annoying tasks that will help her grow the business and reputation. None of that will help me, though. It’ll just give her more credibility in the event planning business which will lead to more work for myself.
Reading her messages totally killed my happiness last night, but this morning, it’s all back when I share the news. The entire Alden clan, minus the one still in college, are thrilled. But the look on Caleb’s face is even better than I had imagined it.
He sets me down carefully, like it’s no big deal at all to swing me around the air with one arm. I, however, am out of breath. No one has ever done that to me before. I liked it more than I want to admit.
“So who is our amazing new donor?” he asks.
“Dr. Magana, a top veterinarian oncologist in the state.”
Leo lets out a low whistle. “That sounds like a rich person.”
I nod. “She was very elegant and definitely gave off a rich person vibe, but in a nice way. She’s in for fifty thousand, and speaking of—” I take a moment to look at each brother. “You all need to gather your best attire and clear your calendar for Friday night.”
“What’s going on?” Caleb asks. “We’re still two weeks out from the gala.”
