The Art of Wag by Susan C. Daffron Page B

to her ear. “I’ll have to call you back.”
    “Engineer alert?”
    “Yes. Gotta go.” Kat slapped the phone receiver on the cradle and walked over to Joel. “I needed to use the phone.”
    He crossed his arms across his chest. “You have a phone.”
    Kat walked around him and shut the door. “I know. But I needed to talk to Maria without my mother around.”
    “What was so important that it couldn’t wait until later? Don’t you have a dog coming today?”
    Kat walked over to the sofa and sat down. She leaned forward, clasping her hands together between her knees. “Roxy is already there. I, uh, left her with my mother.”
    “So you could break into The Shack?”
    “Well, not technically.” Kat leaned back and pulled the key out of her pocket. She held it up so he could see it. “It was just sitting there. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
    Joel sat down next to her, took one of her hands in both of his, and looked into her eyes. “What is going on with you?”
    Kat bowed her head and shook it so her long hair fell in front of her face. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
    “Why don’t I believe you?” He reached over and wiped a tear off her cheek. “You don’t seem fine.”
    Kat collapsed in his lap and burst into the full festival of quasi-hysterical snotty sobbing that had been building up for days. He was being so sweet, she couldn’t stand it anymore. “I...I took a test. And I don’t know what it means .”
    Joel gently took her by the shoulders and pushed her upright again. “What are you talking about?”
    “The stick! It’s supposed to have lines. One line means no and two means yes. But I don’t have any lines. What does that mean?” She put her hands over her face and sobbed into her palms.
    He pulled her hands away. “I’m not exactly an expert on these things, but are you talking about a home pregnancy test?”
    Kat looked into his green eyes, which were filled with concern and sympathy. “ Yes ! I didn’t want to tell you if it’s nothing. It’s probably nothing.” She hiccupped and snuffled.
    “So you really think you’re pregnant?” Although the expression on his face remained ostensibly calm, a range of emotions flickered in his eyes. If Kat had to guess, she’d say surprise, shock, confusion, and maybe fear.
    “I’m not sure. I don’t keep very good track of these things.”
    “You don’t know? Don’t you have a calendar or something?”
    Kat sniffed again and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Crying was so gross. “Do you remember what you were doing twenty-eight days ago?”
    He shook his head.
    “Me neither! We’ve been so careful. I probably just lost track. Or I’m late. But what if I am pregnant? I have no idea how you even feel about kids. I don’t know how I feel about kids!”
    Joel tucked a strand of tousled dark hair back behind her ear. “To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve never really put much thought into it, since it was never an issue. It was one of those “maybe someday” things. But if I were going to have children with anyone, I’d want it to be you.”
    Kat wrapped her arms around him and sobbed uncontrollably into his chest. He put his arm around her and stroked her hair until she was completely cried out. All the stress and crying left Kat feeling drained, shaky, and headachy. She slowly lifted her head and looked into his eyes again. “Wow, I’m so sorry about that. I think I’m done now. Thanks for being, well, you. I love you.”
    He ran his fingertips behind her ear and through her hair, pushing it out of her face and behind her shoulder. “I love you back. Do you feel better? You know, you’re going to have to rescue Roxy from your mother at some point.”
    Kat jerked back away from him. “I totally forgot! I hope they haven’t killed each other. Two strong-willed, opinionated alpha females together. This could be bad.”
    Joel stood up and stretched his arms over his head. “So are you ready to go home?”
    “Okay.” She