The Art of Wag by Susan C. Daffron

night.” Tracy smiled in an effort to lighten the mood. Kat looked so unhappy. Should she ask? Maybe it was none of her business. “I know you don’t know me very well, but is everything okay?”
    Kat looked back up at her. “I’m fine. Just stuff on my mind, I guess. And I have a house guest.” A corner of her mouth turned up. “Isn’t there some saying about house guests being like fish or something?”
    “Yeah, they start to stink.”
    Kat smiled for real this time. “Exactly.”
    Tracy impulsively reached out gave Kat a hug, since she looked like she needed one. “Thank you again for letting Roxy stay. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
    Tracy got into the car and fired up The Turd, which after a few tries decided to sputter back to life. Come on baby, just one more trip to the big city. You can do it . After the weird vibe at Kat’s house, she was ready to hit the open road. At least her parents weren’t unpleasant and sour like Kat’s mother. In fact, Tracy’s mom was pretty much the ultimate Earth Mother who took care of everybody. Growing up, all of Tracy’s friends thought her mom was the coolest mom ever .
    At her mom’s gift store, even the employees called Bea “mom.” They loved Bea and most of them had worked at the store for more than a decade. Pretty much everyone else in Alpine Grove loved her too, since for years Bea Sullivan had donated to every sport team, charitable auction, and fundraiser in town. Even though Tracy had endured a couple of huge fights with her father and he thought she was a flake, Tracy knew he did love her in his cranky, grumbling old dude kind of way.
    Tracy slowed down and stopped at the Alpine Grove traffic light. Larry Lowell was standing at his big plate-glass office window, looking out at the street. She looked at him and he suddenly straightened and waved enthusiastically back at her. He looked like he might hyperventilate. Tracy looked away from him, up at the traffic light. There was no one around. Why was it red? Did the stupid thing break again? The Turd coughed, sputtered, and stalled out. The ancient station wagon was not fond of bad weather. There were clouds today and it was getting colder. Someday she was really going to have to get a new car—this was getting ridiculous. It used to be that the decrepit automobile didn’t like snow. Then it didn’t like rain. Now it couldn’t even cope with clouds. Sheesh.
    Tracy looked over and saw Larry turning the door handle to come outside. She cranked the key hard in the ignition. Go! I mean it, you giant hunk of scrap metal. Just start! The car made a horrible screech and belched as it resurrected itself. Tracy revved the engine, trying to keep it alive. The light changed and as she let off the clutch, the car lurched gracelessly forward through the intersection. Tracy looked over her shoulder and saw Larry standing on the sidewalk, looking crestfallen.
    After the guy had gotten her fired, Tracy wasn’t feeling terribly sympathetic. It was beyond time to get out of town.

    Kat walked into the house with Roxy in her arms. “You have to be good this time, Roxy. I know you have teeth, but please don’t bite my mother. No matter how much you may want to, biting is really considered poor form.”
    She opened the door and put Roxy down. Roxy started toward the kitchen and Kat pulled back on the leash. “I think you and the kitchen need to spend some time apart.” She walked over to the table and handed the leash to Mary. “This is Roxy. She’s a dachshund who has an unhealthy obsession with kitchenware. I need to do an errand. Could you watch her for about an hour? Make sure she doesn’t get into the cabinets. She’s really sweet. Just keep her on the leash, so she doesn’t get lost. If you go downstairs, please be sure to carry her. She’s only got three legs. The other dogs are downstairs napping, so they should all be fine. I’ll be right back.”
    Mary looked at the leash in her hand, then down at the dog,