Good Guys Love Dogs (29 page)

from the other end of the couch. A
thin plastic container

with Lena's name and address on
front. She turned it over in

her hands, then snapped the lid
open. Her stomach dropped.

Birth control pil s. Why in the
world did Lena have birth

control pills?

Feeling as if she'd just had the
wind knocked from her,

she sank back onto the floor. The
container was ful . A

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INGLATH COOPER

thousand thoughts ran through her
head. Had she started

taking them yet?
Why
?

The questions no more than formed in
her mind when

Lena sprang through the door. At the
sight of Colby sitting

on the floor with the packet in her
hands, her face froze.

A hundred different emotions
assailed Colby. Anger.

Fear. Hurt. Denial.

Lena strol ed into the living room
and draped herself

across the closest chair, defiance
etched on her face.

“Mil ie called,
Colby said in a stunned voice. “She

wanted to know if you brought home
your algebra book. I

checked your bag for it, and these
fell out.

Lena didn't say anything. She just
sat with her arms

folded across her chest, staring out
the window.

Colby held up the packet. “What
are these for?

Lena met her gaze, her eyes
narrowed. “What do you

think, Mom? They're to keep me from
ending up like you

did! Pregnant and dumped.

Until that point, Colby had no idea
that hurt could run so

deep. It stabbed to the core of her
and then spread outward

in a white-hot spasm of pain.
“Lena, you're not even dating

yet.

“I wil be soon.
And if it weren't for your ridiculous

rules, I already would be.

“Who are you
taking these for, Lena?

Lena turned around and looked her
straight in the eye.

“Luke McKinley.
And don't worry, Mom. I know al about

sex and what happens when you mess
up. I don't intend to

make your mistakes.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

Colby stared at her daughter,
feeling as if she were

talking to a stranger. She didn't
know this child. Only she

wasn't a child, but a young woman
who had decided that it

was time for her to have sex. She'd
seen a doctor on her own,

without consulting Colby.

None of this would have happened if
Ian McKinley and

his son had never come to Keeling
Creek. Colby dropped

the pills on the couch and left the
room.

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43

t was the last place on earth she
wanted to be. With

Iher hands shoved in her coat
pockets, Colby stood

outside of Ian's newly painted door.
Her breath made little

puffs of smoke in the cold night
air. Righteous indignation

simmered inside her. The more she
thought about it, the

more convinced she became that she
was right. Ian

McKinley, with his city-wise ways,
had wreaked havoc with

her life. Now his son was doing the
same to Lena's.

She'd started to cal instead of
coming over, but hadn't

wanted to take a chance on Lena
overhearing the

conversation. She would only stay
long enough to say what

she had to say, and then she'd be on
her way. Drawing in a

deep breath, she knocked on the door
and reminded herself

that she could handle this situation
with decorum even if she

had acted like a sex-starved nymphet
in the front seat of the

man's car. Even if the Jefferson
County Sheriff's

Department was probably still
chuckling about Colby

Wil iams being caught parking with
an unavailable man. She

would just have to get past that.
She—

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

The door opened, and suddenly she
looked up at him.

Despite the forty-degree
temperature, she broke out in a

sweat. “I need to
talk to you, Ian. Do you have a few

minutes?

“Sure. Come in,
he said, looking surprised to see her.

He pointed toward the half-painted
living room just down

the hal way and fol owed her inside,
closing the French

doors behind them. “Sorry
about the mess. I'm stil under

construction here.

Her anger did wonders for subduing
the awkwardness

she would have otherwise felt at
seeing him again. “I won't

stay long.

“Colby, you can
look at me. I won't bite. Real y.

She met his gaze and realized why
she'd been avoiding

doing so. His eyes. They got her
every time. Focusing on

her anger, she said, “I'm
here about Lena and Luke. I

accidental y discovered a packet of
birth control pil s in

Lena's backpack today. Apparently,
they're seeing one

another.

“They are? he
asked, obviously surprised.

“I think she just
started taking them. I don't know that

they've. . .I think she was planning
ahead.

“Oh, he said.
“Oh. I'm sorry, Colby. I don't know

what to say.

“Until your son
came to town, Lena wasn't even

interested in boys, she said, an
edge to her voice.

Ian looked at her for a moment.
“Are you saying Luke

somehow coerced her into—

“It's obvious
that he's more worldly than she is.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Worldly?

“You know what I
mean, she said quickly.

“You think he's
corrupted her? Ian asked, looking

incredulous.

Ignoring the voice inside her that
questioned her

fairness, she said, “Sex
was never an issue until she met him.

Lena isn't supposed to date until
she's sixteen, which is a

couple of months from now. I'm going
to stand by that. I'd

appreciate it if you talked to Luke
and asked him not to see

Lena outside of school until then.

