Fuzzy Logic (26 page)

Jan groaned. “Why is this reminding me of the movie
Animal House
?”

Michael reached over and tickled her ribs. “To-ga! To-ga!”

Jan convulsed with laughter and squirmed to get away from him. She grabbed his wrist and tried to wrestle it away from the ticklish part of her tummy. He flipped her over and silenced her laughter with a crushing kiss. Moving his lips against hers, he murmured. “So where were we?”

Chapter 10

S
unday morning, Jan sat next to Michael as they bumped down the driveway toward Kat’s house. Rosa and Swoosie were in the back.

Jan had made sure not to feed Rosa this time and the dog was looking somewhat less nauseated than usual about the bumpy ride. “Please don’t throw up, Rosa. It’s a long way to San Diego, and we have to spend a lot of time in this car.”

Rosa wagged and stepped on Swoosie, who looked nonplussed about sharing her travel space with a black dog that felt compelled to endlessly wander back and forth across the back seat.

Michael looked at Jan. “This place isn’t exactly convenient, is it?”

“No, but Kat has been really nice about taking Rosa on short notice. She doesn’t really have a dog boarding kennel yet; they’re building it in the spring, so she just lets Rosa stay in the house. It’s sweet that she treats Rosa like one of her own dogs.”

Michael pulled the car up under a tree and Jan hustled to get Rosa out of the back. “Swoosie, you stay here. We’ll be right back.”

Kat opened the door and walked down the front steps of the house toward the car. “Hi Jan. How’s my buddy Rosa?”

Michael got out of the car and Jan waved toward him. “Kat this is my...friend...or step-brother, I guess, Michael.”

Kat reached out to shake his hand. “Hi. I’m Kat. And I’m really happy to see that Rosa is clean. Thank goodness. It’s getting colder and I was hoping to avoid another bath.”

“Don’t you have heat?” Jan said. “I hope so.”

“Yes, but there were issues with bathtime that involved some outside time.” Kat waved her hands in front of her. “Never mind. You really don’t want to know. But I think we’re going to have to build a grooming area, too.”

“Jan said you’re starting a boarding kennel,” Michael said. “What are you going to call it?”

A distressed look crossed Kat’s face. “I don’t know. It’s part of the marketing plan I’m supposed to be writing, but am not. How do you write a plan about a business that has no name?”

Michael nodded. “That is a stumbling block.”

“You have no idea,” Kat said. “I think I’m developing a complex about marketing.”

“Marketing isn’t so bad,” Michael said. “It’s just explaining what you have that people need. In your case, you have a solution to a big problem: no one to take care of the family dog.”

Kat waved her arms in a gesture of frustration. “You make it sound so easy! But I start trying to write things down and it all sounds stupid. I’m a technical writer. Or I was. All my writing was about facts. Verifiable facts. When I write about marketing stuff, I feel like I’m making things up. Or trying to foist something on people like some creepy used-car salesman.”

Jan giggled, “It could be worse. At least you’re not wearing a blue jumpsuit and selling toilets.”

Kat looked confused. “What?”

“Jan’s step-father aka my father is the Toilet King,” Michael explained. “If you lived in San Diego during a certain time period, you would have seen him in a lot of rather memorable local TV commercials.”

Kat grinned. “Oh yeah; I heard about that when Jan told us about the wedding. That sounds like it was the best wedding ever! I wish I’d seen it. My friend Maria still talks about it.” She looked over at the car. “Wait! Is that the dancing dog? The Samoyed who wears ruffles?”

“Yes, that’s Swoosie,” Michael said. “She’s got a long ride ahead of her.”

Kat clasped her hands together. “I know you’ve got to go, but can I meet her? She’s so cute!”

Jan rolled her eyes and glanced at Michael. Really? Did every woman have a thing for furry white dogs?

“Sure, let me go get her,” Michael said. He went to the car and clipped a leash on Swoosie, who eagerly leaped out onto the gravel driveway.

Kat crouched down and cuddled Swoosie’s soft white fur. “You are adorable.” She looked up at Michael. “Can you make her dance? Maria will never forgive me if I don’t ask.”

Michael smiled. “Okay. Just for a minute. Swoosie, come.” He showed the dog a treat and then gave her a hand signal. She stood up on her hind legs and took a few steps forward. Michael took a few steps back and she followed him. He took one of her front paws and moved around her. Then he told her to bow and then to sit. Finally, he gave her the treat. Swoosie wagged and looked pleased with herself.

“That was awesome!” Kat said as she bent to pet Swoosie again and congratulate her. “Thank you so much.”

“We should really get on the road,” Jan said. “I hope this is the last time I have to leave Rosa with you for a while. I’ve seen my mother more in the last few weeks than I have in a long time. All these trips are getting ridiculous. At least a one-way flight will be a little less expensive.”

“I should put Swoosie back in the car,” Michael said. “It was nice to meet you, Kat.”

Jan handed Rosa’s leash to Kat. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.” She bent down to pet Rosa. “You be good.”

Kat took the leash. “We’ll be fine. Tell Michael I’ll work on coming up with a name for this place. Drive safely!”

Jan walked back to the car and got in. She turned to Michael. “I still can’t believe I’m doing this. It’s the story of my life. I have to drop everything to do what my mother asks. But what else can I do? She’s my mother.”

