The Art of Wag

by Susan C. Daffron

  Ben nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Tracy moved to stand near the laptop. She started with the home page, which had the glorious sunset photo her father had taken at Gray’s point. Ben smiled good-naturedly, which made Tracy feel a little better. Although she wasn’t quite feeling her Annette-level confidence, she was doing okay. She went through a few more screens. Ben was nodding and it seemed he liked what he saw.

  She pressed the key to access the Alpine Grove history page and looked down at the monitor. There was the photo of her father. It was cropped, but she knew the magic mushroom—or non-mushroom—was there. Momentarily flustered, she stammered, “...and this is a photo of Mr. Johnson.” She looked at Rob in horror. Behind his glasses, the twinkle in his eyes indicated barely contained hysteria, and although his mouth was firmly shut in a straight line, his shoulders were shaking. Tracy burst out in a peal of laughter and covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry!” Rob took off his glasses and put his head down on his arm on the table, laughing uncontrollably.

  Ben looked at one and then the other. “Are you two okay?” He looked more closely at the screen. “Was there a joke? It just looks like a man standing next to an old car.”

  Tracy sat down and tried to get control of herself. “I’m so sorry. We’re just a little tired.”

  Rob lifted his head and said weakly. “Yes. I’m sorry. It’s just a guy and a...” he stopped and laughed again “...a car.”

  Tracy held her stomach and stood up again. “Okay. I’m fine now. Really. I’m so sorry.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Here’s the last screen. This page talks about the nature trails in the area. This is a photo of one of the hiking trails in autumn. And. Oh. I forgot. There’s a picture of a...” She giggled and covered her mouth with her hand again. “A mushroom.”

  Rob raised his head, looked at the screen, and said weakly, “Oh no, Rainbow.” He began laughing again quietly, unable to control himself.

  Ben stood up and picked up the folder of printouts from the table. “I’m not sure what exactly is so funny, but I have a phone meeting in a few minutes. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll let you gather your things. George will see you out.”

  Tracy sat back down in the chair and dropped her arms to her sides. She turned and shoved Rob, who was still giggling. “What is wrong with you?”

  “Me? I’m not the one who called her own father ‘Mr. Johnson.’”

  Tracy put her forehead down on the cool wood of the tabletop. “Jeez. I totally blew this.”

  Rob put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s not all bad. I haven’t laughed this hard in years. Probably ever. So it’s not a total loss, Rainbow.”

  Tracy mumbled. “Don’t call me Rainbow.”

  Rob drove back to Alpine Grove and parked in front of the H12. It had been a quiet ride as the adrenaline of the last twenty-four hours drained from Tracy’s system. Rob seemed equally subdued. She got out of the car and watched as Rob grabbed the laptop case from behind the seat. They walked to the door of Room 2 and went inside. The small space smelled like old coffee. Paper debris, laundry, and various remnants of past meals were strewn across most of the flat surfaces.

  Rob went to the side of the closest bed, put his glasses on the nightstand, and flopped down on the ugly bedspread. He put his arm behind his head and closed his eyes. He said, “I feel really strange.”

  Tracy crawled up from the bottom of the bed and laid down on her side next to him. “The word you’re looking for here is not strange; it’s bad.” All the coffee and sleep deprivation had made her stomach feel like a large piece of metal had rusted inside her gut. She closed her eyes, hoping it would go away.

  Much later, she started awake. Where was she? She raised her head and realized she was still lying next to Rob, in the exact same spot. He was still fast asleep, his thick lashes utterly still as he breathed quietly. She tiptoed to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face, which made her feel better. Then she swished some toothpaste around in her mouth. That helped even more. She was getting dangerously close to feeling like a human being again.

  She walked out of the bathroom, into the room. Rob had propped himself up on one elbow and was gazing bleary-eyed at her. Tracy waved toward the bathroom. “All yours.”

  He groaned and got up off the bed. “Thanks.”

