“Sure. Forty-four point four mil.”

  “Yes. And then there were twelve people who contributed to their subscription.”

  “Divided by twelve.” JayB nodded.

  “So that’s roughly three point seven million per person.”

  “My dad got three point seven million.”

  “Yes, but then there were taxes. No state, but federal taxes took them down to two point seven-eight million.”

  “Huh, I didn’t know,” JayB confessed. “I thought it would be a lot more than that, honestly. I don’t play the lotto myself, but I thought we were talking maybe a hundred million.”

  “No one plays the lotto. You hand over your money and fantasize about winning until you lose.”

  “Still, nearly three million,” JayB reasoned. “I don’t see how you get from there to broke.”

  “So he had to put half down on a house in Mission Hills in order to get financed. I mean, it’s a great house, and if you could move it to where I live, it would cost ten times what he paid. Then he bought the Cadillac and the Ferrari. Want to guess on the Ferrari?”

  JayB wordlessly shook his head.

  “With tax, just over three hundred thousand.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “No. But his cars were all cash purchases, so he has some equity. Understand? But that’s it for assets. He’s spent a lot of money on his investments with Rodney.”

  “Those are doing well, I hear.”

  “Oh sure. And, of course, the biggest drain is the restaurant. It’s weird that Walter doesn’t seem to understand that the salary he’s paying himself comes from the money out of his personal checking account. Have you talked to him about Rodney and Maddy?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “Dad won’t listen to me about anything to do with the restaurant, or his ‘investments,’ or money. He sees me as this dud of a son who can’t understand the concept of enjoying life, or some such idiocy.”

  “You sound angry.”

  “Of course I’m angry! Wouldn’t you be angry?”

  I wagged a little, concerned. Odin slept through it. Phoebe was staring down the street, watching a squirrel.

  “I’ve just never seen you angry before.”

  “I’ve spent my whole life being picked on for making plans,” JayB elaborated bitterly. “For thinking ahead. For looking for downsides, for hidden consequences. My brother the ski bum, my father the ‘entrepreneur’ … even my mother would say I needed to enjoy life more. I do enjoy life! Only Howard ever understood me.” JayB’s eyes bulged as a thought occurred to him. “Wait, if Dad sells his house, where would he live? With me?”

  JayB turned to look at his house, so I did, too.

  “Um, I don’t know,” Alana replied uncomfortably.

  “I do. It happened once before, when I was at KU. He lost his job and got evicted, so next thing I know he’s sleeping on my couch. Can you picture what that was like? Walter, walking around in a Jayhawk T-shirt and flirting with all the Chi Omegas.”

  “Would you do that again, though? Let him move in?”

  “It would be the absolute worst thing that could happen to me. But what choice would I have? That’s just what you do for your parents.”

  All the dogs turned their heads to Alana as a deep, strong emotion wafted off her. She raised her hand to her mouth, and I saw and smelled the tears at exactly the same moment.

  Dear Diary:

  As much as I loathe Kelsey, I love beautiful, wonderful Phoebe. Her odor lingers in my nostrils, as sweet and unforgettable as a dead squirrel flattened to hot pavement under the summer sun. I could chew on her for hours. I could romp with her anywhere. I could lie with her in the back seat of a car or in a shady spot in a yard, though I would prefer the couch. Watching her run excites me more than a car ride with JayB.

  Kelsey has never shown me the respect due a predator who is larger, faster, and more attractive. I can charge her, my throat thundering with a menacing growl, and she remains completely unperturbed. If I bark in her face, she insouciantly licks her paw.

  With Spartan and Odin, however, Kelsey behaves as a cat should, turning and fleeing in terror.

  Phoebe approaches Kelsey with playing and licking. Kelsey leaves the room whenever Phoebe enters, not out of fear, but because of the overly friendly interest.

  It’s only me, Clancy, that the cat treats with such contempt. No matter what I do, Kelsey won’t run away.

  How is it possible that Kelsey knows how to behave around other dogs, but not me?

