“I need to know point-blank, and you need to be honest with me for once in your life and not just make up facts. Are we getting back together, or not?”

  I sensed an acute tension between Maddy and JayB, so I sat quietly looking between the two of them. I was not sure what they were doing, but JayB, in particular, seemed unhappy.

  “Well?” Maddy demanded. “Are you just going to stand there like a mouse in a trap, or are you going to answer my question? I deserve to know. Are we going to stay together, or are you going to break up with me? Again?”

  “Maddy,” JayB began, “I really appreciate that you took all the trouble to come up with however many rules we’re at now, and that you’ve always been honest with me in your desire to see me be a completely different person.”

  Maddy waved her hand. “Well, any woman would want that. I shouldn’t get all the credit.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you just partial credit for that. But I am being as straight with you as I can. I just honestly don’t think the two of us are meant to be together.”

  Maddy searched his face with her eyes. “Okay,” she decided abruptly, “so can you fix me up with Rodney?”

  JayB looked startled. “What?”

  “Rodney. You’re his best friend. Use your man-code words and tell him he should ask me out.”

  “Actually, I’m not his best friend, but even if I were, I don’t know how to fix people up. If I could fix someone up, I’d fix myself up.”

  “Yes, okay, it’s all about you … but seriously, I need you to throw me a life raft here. I really think Rodney might be the one. I get that you’re hurting over our relationship; it’s like a phantom limb for you, but I’m hoping you’ll look past that.”

  JayB nodded. “Okay, I’m past it.”

  “I know I said you were the one, but this is really different. He’s handsome, for one thing. And he’s got such interesting stories.”

  “He does have a lot of stories,” JayB observed.

  “And your dad is right about Rodney. He’s got this passion for life. You, no offense, are like an ugly microwaved potato with nothing on it … just blah.”

  “Why would I be offended?”

  Alana came out of the big building smiling. Her hair was wet and she ran her fingers through it. She walked up to us and I wagged. I’m always happy to see Alana.

  “Hot coffee and a cool shower,” she announced. “I feel like a new woman.” She held up a small piece of plastic. “Here’s the key. Who’s next?”

  JayB turned to Maddy. “You should go, Maddy. You’re a woman.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not playing that game. We’re all equal here. I’m offended you’d even bring that up.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “I think you should go, JayB. Alana and I want to have some women talk, and no, not about gynecology.”

  JayB looked back and forth between them. “Okay.” He handed my leash to Alana. “Would you hang on to Clancy?”

  “Of course,” Alana agreed.

  I watched in confusion as JayB walked away from us. What was happening? I looked up at Alana in concern, not knowing how long I could stifle a whimper.

  Where was JayB going without me?

  Dear Diary:

  As it turns out, people don’t like to sleep in a pile, not even when they spend the night in the same car together.

  Dogs are different. A dog knows that nothing is softer than another dog.

  I try to entice Phoebe to sleep up against me, but she inexplicably curls up against Odin. Spartan, as always, is aloof, but Odin gives me a look before setting his head down with a sigh. I think he knows how much I love Phoebe, and he’s feeling guilty she decided to lie with him.

  Odin is a good dog.

  Love,

  Clancy

  Twenty-five

  Maddy turned to Alana. “I’m glad we’re going to have this time to talk.”

  “Sure,” Alana agreed cautiously.

  “So, get ready for this: JayB and I just broke up.”

  “Oh.”

  “This isn’t like all the other times. This time it’s for good.”

  “Um, how do you feel?”

  “Liberated, of course. Slightly nauseated. I’ve got some cramps. I might be getting a zit on my chin.”

  “I see.”

  “So that’s good news for you, right?” Maddy gave Alana a shrewd look. “Right?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “He’s out of jail free, okay? You can have him. JayB’s all yours, including any warts.”

  “Oh. No. I’m sorry,” Alana protested. “I think you misunderstood something. I already have a boyfriend.”