  Tracy started making a mild effort to clean up and find some of her things among the rubble from last night. Maybe she should clean out the coffee pot. The poor thing probably hadn’t seen this much action since 1985. It had to be exhausted too. She picked up the brown-stained carafe and tilted it. The dregs of burnt coffee slid across the bottom. She set it back on the dresser and turned to watch Rob wander back over to the bed. He sat back down on the end, staring off into space.

  Tracy sat next to him. “You look like I feel. I’m so sorry about what happened. It’s my fault, I know.”

  Rob ran his fingers through his hair. “Not really; it’s just what happened. Sometimes you get a case of the giggles and you can’t stop, you know? Like those gag reels at the end of videos with clips of actors screwing up scenes. It can happen to anyone.”

  Tracy studied his face. How could anyone be so impossibly reasonable? This was nuts. No one was that mellow. “Are you kidding? I totally screwed up. Why are you being so nice?”

  He shrugged. “I guess I’m just a nice guy. We tried.”

  She wanted to shake him. “How can you not be mad? I’m mad and it’s my fault.”

  Rob gazed intently into her eyes. The color of his eyes had darkened to a deep amber. “Maybe I’m thinking about other things now.”

  Tracy’s heart lurched in her chest. “Um.”

  He ran his long fingers through the hair at the back of her skull and took her head in both of his hands, pulling her lips to his. The other kiss, while electrifying, had been tame by comparison. A jolt ran through Tracy and she felt as if all of her nerve endings were on fire. She wrapped her arms around him, reveling in the sensations, wanting to get closer. Their bodies entangled, and they rolled off the bed onto the floor.

  Tracy mumbled, “Ow,” but Rob’s long, lean body was on top of her and his hands were busy unbuttoning her blouse, so she forgot about the hardness of the floor in her own quest to find out what was under all those baggy clothes. So far, the answers were enticing and she wanted to learn more. He was all hard planes and angles. And muscles. Lots of muscles. Biceps, triceps. And pectorals. Exceptional pectorals. Latissimus Dorsi. Nice. Obliques. Even nicer. Those boring muscle pictures in anatomy class didn’t do justice to Rob’s form. It was like his skin had some gravitational field, and she couldn’t take her hands off him.

  A few minutes later, Tracy regained the presence of mind to come up for air. She sat up. “Wait a minute.”

  Rob’s hands paused in mid-caress. He moved his head away from her and looked into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  Tracy grinned. “Oh, I’m well past okay and cruising toward a much, much better place. But a small corner of my brain just remembered that this is the H12. And we’re on the floor.”

  Rob looked down at the threadbare carpet. “Ick. That’s nasty.”

  They both jumped up simultaneously and crawled back onto the bed. Rob wrapped her in his embrace and kissed her again. He mumbled. “You feel great.”

  Tracy smiled. “I’m going to buy you a thesaurus for your birthday. Oh, and while I have your attention, there’s something else. It’s been a long time.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about how long, but suffice it to say, I don’t generally walk around with a box of condoms in my purse.”

  Rob pushed a strand of blonde hair back from her face. “You’ve never rented a room at the H12, have you?”

  He stroked the nape of her neck with his index finger and delicious chills went down her spine. If he didn’t stop that, the last tiny bit of reason she had was going to fly out the window. “No. I’ve never really been here much at all until now, I guess.”

  He trailed his
fingertip around her neck to the hollow at the base of her throat. “There’s a basket on the front counter with a sign that says “Take one...or more than one.” Jon and Annabelle are very into safe sex and they encouraged me to grab a handful. I told them I was staying here alone, but they insisted. I didn’t want to be rude.”

  “Interesting. I guess that’s because their daughter had a little too much fun here. She had a kid while she was still in high school. When your parents own a motel, well, I guess you can imagine what happens...”

  Rob kissed her again hungrily. “I have a really good imagination.”

  Much later that afternoon, Tracy opened her eyes. She was lying curled up with Rob, her legs tangled up with his. He was sleeping quietly. Apparently he hadn’t been quite as tired as she thought, given that they’d depleted the condom stash. They had explored most of the areas of the room, including the other bed and the shower, but not the floor again. A girl had her limits, after all.

  She looked at the clock radio. “Is that what time it is?”

