The Art of Wag (10 page)

“This is so great. I’m going to draw up some rough page layouts to show where menus and stuff might go. I’ll bring them to lunch and we can talk about it.”

Tracy sat down on the box of paints. “So um, what should I wear?”

Rob paused and she could hear the muffled sound of him coughing in the background. He cleared his throat again. “Well, I’m not an expert at women’s clothes.”

“Okay, what are you going to wear? A suit? Tie? I’m guessing you’re not going to wear what you wore to class, right?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Tracy tried not to sigh too loudly into his ear. “Well, think about it now. It’s a business meeting. Shouldn’t you look business-like?”

“I guess so. I do have a suit. I could wear that.”

Tracy bent over to pet Roxy, who was sleeping on the floor next to her. “You might want to leave the backpack at home too.” There, she said it.

“But what will I carry my stuff in?”

“A briefcase?”

“I guess I could get one of those.”

Tracy pulled a tuft of hair off Roxy’s ruff. The fall shedding season had begun. “Hey, I’m just making suggestions here. If you want this contract, you should look like a professional.”

“Well, what are you going to wear?”

“I have an interview suit that I bought a while ago.” It was sitting in Shelby’s closet, since she had let her friend borrow it for her grad-school interviews ages ago. The suit had been much luckier for Shelby than it had been for Tracy. Hopefully it still fit. If not, she was going to have a serious wardrobe crisis. The nursing scrubs she wore as a vet assistant, while good at repelling fur and animal excrement, probably didn’t qualify as business casual.

Rob paused to cough again. “That sounds nice. I’m glad I talked to you about this stuff. I didn’t really think about it.”

“It’s a girl thing. Women tend to think about clothes. Our options are more complicated than yours. As a guy, all you have to do is put on a suit and you’re good. We have to figure out jewelry, makeup, shoes, accessories. It’s all quite complex and interrelated.”

Rob half-laughed, half-coughed. “I guess that’s true. I appreciate the suggestions, though. If I get this contract, it could change my career. It’s all really exciting!”

“Yeah, we’ll see how it goes. I’ll see you Friday.” Although she didn’t share Rob’s level of enthusiasm, she had to admit that being able to pay her rent this month definitely fell into the category of exciting.

Kat sat at her computer staring at the blank screen on the monitor. Her editor had loved the last article she had written for the design magazine so much that she assigned Kat another one. Already. Now Kat was back at square one, facing the evil demon writer’s block again. She was not thinking about the software she was supposed to be writing about. No, she was reflecting upon her conversation with Maria about kittens, and not getting anywhere.

The phone rang and she reached to answer it. After months of running up the stairs, Joel had installed phone jacks in each of their downstairs offices. Kat wasn’t getting as much exercise, but she missed a lot fewer calls this way.

Kat mentally cringed when she heard her mother’s sharp voice at the other end of the line. She made an effort to sound cheerful. “Hi Mom. How are you?”

“I’m fine, dear.”

Kat closed her eyes, hoping maybe the awkward pause would end soon. Nope. No dice. It never worked. Her mother could wait out anyone. “Um, so what’s new?”

“I’m at that lovely gift shop, Bea Haven.”

Kat opened her eyes and sat up straight in her chair. “You mean you’re in Alpine Grove?”

“Yes, dear. And I can’t quite remember how to get out to the house. It’s been many years since I saw it back when Abigail lived there. Could you give me directions?”

As she rattled off the directions, Kat mentally cataloged the things she could do to make the house less of a pig sty before her mother arrived in the next twenty-five to thirty-five minutes. “Okay, that’s how you get here. Just make sure to go slowly on the driveway. I guess I’ll see you in a little while, then.”
Help
!

Kat hung up the phone, leaped out of her chair, and ran across the hall to Joel’s office, followed by a parade of canines who had been startled from their afternoon naps. “Emergency alert! DEFCON 1! My mother is in beautiful downtown Alpine Grove at the gift store right now. And she’s headed this way. I need your help.”

Joel swiveled his chair away from his computer and turned toward her. “This isn’t good, is it?”

“No. This place is a mess! There are books all over your office. She’s going to freak out!”

He turned his head to survey the office, which did have books lying on most of the available surfaces. “It’s not any different than it ever is. Those are just reference books. I need them.”

“You don’t know my mother. This is a nightmare.” Kat ran out of the office and back into hers, frantically grabbing books off her own desk and throwing them into the closet. Joel walked in and stood in the doorway. “You do realize that you don’t have enough time to do much of anything, right? This is one of those ‘accept the things you cannot change’ moments.”

Kat heaved one last book onto the shelves in the closet and her shoulders slumped. “I wonder how long she’s staying. It’s probably rude for that to be the first thing I ask when she arrives, isn’t it?”

Joel put an arm around her, pulled her close, and kissed the top of her head. “I’m afraid Emily Post would not approve. Let’s go upstairs. Maybe we can dust something before she gets here.”

Kat laughed mirthlessly. “Yeah, like that will help.”

While Joel was attempting to forage food for dinner, Kat spent some cathartic time putting away a few morsels of clutter upstairs. By the time her mother knocked on the door, Kat had calmed down somewhat. All five dogs started barking hysterically at the interloper and Kat weaved her way through the furry bodies to get to the door. She opened it and found her mother, Mary Stevens, standing on the landing with a pinched expression on her face. The clear plastic rain bonnet that she usually kept carefully folded up in her purse was covering her Miss Clairol light caramel brown curls.