  “I’ve used that one before. Sometimes it works. The boys get jealous and then, you know, they flip out and make a big move. Maybe buy you something. Other times, it flops like a dropped pancake. JayB’s the kind of person who backs off when you say you have a boyfriend, so you should maybe switch tactics, here.”

  “It’s not a tactic, Maddy. Guy really does exist. We’re on our way to see him right now.”

  “Oh, sure,” Maddy sneered, “in Las Vegas. Right.”

  “Why do you say it like that? Why would I have us get in that van and drive all the way to Las Vegas if not to see my boyfriend and pick up my cat?”

  “Okay, first,” Maddy responded, “cats are easy to fake. And, second, there’s a chapel on, like, every block in Las Vegas. You can marry somebody without them even knowing it. I think we both know JayB’s going to step into a McDonald’s or something and then, boom, man and wife.”

  Alana stared at Maddy. “That never occurred to me. About Vegas.”

  “Sure. Whatever. I see through your plan and I have to say I’m in favor of it. If I can get Rodney to go along, we can make it a double wedding.”

  “Oh, Rodney … okay. I didn’t know you were interested in Rodney.”

  “Oh my God,” Maddy marveled, “who wouldn’t be interested in Rodney? He’s like what would happen if a man and a woman got together and made a living person.”

  A short time later, JayB came back. I whimpered with joy, pawing at his legs.

  “He’s been crying off and on since you left,” Alana advised.

  “Clancy, you are such a silly dog,” he murmured to me.

  I loved hearing my name come from my person’s lips.

  Soon we were all back in the big car. For some reason, we only jumped in and out of the doors on one side, now. Our people were mostly silent as we drove, staring out the windows.

  “This is not at all what I pictured,” Alana remarked. “It’s so green. I thought Kansas would be all dust. Like in the Westerns.”

  “I think the Westerns are mostly filmed in Arizona. It’s drier there,” JayB suggested.

  “Kansas is like Ireland,” Rodney declared.

  “Seriously? Ireland?” JayB replied. “Have you ever been to Ireland?”

  “He was just in Canada,” Maddy hissed angrily.

  JayB didn’t have anything to say to that.

  “And it goes on and on forever,” Alana observed after a while. “Miles and miles.”

  “Yeah, it’s driving me crazy,” Walter sighed. “Look, Alana”—he leaned forward—“would you do me a favor and see if you can book me a flight from Denver to Vegas?”

  Everyone was quiet for a moment.

  Walter looked around. “I’m too old for this crap,” he explained defensively. “I’ll meet you guys there. Be your man on the ground. Find the best dog-friendly hotel.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” JayB opined neutrally.

  Maddy turned to Rodney. “We’re going to have fun in Las Vegas,” she proclaimed pointedly.

  Rodney considered this. “Well, yeah, of course. Have you ever been there?”

  Maddy shook her head. “No, I was waiting for the right person.”

  Rodney frowned at her. “Okay, sure.”

  We burst out of that side door with manic energy when JayB pulled the car off the road. We were in the most amazing place; a wide, open space with no fence for as far as the eye could see.

  I knew what she was going to do before she did it. Phoebe simply couldn’t resist the sight of all that terrain. With her ears back, she took off at a dead run, headed just nowhere.

  And I, of course, pursued.

  I loved watching her gallop. I loved the way her feet rose from the ground. As she pulled away from me, her scent trailed behind her and I drank it in. Behind us, Spartan kept pace for a few steps, then halted his stiff, bulky body. Odin, of course, wasn’t going to run at all. He remained by JayB’s side.

  I could have kept running forever, but I pulled up short when I heard JayB calling me. Phoebe slowed as well. I didn’t know what I would have done if she had kept going, but when she wheeled around, I knew we were headed back and I tried to stay ahead of her. Of course, this was futile. She was so swift. When we returned to JayB, Spartan ran into her with his chest, in his usual wooden fashion. She play-bowed and wagged as if this was a game and not an obnoxious way for one dog to greet another. I looked at Odin, who glanced away.