  Rob opened his eyes. “Didn’t we already establish that the clock works?”

  “I have to go get Roxy! Kat is going to start to wonder what happened to me. I told her I’d be there hours ago.” Tracy disentangled herself from Rob and ran toward the bathroom. “I need to go!”

  Rob rolled over on his back, put his hand behind his head, and leaned on the headboard. He was obviously enjoying watching her scurry around the room. “Are you looking for your clothes?”

  Tracy sat down on the end of the bed, suddenly exhausted again. “Yeah. Clothes would be good.”

  “I think your blouse is under the bed. Do you want me to go with you to get Roxy?”

  “Okay. We can take my car.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He sat up in bed and stretched his arms toward the ceiling, one hand holding the opposite wrist. As he arched his back, Tracy marveled at his deltoid muscles. Who would have thought it? He might not like it, but hauling around computer stuff and crawling around on all those ladders did have some advantages.

  After some slippery fun back in the shower, Tracy and Rob finally left the H12. Tracy had called Kat and apologized profusely. Fortunately, Kat not only wasn’t upset, but she seemed to be in a remarkably good mood. She told Tracy she could stop by for Roxy whenever it was convenient.

  Rob bent to peer at the side of the old Subaru. “It’s hard to believe this is the same car.”

  Tracy opened the driver’s side door and leaned on it. “We now know that The Turd has a colorful past.”

  After successfully encouraging the car into motion, they headed out of town. It seemed like ages since Tracy had seen Roxy, even though it had only been a couple of days. Staying up all night really messed with the space-time continuum.

  They got to Kat’s house and found her sitting on the steps outside with Roxy. Both seemed to be enjoying the late-afternoon sun. Kat waved as they approached, stood up, and picked up the dog.

  Tracy and Rob got out of the car. Tracy ran over to Kat and took Roxy from her. She snuggled the dog to her chest, “How’s my girl?”

  Kat said, “Roxy was great. Hold on a sec.” She ran up the steps, opened the door, and said something to someone in the house.

  Rob walked over to Tracy and looked down at Roxy, who wagged her tail. He stroked the dog’s head. “She seems to like it here.”

  Tracy said, “I think it’s now the only place she’s ever stayed more than once. It’s a miracle.”

  Kat walked down the steps. “Roxy gets extra-credit points for finding a long-lost item in the house.”

  “Wow, good girl!” Tracy scratched Roxy’s ears and looked at Kat. “So she didn’t damage the house this time?”

  Kat shook her head. “I didn’t say that. Joel had to take out some drywall. But it was okay. Definitely worth it in the long run.”

  Joel opened the door and came outside with Roxy’s crate. “Hi Tracy. Welcome back. How did the meeting go?”

  Tracy readjusted her hold on Roxy. “I’m not sure. It was going pretty well, but then—I don’t know.” She glanced at Rob.

  “We’ll see.” Rob said.

  Tracy said, “Joel, this is Rob. He’s kind of the technology brain behind the whole web site thing. You guys probably have a lot in common.” She looked at Rob again, “Joel’s an engineer.”

  Joel put down the crate and shook hands with Rob. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

  “You too. I actually install networks, so Tracy may be overestimating the technology aspect. I’m not officially a web developer. I’m kind of self-taught.”

  Kat grinned. “That’s probably close enough to join the geek brotherhood.”

  Joel put his arm around Kat’s shoulders and looked down into her face. “Geek brotherhood?”

  Kat placed her fingertips on her chest and said, “Well, obviously I am not a member. It’s a brotherhood. Of geeks. I fail on both counts. You probably write your meeting minutes in binary code.”

  Joel laughed. “I’ll never tell.”

  Tracy put Roxy on the ground, dug around in her purse for her check, and handed it to Kat. “Thanks again for taking Roxy on such short notice. I think Roxy and I will actually be leaving you alone for a while.”

  “If you need to board her again, it’s not a problem.” Kat crouched down to pet Roxy. “You behave Roxy. Stay out of walls, cabinets, and other small spaces, okay?”