  I have been so happy that Phoebe now lives with us, and Kelsey doesn’t, that it’s becoming easy to lose sight of my most important role, which is to help JayB navigate life.

  JayB cares about Alana, and when she’s upset, he’s upset.

  So, for now, I have to concentrate on being his dog.

  Love,

  Clancy

  Twenty

  JayB’s face filled with regret. “Oh. I’m sorry, Alana. That was so thoughtless of me.”

  “I didn’t even visit my mom.”

  “I know. I didn’t mean to say it that way. I just meant, my parents had a way of making me feel obligated to clean up their messes—especially Walter.”

  Alana swallowed, nodding.

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay,” she murmured. “I have to learn to live with it.” She took in a deep breath.

  Something told me these people should hug, but they didn’t. Odin stood and went to Alana, wagging a little, trying to help.

  Phoebe remained on the lookout for squirrels.

  “So, your dad…” Alana finally continued. “The way things are going, especially with the executive salaries, he’ll be out of money by the end of the year.”

  “Wow. I had no idea.”

  “Look, the good news is that the restaurant’s almost current with all the vendors. That’s key.”

  “I’m in over my head, though,” JayB fretted. “I can talk to suppliers and schedule deliveries, but I need help—someone quick on her feet, to put out the daily fires.”

  “Okay, I knew you’d say that, with all the usual subtlety,” Alana responded. “I know exactly what you’re doing. But yes. You need to find somebody. Somebody who’s not Alana Knox.”

  “You’re saying your mind’s made up.”

  “Yes. Sorry.”

  “Okay,” JayB said with finality. “I won’t ask you again.”

  I felt gusts of sadness from them both, and could tell Odin and even Phoebe sensed it as well.

  “So, when are you going to tell your father he’s broke?”

  “I don’t know. Not while we’re all in the Suburban or whatever he’s renting for this trip. I’ll need to catch him alone.”

  “The longer you wait, the more money gets wasted,” Alana warned.

  Moments later a car pulled up, one that I could smell contained Rodney and the ridiculous Spartan.

  “The Rodster has arrived,” Rodney announced.

  Phoebe reacted joyfully to their arrival, much to my dismay. Odin didn’t bother to sniff Spartan, but I demonstrated proper dog behavior with a dignified lift of my leg, not that Spartan appreciated it. Soon Phoebe had her leash tangled with Spartan’s.

  I was unsurprised when Maddy pulled up in her own car. She slid out, carrying several bags. “Where’s your dad?” she asked JayB.

  “My dad, who is not supposed to be driving but left a message saying he’s coming over in our, quote, new mode of transportation, unquote? That dad? He’s late. But that’s hardly unusual. He’s never really been an on-time kind of guy.”

  Maddy nodded shrewdly. “You could maybe learn from that. I hate it when men have to be taught everything.”

  Rodney smiled at Alana. “You know, this trip’s gonna be good for you. We’ll get to know each other and you’ll have a chance to think things through.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you’re going off to Vegas to get your cat and see the guy, Guy,” Rodney explained.

  “You are so hilarious, Rodney,” Maddy proclaimed.

  “Thanks! Anyway, so you’ll have time between now and then to think about who your real friends are and, you know, how important relationships are. I mean, without human relationships, people would be just, I don’t know. Human.”

  “Thank you, Rodney,” Alana replied faintly.

  Rodney clapped JayB on the shoulder. “Hey, talk to you for a second?”

  “No, I don’t want to buy a boat full of Korean pig iron.”

  “Ha. Funny. Come here.”

  “Seriously? Another bro conference?”

  “Last one.”

  I was still on leash, so I followed JayB and Spartan behind Rodney, who took us to the side of the house. I sniffed where I had marked earlier and decided it needed another squirt.

  Rodney took a deep breath. “I wanted you to know before everyone starts congratulating us. I’m going to ask Alana to move in with me.”

  JayB stared for a moment. “Move in … where?” he finally ventured. “You don’t have your own place.”