  JayB gave us water. Back inside the car, the people had unwrapped sandwiches, so I went on alert and noticed even Spartan doing the same. JayB served us, in our own bowls—crunchy morsels that I bolted down so quickly I almost couldn’t taste them. Finished, we dogs inspected each other’s bowls, disappointed to find nothing left in any of them.

  Soon after the car started moving again, Walter fell asleep, and Alana swiveled her seat to face us.

  Maddy sighed in displeasure. “What happened to squish everything so flat here? It’s like a parking lot with corn.”

  “Probably from dinosaurs walking all over it,” Rodney speculated.

  JayB frowned. “I think this was once the bottom of a sea.”

  “In Kansas?” Maddy hooted. “This look like a yacht club to you?”

  Alana nodded. “JayB’s right, I’m reading about it; this was once the floor of an ocean.”

  Rodney shook his head. “Nah. I’m gonna stick with the dinosaurs. You know how heavy they were? Like, two million tons.”

  I heard a noise as JayB tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

  Maddy reached out a hand and touched Rodney’s shoulder. “It’s like you know everything, Rodney. How do you keep it all in your head?”

  JayB glanced back. “I wish you would keep it all in your head.”

  Alana laughed.

  Rodney shrugged. “I’ve just always had this talent for facts.” He paused, reflecting. “Tell you what I’m thinking. I’m going to take my half of the money from the Korean pig iron and buy a radio station. Then I’m going to have my own talk show. People are naturally interested in what I have to say, you know? They want to hear my opinions on things before they make up their own minds.”

  Maddy smiled. “I’m going to use my half to open a beauty shop. But not for just anybody—customers can’t make appointments. I’ll decide who gets to come in, and when.”

  Alana cocked her head. “That’s interesting. So you’d call me to say, ‘Hey, Alana, come in for a color and cut on Tuesday at four?’”

  “Well, not you. No offense.”

  “So, Rodney gets half and Maddy gets half,” JayB noted. “Doesn’t the person who puts up the money usually get most of it?”

  Rodney spread his hands. “Walter can have as much as he wants as long as I get half.”

  “Well, it’s not coming out of my share, that’s for sure,” Maddy warned.

  “Got it,” JayB said. “So the topic of your radio show would be math.”

  Alana laughed.

  Rodney scowled. “What? No, of course not. It would be like, what I think about current events, that sort of thing.”

  “I’d listen to it,” Maddy assured Rodney.

  He nodded. “Of course you would.”

  “So, what do you think about current events?” JayB wanted to know.

  Rodney waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t meant current like now.”

  “Don’t even listen to JayB,” Maddy advised. “If there were political parties, he’d be nominated wet blanket.”

  Rodney laughed. “Right? But I guarantee he’ll call in, like, every day. He’s the type we’d have to block eventually.”

  Maddy leaned forward. “I know a game we could play to keep time from stopping. It’s one I made up. I call it ‘Book or Band.’”

  Alana looked intrigued. “How do you play?”

  “I think of a name and then you guess if it’s the name of a book or the name of a band.”

  Rodney brightened. “Cool! Do all bands, though, because I don’t really read books.”

  “You get a point for every right guess and lose a point for every wrong one,” Maddy continued.

  “I’m going to kick butt!” Rodney boasted.

  Walter made a slight snoring sound.

  “Ready? Okay. Here’s the first one. Light Song with a Rock.”

  “Band!” Rodney shouted.

  Maddy nodded. “Correct.”

  Alana seemed puzzled. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that one.”

  “Well of course not,” Maddy explained patiently. “These are names I’m thinking of, like I said.”

  “Ah.”

  “The Rodster’s out in front,” Rodney crowed.

  “You’re quick,” Maddy praised him. “Everyone else was like a deer with their headlights off. Okay, another: The Long Standing Marker of Goodbye.”

  Rodney looked thoughtful. “That’s a tough one, even for me.”

  “I’m guessing … book?” Alana speculated tentatively.

  Maddy tapped the back of JayB’s seat. “JayB, what’s your guess?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Since Alana said book, I’ll go with band,” Rodney guessed.