  Rob and Tracy packed up the crate, loaded Roxy into The Turd, and headed back toward town. As they clunked through the potholes, Tracy’s thoughts returned to recent events. What was next? Tomorrow she’d be going back to work. After the intensity of the all-nighter, the disastrous meeting, and the still somewhat astonishing festival of lust with Rob, what happened now? She looked over at him. He had his hand against the dashboard in an effort to mitigate the impact of the craters, but the expression on his face seemed contemplative. When did his vacation end anyway? Had he ever said? Maybe he was leaving tonight. Eventually he had to go back to work too. Time to break the silence. Tracy turned to him, “So hey, Joel actually laughed. Who knew that guy had a sense of humor? I know you’ve never met him before, but he’s usually really quiet.”

  “Don’t underestimate the geeks of the world. Sometimes we can surprise you.”

  Tracy smiled. That was for sure. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine how sexy Rob would be. Her dreams were nowhere near as creative as he was. She gripped the steering wheel more tightly. “So when do we hear about the contract? Did Ben say anything?”

  “He said he had a bunch of meetings today. I think he’s here through this week, shutting down the house for winter. Then he goes back to LA.”

  “But he didn’t say when he’d get back to us? He’s going to let us know either way, right?”

  Rob sighed. “I sure hope so, after all that work.”

  “Speaking of work, are you going back to work tomorrow? It’s kind of late now.”

  “It’s been a busy day.” Rob put his hand on her leg, startling her and causing her to gun the car’s engine, which whined in protest. “I had planned to take two weeks of vacation. At this point, I’ve only used one. I know you have to work, but I’d like to see more of you.”

  Tracy darted a glance at him and grinned. “I’m not sure there’s more of me to see than you already have.”

  “Well, I liked what I saw. I meant I’d like to spend more time with you. Without computers. Or work. But without clothes would be great too.” He caressed her thigh and a little jolt of electricity shot up her leg. That could make driving a lot more complicated.

  Tracy squirmed in her seat and looked back over her shoulder at Roxy. “Don’t listen, Roxy.” She glanced away from the road at Rob again. “I think that could be arranged. I have to go back to work tomorrow, but after I get out of there at three and get home, clothing could be optional.”

  “After spending so much time looking at photographs, I’d like to explore this area. I can do that
while you’re at work. I picked up all that information about hiking trails. And you said there’s a road that would be fun to drive, right? I mean in a car like mine, not this one.”

  Tracy downshifted to help encourage The Turd to ascend a small incline. “Yes. I so want to drive your car on that road. So, so much.”

  “We’ll see. You might be able to convince me during one of those clothing-optional afternoons.”

  “I can be pretty persuasive, you know.”

  “I hope so.”

  Kat and Joel went back inside the house and were greeted by the sounds of angry canine barking. Kat took Joel’s hand, raised it and twirled around, doing a small pirouette under his arm. “Look at this fantastically empty house!”

  He pulled her toward him into a hug. “And clean.”

  “Yes, it’s too clean.” Kat snuggled her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around his body.

  “Don’t worry, the dogs will take care of that.” Joel kissed the top of her head. “By tomorrow, you won’t be able to tell your mother was here at all.”

  Kat gave him a final hug and released her hold. “Back to our own wild-and-crazy world, where we don’t have to wash our dinner plates the nanosecond we finish eating.”

  Joel walked into the kitchen. “On that note, what’s for dinner?”

  Kat spread both arms out toward the kitchen. “Anything you want! We still have Twinkies. I couldn’t sell those to my mother either. I need to invite Maria to come back up here.”

  Joel opened the pantry door. “She’s not going to want to visit once it starts snowing.”

  “That won’t be for ages, right?”

  “Don’t be so sure.”

  Kat peered around Joel’s body into the pantry. “Maybe I’ll send Maria a care package. Or—even better—I can call it a housewarming gift!”

  He turned and tickled her ribs. “Because nothing says welcome to the neighborhood like a case of Twinkies.”

  Kat scurried away from the tickling and sat down at the table. “I didn’t see anything enticing in there. The cupboard is looking a little bare.”