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only!”
    The kids paraded out with their pets, and Aly and Brooke got back to three girls waiting.
    â€œNext customer, please,” Aly said. Then she turned to her sister. “Only fifteen more minutes, Brooke. Let’s do these last ones quickly.”

    When two o’clock came and the last customer had left the salon, everyone cheered. Both True Colors and Sparkle Spa were total and complete messes: Bottles of polish, packages of nail files, stacks of washcloths, and piles of magazines covered every surface.
    Aly took Charlotte’s hand and said, “Come on, let’s go outside just for a sec.”
    They sat on the Blue Skies bench in front of the store. Aly looked down at her hands, which were covered in what looked like a million shades ofRaspberry Rainbow, Cocoa Cupcake, and Cheer Up Buttercup.
    Charlotte said, “Let’s play Good, Better, Best. We haven’t done that in forever!”
    Aly grinned at her best friend. They had made the game up in third grade. It did seem like forever since the last time they had played.
    Charlotte began. “Good was watching Joan do two manicures at once. Better was when Caleb stepped in that rabbit’s poop. And best was . . .” She paused. “Best was having the reporter ask me about Paws for Love and me maybe being on TV. Your turn.”
    Aly thought for a moment and then said, “Good was that tons of people now know about Sparkle Spa. Better was watching Brooke eat about five of Joan’s doggie treats. Yuck! And best was the best of all—making more than one thousand four hundred dollars for the puppies!”

seven
Hound Dog Blues
    I mmediately after school on Wednesday, Aly and Brooke raced to True Colors, picked up the polish-a-thon and bake sale money, and headed straight to Pups ’n’ Stuff, the pet store where Miss Nina worked. It was one block plus two stores away from True Colors.
    â€œHow much did we make again?” Brooke asked, tugging on her braid, which Brooke did whenever she was nervous or excited. Aly knew that this time, it was because she was excited.
    â€œOne thousand four hundred and fifty-six dollars,” Aly said, holding on to the pouch tightly. All the money wasn’t in there, but a lot of it was. Mom had already given most of it to Mrs. Franklin so that the shelter could pay for baths and special groomers for all ten of the old-timers. They’d raised so much money, in fact, that the shelter was going to offer a free year’s worth of dog food to any family who adopted one of the dogs on Sunday. “And we have six hundred and fifty-six dollars to spend on collars and sweaters and bows and bandanas and stuff.”
    Brooke nodded. “That’s, um, six, um . . . how much money is that for each dog?”
    Aly did the math in her head: Six hundred and fifty-six divided by ten . . . “Sixty-five dollars and sixty cents each. But it doesn’t have to be exactly even.” She thought maybe they could spend more money on Sparky and less on slobbery Melvin.
    Brooke, of course, had other ideas. “You mean we can spend more on Melvin? I want to get him the best sweater in the store!”
    Aly bit her tongue—hard enough that it even hurt a little. Both sisters seemed to have moved past the Melvin vs. Sparky fight, and Aly really didn’t want to get into another one.
    â€œMaybe,” she said, stopping right in front of Pups ’n’ Stuff.
    Miss Nina was standing behind the counter as they walked in.
    â€œAre you girls ready for Doggie Makeover Day on Saturday?” she asked. “My friends and I are going to bathe and groom all ten of the pooches.”
    Aly wasn’t sure they were completely ready. Ten sets of four dog paws each was an awful lot of puppy nails to paint, even with their friends helping.
    â€œI’m so ready!” Brooke said. “And we’re here tobuy collars and bows and sweaters and