Book excerpt: Fifty-seven-year-old Denise Jameson, an award-winning groomer who has been plying her trade for over thirty-five years, is the manager of Dog Wash, a grooming salon inside a Your Pets store. Denise works long hours, seven days a week, and her only desire is to see her favorite rock group, and favorite singer, in concert. The salon never has a dull moment with pets of all breeds and sizes, and the employees who help Denise groom the animals. There’s Christine, a groomer who brings her talkative and, at times, trouble-making mynah bird, Diego, to work with her every day, and Stacy, the other groomer with two small children and a third one on the way. Working with the groomers is Kathy, a young grooming assistant who wants to be a singer. Her constant singing at the salon gets on the nerves of Bob, another grooming assistant who is hoping to get accepted at a school for veterinary medicine. Cheryl, a part-time grooming assistant, is content just to work with Denise. Their lives intersect with Tony Lovic, a homeless US Army veteran, who would do anything to be employed again. One day, hungry and desperate, Tony asks his patron saint, Francis of Assisi, to pray for him to find a job. Then Tony enters Denise’s grooming salon, and Diego greets him by saying, “Dog Wash. Can I help you?” It’s an action that will change more than one life for the better.