  “Rodney’s right.”

  Rodney pumped a fist. “Yes!”

  “So, Alana and JayB are both at negative one,” Maddy informed everyone primly, “and Rodney has two points.”

  “Why do I get a negative?” JayB objected. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You lose points for not guessing,” Maddy explained.

  “This game is brilliant,” Rodney enthused.

  Maddy beamed. “Thank you! The attraction is mutual.”

  JayB glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, Alana, I know you’re enjoying Maddy’s sophisticated car game, but could you help me look out for, um, prairie dogs running across the highway? I wouldn’t want to hit one.”

  “Of course, but it’ll take all of my attention.” Alana reached down and grabbed a lever. “Maddy, I’m so sorry I can’t play anymore.” She pulled the lever and spun her seat around to face the front. “Really sorry,” she murmured.

  “Prairie Dog … that would be a good band name,” Rodney suggested.

  Maddy shook her head. “No, it wouldn’t.”

  “Book?”

  “Nope.”

  Rodney threw up his hands. “This game is hard!”

  Maddy leaned forward to speak to JayB. “If you can’t see the prairie dogs, maybe you should use cruise control.”

  JayB nodded. “Good idea—except, if you run over a prairie dog with a van, everyone gets seven years of bad luck.”

  Maddy reflected on this. “I’ve heard the same is true for hamsters.”

  Soon, we changed direction—I could sense it by the position of the sun. We stopped and Walter wrestled around with some of the bags and grabbed one that I recognized as smelling like him.

  “All right, thanks for the lift. I’ll see you in Vegas,” he called with a cheery wave. He slid the side door shut. I watched him go.

  Whatever was happening was nothing a dog could possibly understand.

  We drove off without Walter.

  “I’ve never seen the mountains of Colorado before,” Alana marveled. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Soon we’ll be in the mountains,” JayB replied.

  “What’s it like in Marina del Rey?” Maddy asked. “Is it close to the mountains of Los Angeles?”

  “Oh, yes, it’s actually considered part of Los Angeles.” Alana looked over at Maddy. “You’ve never been?”

  Maddy shook her head. “I never get to go anywhere. Usually, I’m in court trying to get my money back.”

  “Ah.”

  “There’s no way we’re going to make it all the way to Vegas tonight,” JayB observed. “Maybe we should book a hotel and stop and foil another robbery.”

  Everyone smiled at this.

  “I’ll remind you, though,” Rodney interjected, “it was actually me and Spartan who caught the robber. You guys were just standing around with your hands in the air when I came out of the bathroom.”

  “That’s exactly how it happened,” JayB agreed.

  Maddy reached out and touched Rodney’s shoulder. “It’s a word that gets used too much, especially in the restaurant business, but you’re a hero, Rodney.”

  Rodney shrugged. “Actually, I’m just a man, but like all men, I won’t just stand by when something wrong’s going down.”

  A little while later, I woke up because the car had pulled over to the side of the road.

  “Buffalo viewing area,” Rodney pronounced.

  “You dogs ready to see some buffalo?” JayB asked.

  We heard the excitement in his voice, so we all leapt to our feet, wagging when the door slid open. JayB reached in and seized all our leashes in one deft grab.

  Everyone was stretching and yawning. Alana followed JayB as he led us to a fence we could mark. My nose twitched at the smell of foreign creatures.

  “I think I know what’s going on with Guy,” Alana murmured to JayB. “Something Maddy said made me realize it.”

  JayB waited.

  “There’s a reason he was so particular about wanting to meet in Las Vegas. Vegas, of all places.” She stopped and searched JayB’s eyes with hers. “It’s not just to propose. It’s because of the chapels. We’re getting married.”

  Dear Diary:

  I don’t think any of the dogs knew, when we first climbed into this big car, that this would be our life—riding and even sleeping overnight in the vehicle, lulled into a continual drowsiness by the low, steady drone of the tires on the road. Given our new circumstances, I decided to take the opportunity to reflect on the members of the current pack and their relationship to our people.