  Rodney looked impatient. “Okay, I move in with her, then. It doesn’t matter. Point is, I’m making a commitment. Get it? So, it’s not open season any longer. You have to back off. She’s no longer just my girlfriend, she’s my fiancée.”

  “Your fiancée,” JayB repeated. “So you’re going to propose?”

  I sensed a flash of alarm rising from Rodney’s skin. “What? No.”

  “That’s what fiancée means. It means you’re engaged to be married.”

  Rodney wiped his face, his expression blank. “Oh God. Okay, wow, I didn’t even think of that.”

  “Congratulations?”

  “Whoa.” He focused on JayB. “I guess this makes you my best man, huh? Things are moving so fast, I feel like I need to sit down.”

  “When are you going to tell Alana? Oh wait, I know! You can get a marriage license in a few hours in Nevada. You’ll be in Vegas. This isn’t just a road trip, it’s a wedding trip!”

  Rodney stared. “Whoa,” he breathed again.

  A little while later, Walter pulled up in the driveway in a large, tall, blocky vehicle. JayB shook his head when Walter jumped out, beaming.

  “You bought a bus?” JayB demanded. “Are we a rock band now?”

  Walter laughed. “It’s no bus, just an extended van.”

  Alana shook her head. “It’s huge.”

  “Yep. It’s a conversion van,” Rodney told her.

  “I don’t know what that is,” she confessed.

  Rodney threw back his head and laughed. “That’s California for you. A conversion van is a van that has been converted to have swivel seats that are more luxurious, and probably there’s a great stereo system, stuff like that. Cabinets, some even have sinks. It’s been converted from a regular van, so it’s a conversion van. Get it? Converted, conversion. It’s converted by conversion.”

  “That is so helpful, Rodney.”

  JayB grinned.

  “I thought we’d need the room,” Walter explained. “We’ve got the dogs, luggage … and it’s a long drive to Vegas. The seats fold down, so we can nap if we want.”

  “And are you the driver?” JayB wanted to know.

  Walter laughed. “Still have a suspended license. I got a lawyer working on it.”

  “But in the meantime, you’re driving all over town.”

  “Just here,” Walter corrected. “No big deal. No cop’s going to pull me over in two miles.”

  For a moment, everyone stood looking at one another, and the dogs picked up on it. Something even more exciting was about to happen.

  And then it did!

  “Okay. Let’s get everything in there and hit the road,” JayB announced, slapping his hands together.

  Before long, Spartan and Phoebe and I were with Odin in the spacious far back of the vehicle for a car ride. Everyone loaded in. “Hey, Alana.” Rodney beckoned from the middle seat. “Why don’t you sit back here with me?”

  “Oh, no thank you,” Alana demurred. “I get carsick if I’m not sitting in one of the front seats.”

  “I’ll sit with you, lonely boy,” Maddy declared, moving up to a seat next to Rodney.

  Rodney spun his seat in a full circle. “Pretty neat!” he grinned.

  Walter’s seat was one row back, in front of where our dog pack had gathered. He pulled a lever and his chair collapsed underneath him.

  “Cool!” Rodney enthused.

  At first, we dogs quivered with excitement, but after a while we could tell it was going to be the sort of car ride that takes a long time. We all settled into position. I tried to lie with my head on Phoebe’s back, but she squirmed away from me. She seemed unsure of herself, and I wanted to offer her comfort, but that turned out to be impossible with Spartan sticking his pushed-in face at her.

  “I bought sandwiches and put them in the fridge,” Walter told the group.

  “Refrigerator!” Maddy squealed. “Oh my God, I can’t wait to eat a sandwich from a van!”

  Eventually the vehicle stopped swaying and settled into a steady droning sound. Gradually, everyone quit talking.

  “Denver, five hundred and ninety-eight miles,” JayB announced. This didn’t seem to make any of the people happy.

  “God,” Maddy muttered. “Why did they put Denver so far away?”

  “Oh, I know,” Rodney suggested after a long silence. “Why don’t we each tell each other our biographies. You know, the facts of our lives?”

  “How do you come up with these amazing ideas?” Maddy wondered.