“Well, I had to drive back anyway.” He leaned over to kiss her, and then started the engine. “Even though it’s a long drive, I’m glad I came up here.”

Jan smiled. “So am I. And I’m glad we get to spend more time together. It seems like I’m always saying goodbye to you.”

“Or hello.” Michael looked thoughtful for a moment. “That reminds me; there are a bunch of CDs in the center console. It’s a long drive. How about some Beatles for this magical mystery tour?”

Jan smiled, “That album was released in 1967.”

“Groovy. Just so you know, I am not the walrus.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Kat brought Rosa inside and found Joel in the kitchen eating another snack sandwich. Rosa sidled up to him, looking hungry. He looked down at the dog. “I see Rosa has returned.”

“Yup. I think Jan is getting tired of travel. But I can see why your sister had so much to say about Michael. The guy is gorgeous.”

Joel smiled slightly. “Really?”

“Not that I noticed or anything. Because I am blind to the attractiveness of other men since I met you.”

Joel just stared at her and continued to chew slowly.

“Okay, I lied. I noticed. But given the way he kissed Jan in the car I think he’s taken.” Kat fanned her face with her hands. “It was hot.”

Joel grinned. “I think you’ve been spending too much time with Maria.”

“He did point out something about my marketing problem. I think I’ve been looking at it the wrong way. I need to figure out what people need, not focus on what I’m selling. And come up with a name for the boarding kennel. When I was talking to him I realized that part of the reason I can’t write about the business is because I don’t know what it’s called.”

“What are you going to name it?”

Kat’s shoulders slumped. “I have no idea. I haven’t come up with anything. Could you help me think of something?”

“Maybe later. I have to go up on the roof now.”

“How is the roof process going? It’s getting cold. Ice on the roof would be bad for your vertical stability and long-term health.”

“I’m almost done. Having to do it piecemeal, so you don’t have a roofless house, has taken longer than I thought it would. It’s been a tedious process. I’m looking forward to more time at ground level.”

Kat wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her cheek on his chest. “Me too. I’m glad you’re almost done. You know that it freaks me out having you wandering around up there.”

Joel put his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. “I know. Today should be the last day. Then tomorrow all the ropes and pulleys come down.”

“It was an engineering marvel. It’s the end of an era.”

Joel squeezed her more tightly and then let her go. “Yes. The leaky-roof era. See you later.”

Kat went downstairs to her computer and turned it on. She was supposed to be writing a magazine article about using design-software templates. Getting free software to play around with for the article was fun, but she was getting nowhere with the article itself. She sat and stared at the screen, waiting for inspiration to strike. Nothing. Her mind was blank. Where’s a fairy godmother when you need one? Wait a minute.

She typed:

The computer screen is blank and so is the expression on your face. You’re wishing the document would just magically appear on the screen with all of its margins, column widths, fonts, and styles already set up. If you don’t have a fairy godmother hanging around to rescue you from a situation like this, you might try template software instead.

Kat jumped up out of her chair and did a jig around the room. At last! She had written something. Words were on the screen. The article was started and she even knew what she was going to say next, because she had pages of notes about the software she was supposed to write about. It was only a little ironic that the opening was all about writer’s block. Oh well. Whatever worked. She sat back down in the chair and began typing furiously.

A few hours later, she heard Joel stomping around upstairs with at least one dog. Probably more than one, since there wasn’t a crowd in her office. The article was almost done. It was time to celebrate the fact that she was actually going to meet this stupid deadline after all.

Kat galloped up the stairs, and at the top landing spread her arms toward the room and announced, “I’m a writer!”

Joel looked up from the bread he was slicing, put down the knife, and turned to face her. “So I’ve heard.”

“No, I mean I actually wrote something!” She ran across the kitchen and jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Looking momentarily startled, he grabbed her so she wouldn’t crash to the floor. Then he readjusted his hold on her body and bent his head to kiss her.

Kat disentangled herself and stood on the floor again. “Wow. Thank you for your enthusiasm for my writing career.”

“I’m all for supporting the arts. Does this mean you finished your article?”

Kat grinned. “Yes. Well, almost. But I finally figured out how to start it. That was horrible. Worrying about writing is worse than actually writing. Will you read it tomorrow? I need to send it to the editor this week.”

“Sure. It’s great to see you so happy.”

Kat grabbed the slice of bread off the cutting board and took a bite. “I know. I’ve been grumpy.”

“I didn’t say it.”

“Freelance writing sounds so easy. But no one tells you about writer’s block. Now I need to figure out what to name this mythical boarding kennel. Are you up for brainstorming?”

Having finished assembling his sandwich, Joel moved to the table. “As long as we can eat lunch at the same time.”

Kat brought a notepad and her slice of bread to the table. “You start.”

“Alpine Grove Dog Boarding.”

Kat tapped the pen on her notepad. “That’s not exactly inspiring. But I’m writing it down anyway.”

Joel put down his sandwich. “You’re not supposed to criticize during a brainstorming session. The whole point of brainstorming is to let your mind go and generate ideas until you come up with something good.”

“Maria calls this place
Chez Stinky
.”

Joel frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good option. And besides, that problem has been resolved. Well, except for Rosa’s last visit. But other than that, it’s been fine.”

“Now who is being critical?”

“I think boring is better than stinky. Let’s try free association. What’s the first thing you think of right now?”

“Fred Flintstone!”