Sit! Stay! Speak! by Annie England Noblin

her mother replied. “Maybe it’s time for you to meet some new people.”
    â€œThat’s actually why I’m calling.” Addie saw a chance to change the subject. “I got kind of drunk last night . . .”
    â€œOh, Adelaide.”
    â€œMom, let me finish,” Addie said. “I got a little drunk last night and acted like an idiot. I think I said some things that I shouldn’t have.”
    There was silence as her mother thought about it. Finally she said, “Well, you know what your aunt Tilda always did when she stuck her foot in her mouth?”
    â€œAte her foot? I don’t remember Aunt Tilda apologizing to anyone . . . ever.”
    â€œIt was rare. But it happened. Except she was a lot like you—she had trouble saying the words. So she baked.”
    â€œYou want me to bake?”
    â€œI don’t want you to do anything, kiddo,” her mother replied.“But, at least for your aunt Tilda, baking was a way to relieve stress and apologize all at the same time.”
    â€œI relieve stress with paint thinner and sandpaper,” Addie replied. “But I do have all of Aunt Tilda’s cookbooks upstairs in the attic. I guess it can’t hurt to try something new.”
    Her mother’s laugh jingled through the phone. “I would suggest the recipe for fried pie.”
    â€œOkay. Love you.”
    â€œLove you, too.”
    Addie threw her phone down on the couch and walked to the kitchen. She just needed to think for a minute. She walked over to the counter and cut off a twelve-inch piece of cheesecloth and soaked it in tung oil. Maybe if she could remove all the dust from the table she’d been sanding, she’d feel better. She strapped on a particle mask and got to work.
    Addie was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t even hear the doorbell ring. It wasn’t until Felix began to bark that she looked up. Wanda was standing in the doorway looking horrified.
    â€œWhat on earth are you wearing on your face?” she exclaimed.
    â€œIt’s just a mask.” Addie pulled the mask off her face. “It keeps the dust particles from the table out of my lungs.”
    â€œDid you do all this?” Wanda ran her hand along the now smooth table.
    â€œYup,” Addie replied. “I found it in my aunt’s old shed out back. I think it’s the same one she had sitting in here when I was a kid.”
    â€œWhat will it look like when you’re done?”
    â€œSimilar to how it looks now. I’m just going to stain it,” Addie said. “So what’s up?”
    â€œWell, you left your clothes at my house last night.” Wanda handed Addie a plastic bag. “I washed them for ya.”
    â€œThanks. Come on in.”
    â€œHey, Felix.” Wanda leaned down and scratched Felix behind his ears. “I could hear you barking all the way from the street.”
    â€œI thought you had to go in to work today.”
    â€œI do. But not for another hour or so.” Wanda jammed her hands down into the pockets of her scrubs. “So, last night was kind of crazy, huh?”
    â€œIt’s definitely on my top ten.”
    â€œSo what happened with you and Jasper?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œCome on, Addie. Don’t think I didn’t notice your face all puffy like you’d been cryin’ when you came back inside.” Wanda sat down at the kitchen table. “I didn’t say anything last night ’cause we were with Bobby. But I’m not blind.”
    Addie sat down next to her friend. “I was just trying to get him out of there before your brother changed his mind. He didn’t want to leave. We argued about it. That’s all.”
    Wanda placed both of her hands palms down on the table. She stared down at the prints left on the glass. “Look, the reason I came over here . . . well, I wanted to