  Rodney shrugged. “Everybody asks that. Okay, I’ll go first. So, I think it’s fair to say that everyone was shocked when I dropped out of KU, but honestly, I got there and looked around and said to myself, ‘Hey, I already know more than anyone here.’”

  “That’s amazing,” Maddy encouraged. “I’ll bet you they were impressed with that.”

  “I didn’t graduate from college either,” Walter interjected proudly. “And see? Look at the two of us, Rodney.”

  Rodney smiled affably. “I’d like to tell it, Walter, if you don’t mind.”

  “Oh,” Walter apologized. “Sorry.”

  “After all,” Maddy reasoned, “it is mostly Rodney’s life. At least so far.”

  JayB and Alana exchanged a grin.

  “Anyway, you can tell where this is going, I’m sure,” Rodney continued. “I decided that, you know, instead of going to med school or something, rack up student debt, that I’d be better off if I went to work at the car dealership. I’ve always been good with my hands, Alana.”

  “You know,” Maddy interrupted, “it’s a little irritating that you act like you’re telling this story just to Alana. You’re supposed to be sharing with all of us so that no one person has the advantage.”

  “Oh, you’re right,” Rodney agreed, looking chagrined. “I’m sorry. I know this is interesting to everybody.”

  “I know I’m completely enthralled,” JayB agreed.

  “So: the car dealership,” Rodney resumed. “Instead of going into management right away, I said to the owner, no sir, that wouldn’t be right. I’d like to start in the wash rack, and move up from there.”

  “Wow,” Maddy marveled. “You totally pulled your bottom up by the boots.”

  “Had me a job like that myself, once,” Walter observed. He held up a hand when Rodney shot him a look. “Sorry.”

  “So, I’ve always been amazing at either building things, or fixing things, or imagining things.” Rodney winked at Alana. “Anyway, so mostly that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been a mechanic and a builder and a developer.”

  “What’s the difference between a builder and a developer?” Alana wanted to know.

  “I knew you’d ask that,” Rodney declared. “See, a developer is like what would have been what we did at the restaurant if it hadn’t been for the weird zoning laws. A builder’s like what I’m doing right now, which is remodeling that kitchen.”

  “And how is that going?” JayB asked innocently.

  Rodney shrugged. “You know, with the Canada trip and everything, I’ve just been really busy.”

  “Exactly,” Walter assented.

  “Bigger fish to fry,” JayB suggested breezily.

  “Well, my backstory is really about one person,” Walter began.

  “Well, hey, Walter,” Rodney interrupted, looking troubled. “I wasn’t really done yet.”

  “I think it would be better if you let us absorb all the information you’ve given us before you say more,” Alana recommended. “We don’t want to be overloaded with complexity.”

  “Great idea,” Rodney agreed. “Beauty and brains, both.”

  “Which one am I?” Maddy demanded. “And don’t say brains. No one can even see your brains.”

  “Her name is Celeste,” Walter pressed on smoothly. “She’s the only woman I have ever truly loved. And my biggest regret is that I let her go.” Everyone was quiet for a moment, and I sensed a change of mood in the car.

  “Man, I get it,” Rodney told Walter. “I had this girlfriend for a few years.” He looked at Alana. “This is before I met you, of course. And we were really serious there for a while. I didn’t know what to think when she told me she was engaged to somebody else, because there was this pure love between us. I mean, yes, she had moved to Philadelphia, but that’s only a plane ride away, I told her. And I kept asking when she was coming back to Kansas City … and then she didn’t.” Rodney held up his hands. “I mean, I gave it my best shot, but come on. Somebody’s got to meet me halfway. You know what I mean?”

  “Maybe,” JayB predicted, “you’ll get engaged again. Soon.”

  Rodney blanched.

  “It’s so romantic that you fell in love with Celeste and you love her still,” Maddy observed with a sigh. “JayB’s not like that. He’s flighty. He doesn’t recognize a good thing when it’s right in front of him.”

  JayB glanced at Alana. “I’m not sure I agree with that.”

  Alana blushed and looked away.