Kat shooed the dogs back out of the entryway. “Hello Mother. Come in.”

“This rain is dreadful. Finding this place in the dark was unnerving. Are there wild animals out in the forest?” All five dogs started slowly moving back into the entryway to get a sniff at the new person as Mary fussed at removing her bonnet. She shook it out and looked up. “Oh my heavens. How many dogs do you have here? Goodness, that one is just enormous!”

“There are five.” Kat pointed at the dogs, “The big one is Linus, the black-and-white border collie is Lori, and Tessa is the golden retriever. The brown-and-white one that looks like an Australian shepherd is Chelsey and Lady is the black-and-brown collie mix. She is Joel’s dog.

Mary stared at Kat. “Joel? Who is Joel?”

Kat turned and stepped out of the entryway into the kitchen, where Joel was leaning on the sink. She gestured toward him. “That’s Joel.”

Joel waved. “Nice to meet you.”

Mary grabbed Kat’s arm, yanked her back into the entryway, and whispered at her. “Who is that man? And why is he here?”

“He lives here.”

“Since when? And why in heaven’s name didn’t you tell me this?”

Kat shrugged her arm out of her mother’s grasp. “It never really came up in conversation. I think you needed to vacuum or something.”

“Humph. Does this mean you are living in sin?”

Kat turned to her. “Oh please. No, we are not married. And before you ask, yes, we sleep in the same room. In the same bed.”

“Katherine! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. This is terribly awkward.”

“Only if you make it that way. Joel is a nice person. He’s helped me with more things around here than I can even count. Can we please move into the house now? Why don’t you take off your raincoat?”

Mary slowly unbuttoned her London Fog and handed it to Kat, who hung it up in the entryway closet and followed Mary into the kitchen. “Would you like to sit down and have something to drink?”

Mary settled into a chair and looked around the room. The walls were log and the open living and dining area had a high tongue-and-groove cathedral ceiling. Pieces of shiny white new replacement boards stood out among the older weathered wood. “The place looks different.”

“It smells better too.” Kat leaned on the counter next to Joel and crossed her arms. “How was the drive?”

“It was fine up until I hit the mountain road. I forgot how winding it is. Then it started to rain and the visibility was bad, which was exhausting.” Mary jumped as Linus put his large head on her thigh. She waved her hands in front of her. “Oh dear. Please make it go away. It’s getting hair on my slacks.”

“He’s just being friendly. Come over here, Big Guy.” Linus obliged, wandering over toward Kat. He leaned on her leg as she stroked his head.

Joel put his arm around Kat’s waist and said to Mary, “So when was the last time you were here in Alpine Grove?”

Mary squinted at him. “In the mid-seventies I think. Perhaps 1975? Downtown looks very much the same, actually.”

Joel nodded and glanced over at Kat. She shook her head almost imperceptibly. “So, um, mother, I guess I should ask, why did you decide to come here
now
?”

Mary ran her index finger along the table, looked at it, and made a face. “Shouldn’t a mother be able to visit her daughter? I needed a vacation. And I knew you had room. Or I
thought
you had room.”

“There’s plenty of room.” Kat reached over and clutched Joel’s other hand. “You can stay in one of the bedrooms downstairs. I’ve been using it as an office.” She looked up at Joel, who had an odd, pained expression on his face. She let go of his hand and heard him exhale. “Oops. Sorry. I forgot you’re broken. That probably hurt. Could you get the suitcase?” She pointed at his arm. “Maybe with your other hand?”

Joel nodded and moved toward the door. Kat heard the door close and turned back to her mother. “So um, is there anything you want to do while you’re here? Sorry the weather stinks. Everyone says that in fall it can get rainy here.”

“Well, it’s certainly not like I want to go off into the wilderness camping. I will just visit with you.”

Kat closed her eyes for a long second. What was she going to do? “Okay. Well, um, I guess it looks like Joel is reheating some soup he made the other day. It’s really good.”

“He certainly doesn’t talk much does he? Or shave. Men in Alpine Grove tend to be somewhat disreputable. Like that detestable man Abigail married. Where exactly did you dig this fellow up?”

Kat clenched her fists, digging her fingernails into her palms in an effort to will herself not to shout. “He’s not disreputable, mother. He’s an engineer and we’ve been together for a while. Can we
please
not get into this now? He’s coming right back with your luggage.”

“Humph.” Mary settled her hands in her lap and gave Kat a fixed glare. “I do want to talk to you about this person, Katherine.”

Kat waved her arms in surrender. “Fine. Whatever.”

The front door slammed and the parade of dogs followed Joel and a giant suitcase down the stairs. Kat sighed. If Joel were smart, he’d just go into his office, close the door, and not come out until her mother left.

After an extremely uncomfortable dinner filled with a few inane discussions about the weather punctuated with drawn-out silences, Mary retired to the downstairs bedroom. After making up the bed for her, Kat practically ran back up the stairs to retreat to her own space. Joel was lying on the bed fully clothed, with his eyes closed, holding his arm across his chest.

Kat walked over, looked down into his face, and stroked his beard with her fingertips. He opened his eyes, smiled at her, and took her hand. “You look like a woman who wants to crawl under the covers and not come out for a very long time.”

“You know me so well.” Kat crawled onto the bed and curled up into a fetal ball next to him. “I’m so sorry about this. I know you already know that my mother and I don’t get along. But I apologize that you’re going to have to witness it first-hand. It’s unpleasant. She has a unique ability to say things that make me want to scream.”