The Art of Wag by Susan C. Daffron Page A

who wagged her long feathery tail. “What do you mean the cabinets? Where are you going?”
    “I’ll be back in a little while.” She crouched down to pet Roxy. “You be good, you hear?”
    Kat grabbed the keys to her Toyota and jammed them into her pocket along with another key. She flew down the stairs and ran across the driveway toward her car. Rather than letting the car warm up like she usually did, she gunned it and hauled down the driveway, oblivious to the damage the potholes were committing on the Toyota’s suspension. Instead of heading toward town, she turned and took one of the back roads that headed north of Alpine Grove.
    Making her way down a grassy, narrow single-track driveway, she arrived at Joel’s old cabin, which he affectionately referred to as The Shack. It had been quite a while since she’d been there, but the place looked exactly the same, nestled in its small clearing surrounded by huge old cedar trees. She parked the car and took the key out of her pocket.
    Feeling guilty and a little like a criminal for sneaking around a house that wasn’t hers, Kat unlocked the door, opened it, and looked around. The Shack was a simple log cabin comprised of a single open space with a loft. The small kitchen area was located under the loft and the only walls in the place surrounded a tiny bathroom. The interior still smelled a little like smoke because Joel’s prior girlfriend had almost burned it down. No amount of cleaning seemed to completely eliminate the crispy wood campfire smell that pervaded the small cabin.
    Kat walked over to the old mission-style sofa, lifted the receiver off the cradle of the phone on the end table, and dialed Maria’s number. “Hey, do you have a minute?”
    “Girlfriend! Why are you calling me at work so early in the morning? You know Mark is going to be harassing me for his morning coffee soon. The man is cranky if he doesn’t get his caffeine. It’s not pretty.” Although Maria was looking for a new job, for the time being she was trying to play nice with her boss, Mark.
    “I know. But I need to talk to you. My mother is visiting.”
    “I’m sorry, but I missed something here. When did she show up? Time with Little Mary Sunshine never improves your mood.”
    Kat twisted the phone cord around her finger. “Nope. And she’s even less fun than usual too. It’s been less than 24 hours and she hates Joel already. I left her with Roxy.”
    Maria giggled. “The tiny destruct-o dog? That serves her right. Wait, if you’re not there, where are you?”
    “I’m at The Shack. I took the key.”
    “You illicitly broke into the engineer’s place? Why? I mean, I do like that little cabin, after my love-nest rendezvous there, but you have your own phone and your own house that doesn’t smell like smoke.”
    “I know. I needed a private phone without my mother nearby. The Shack is definitely private. I took the test. And I need to talk to you, because now I’m confused.”
    “You did? What do you mean? What did it say?”
    “I’m not sure. I think I did it wrong or something. I mean, I read the directions and I thought I followed the instructions. But there are supposed to be lines. One or two lines. Not none. What does that mean? That I have no hormones at all? That I’m dead? What ?”
    There was a clunk and Kat could hear Maria snarling at Mark about the status of his morning coffee. Maria came back on the line. “Sorry. I’m back. Mark needed a little reminder that he is capable of getting his own beverages. Anyway. I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of that. You really dare to be different, girlfriend.”
    The front door opened and Kat jumped up off the sofa with a small shriek. Joel stood in the doorway, and he looked annoyed to see her in his house. Kat pressed the receiver to her chest and could feel the vibration of Maria’s voice yelling at her through the line. She smiled at him feebly. “Hi.”
    “What are you doing here?”
    Kat put the receiver