Paws and Effect Read Online Free Page A

stretched one arm behind her head and shifted to look at Travis. “C’mon, Trav, we’re probably boring Kathleen talking about the good old days.”
    Travis was still leaning back in his chair, one hand wrapped around his mug. With the other he sent a knife on the table spinning in a circle. “Are we boring you, Kathleen, talking about Marcus’s youthful indiscretions?” he asked.
    I could feel the tension in the air, like ozone before a thunderstorm. I knew there was no right way to answer Travis’s question. Something had happened between him and Marcus. Maybe that was why Marcus had never talked about any of them.
    Under the table I put my hand on his leg. He covered it with his own for a moment. “Talking about Marcus is never boring as far as I’m concerned,” I said to Travis. That was true and it was the most neutral answer I could come up with.
    Marcus turned sideways in his chair and smiled at me. “The year we took that biology class the administration decided to add some fieldwork to the course.”
    â€œIt was the only year they did that,” John added.
    Marcus’s gaze flicked to Dani again and she picked up the story. “So, anyway, the college owned a woodlot and Dr. Martindale decided to take the class camping overnight. We were supposed to collect plant samples all day and then when it got dark we were going to look at the stars. Dr. Hemmings and a couple of grad students from the physics department came with us.”
    â€œTo foster an atmosphere of interdepartmental cooperation and learning,” Travis said, as though he were quoting the words straight from some university press release. He pushed his hipster glasses up his nose with one finger.
    â€œThe two grad students had to lug a telescope through the woods,” John said, grinning at the memory.
    Dani gave me a smile. Her voice didn’t betray any tension but I could see it in her shoulders and the way she held her head. “Marcus volunteered to make breakfast.”
    I glanced at him again and smiled. “He’s a good cook.”
    John almost choked on his coffee. “You’re serious? He cooks?”
    I nodded.
    Dani turned and glared. “Be nice,” she said.
    He just laughed.
    â€œI didn’t exactly volunteer,” Marcus said. “I was the only one up.”
    He looked over at John, who immediately shook his head and turned to look at me. “For the record,Kathleen, I do not snore and I did not drive him out of our tent.”
    â€œDuly noted,” I said.
    â€œDr. Hemmings gave me a bag of oatmeal and a pot,” Marcus said. “She told me to make breakfast for my group.”
    â€œAnd you what? Burned the oatmeal?”
    John was laughing now. Dani’s smile still seemed forced.
    â€œYou’re a librarian, Kathleen,” Travis said. His voice was still laced with a touch of sarcasm. “You probably know the story of Medusa.”
    I had no idea what a character from Greek mythology had to do with Marcus making oatmeal but I nodded. “Medusa was a Gorgon. According to the legend, the sight of her face was so terrible it would turn anyone who looked at her to stone.”
    Travis’s gaze slid from Marcus to me. “Yeah, well that’s pretty much what Marcus did to our breakfast.”
    â€œIt wasn’t quite like that, Kathleen,” Dani said. She wore a silver double-infinity-knot ring on the middle finger of her left hand and she twisted it around and around on the finger.
    â€œIt was pretty much exactly like that,” John retorted.
    â€œMy mother always made oatmeal with milk,” Marcus said.
    â€œSomething you need to know about John is that he always has a few essential supplies when he’s out in the field,” Dani said. She looked past me, at Marcus,giving him a genuine smile of affection. “Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Pop-Tarts, coffee, powdered milk.” She put