Page 90 of Fake It Till You Make It

What the heck did that mean?

And Eli had spent the better part of an hour tearing up his office looking for the Kitty Kibbles contract. The dreadedoption of him being beholden to a faceless behemoth company, not that Kitty Kibbles was a household brand, had become the only one to save his family.

He had maybe an hour to meet the deadline to accept their current offer. It was too late to negotiate if the terms favored their time above his practice. Cara and her pooch in a tote had vacated the premises when he arrived; he was grateful she wasn’t here to witness his death spiral. No doubt she would’ve sold tickets. She really did have a vicious side when things didn’t go her way.

He reached for another stack of papers on the bookshelf, but his brain short-circuited as he ransacked this pile of peer-reviewed journals twice. In a fit of panicked frustration, Eli shoved the tower of veterinary medicine reference textbooks. The four-tiered structure tilted away as if afraid of what he might do next. The entire weight struck the wall, releasing a volcanic boom. Loose paper scattered to the floor. Without that check, he would lose everything… again.

Hiccup pushed his head against Eli’s hand, his whimper tugging at Eli’s heartstrings. His best friend, the one companion who had stuck with him during the most difficult year of his life, was anxious.

“Sorry, boy.” Eli gave his hand a soft stroke. “Don’t mean to scare you.” But Eli was terrified. Every cell in his body stretched thin, on the verge of snapping.

“Cara, I swear if you’re trashing—”

Leah Calvary stormed in, ready for battle, with her rolling pin in hand. She froze. With her eyes, she roved over the cyclonic condition of his usually organized chaos of an office.

“Cara walked into town for breakfast.”

His mother visibly exhaled; her hunter-green button-down accentuating eyes clouded with concern. “If it’s not her causing you grief, what’s wrong?”

“The auction site—it got hacked. We’re not going to get the auction money in time to stop the foreclosure.”

“Okay, breathe, Eli.” She mimicked the gesture as if it was something she needed to demonstrate on his behalf.

“I am breathing, Momma. But what I need to do is sign that Kitty Kibbles contract,” he said through gritted teeth, “and have that check deposited into the business account by Monday morning.”

“If it’s that off-putting to you, Eli, to continue the TikTok page, just ask the Pendletons for more time. The whole town knows we have money coming.”

“Momma, would you stop with the Pendletons. They are not friends to this family. Amarie told me yesterday that she printed the Kitty Kibbles contract. I can’t find it.”

“Slow down, honey. Take your time. If Amarie said she took care of it, then it’s here.”

“Why can’t I find it?

“It’s in the computer, right? Print out another copy.”

“She handled the communication.” He’d done this to himself. Relegated parts of his responsibilities to Amarie, now look at him: helpless. The single most critical piece of paper of his lifetime and it was locked away in Amarie’s email account behind two-factor identification.

“Let’s call her, Eli.”

“Mom, I have been trying to reach her. Even called Tobias and Noah to get up the mountain after them.”

“Where is she?

“Well, Bethany wanted to explore the falls. Amarie and her set out this morning on foot.”

“She probably doesn’t have a signal that far up the mountain.”

“Okay, fine. But what am I gonna do if we miss this contract? I mean, our whole future is hanging on that check.”

“Eli, calm down. That isn’t so. Look, tonight is the bachelor auction. You’ll know the winner by tomorrow. And you still have a day to spare until the deadline to pay the mortgage. Maybe the website will be up and running by then.”

“Do you want to risk this house, my practice, Dad’s legacy on a maybe? What do we know about that auction site, huh? It could all be an online scam. I should’ve never agreed to it in the first place.”

“Okay, Eli, what is it that you want me to do?”

“I have rules in place for a reason. That’s why I’m the boss. And I like sticking to my policies. Amarie came in here, and she’s just changed everything. Now I’m lost without her. I can’t find what I need when I need it.” And there it was, his worst fear. He’d made another wrong turn and his family would suffer the consequences for his failure.

“Then wait till Amarie gets back.”