“You know that if
it's what they real y want to do,

we're not going to stop them. It's
the Romeo and Juliet

thing.

“Please back me
up on this, she said, her voice

remarkably cool now for al the
turmoil inside her.

“Colby, I don't
think. . .

“Just do it,
okay? And without looking at him again,

she left.

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44

an went after her, started to call
her back, then

Istopped when another set of
headlights arced across

the driveway.

He let out a deep sigh and dropped
down on the porch

steps, watching Colby's tail ights
disappear around the bend

as the cool fall air quickly seeped
through his shirtsleeves. He

stared up at the clear,
star-sprinkled sky he had grown to

appreciate so much since moving
here. Colby's angry

accusations had thrown him. He
hadn't seen her since the

night of the dance, and as often as
he imagined what he

would say to her when he did, he
never envisioned this

scenario.

Luke might be more experienced than
Lena, but Ian

knew the boy wouldn't try to talk
her into doing anything she

didn't want to do. He'd had the
distinct feeling that Colby

was thinking as much about the two
of them as about their

son and daughter.

The car stopped in the driveway and
Luke got out of the

passenger side. No time like the
present to talk to him about

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INGLATH COOPER

the situation. He hadn't been
surprised to hear that Luke

might be having sex. He was like any
other parent who hoped

his child saw the wisdom in waiting
until reason held some

measure of control over hormones.
Luke was seventeen,

though, and reason had a few years
to go. But the girl in

question was Colby's
fifteen-year-old daughter.

The car turned around and headed
back down the drive.

Luke strol ed across the yard and
stopped at the bottom of

the stairs.

“How was the
movie? Ian asked.

“The special
effects were good. What are you doing out

here?

“Thinking.

“Aren't you cold?

“Not too bad. Can
you sit down for a minute?

Luke dropped his book bag onto the
brick walkway and

sat down on the step beside him.
“Was that Dr. Wil iams

leaving just now?

“Yeah, it was.
She found some birth control pil s in

Lena's backpack. So much for a
lead-in.

Luke's eyes widened. A few seconds
passed before he

said, “And?

“Lena said she
started taking them for you.

When Luke didn't say anything, Ian
felt compel ed to fil

the silence. “We've
talked about this before, son. Pregnancy

isn't the worst thing that can
happen to sexually active kids

today.

Luke sighed. “Dad,
you already gave me the lecture on

safe sex.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“I'm not giving
you one now. I just—

“I don't know why
she told her mom that, Luke

interrupted, throwing up his hands.
“We're not seeing each

other anymore.

“But you were?

Luke shrugged and nodded.

“What happened?

Another silence fol owed the
question, but Ian sensed

Luke would answer him when he was
ready. “I trusted her. I

told her about what happened in New
York, about me

getting into trouble. She said she
wouldn't tel anybody, and

then, al of a sudden, I've got two
jerks in my face wanting to

know if I'm connected.

“And you think
she told them?

“It had to be
her. Nobody else knew.

Ian put a hand on his son's shoulder
and squeezed. He

heard the pain in the boy's voice
and wanted only to take it

away. Even though Luke had resisted
coming here initial y,

Ian somehow knew that he would like
to put the past behind

him, that something here had touched
a chord inside him,

too. “Did you ask
her about it?

Luke shook his head. “What's
the point? She lied.

Apparently, she's pretty good at
that.

“Lena's having a
tough time.

“You mean because
of her dad?

Ian nodded. “Her
mom doesn't want her to date until

she's sixteen. Maybe what she needs
most right now is a good

friend.

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INGLATH COOPER

Luke considered that for a moment,
then reached for his

book bag and got up. “I'l
think about it. At the top of the

steps, he turned. “Is
that al you and Dr. Wil iams are? Good

friends?

The question caught Ian by surprise.
“I'm not sure how

to answer that, Luke.

“You know, I
ought to be the one giving you the

lecture.

Ian raised an eyebrow. “How
do you figure?

“I saw you with
her at the homecoming dance. I've never

seen you look at Rachel the way you
were looking at her.

“Luke—

“It's because of
Mom, isn't it?

“What do you
mean?

“I might be a
kid, but I'm smart enough to know you've

never let yourself love anybody
since Mom. Loving

somebody means you'l have to hurt if
you lose them. You

don't love Rachel like that, do you?

Stunned, Ian said, “Luke,
I don't know what to say. I—

“What if we
stayed here, Dad? What if we didn't go back

to the city?

Ian leaned against a post, the
question more than

surprising him. “You
mean permanently?

Luke shrugged, his posture and tone
nonchalant. But

something told Ian the boy had been
thinking about this a lot.

“You know I've
intended to go back al along.

Luke shoved his hands into his
jacket pockets. “I know.

But I just like the way things are
here better. With us and

everything.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

A stunner of a statement. Ian had no
idea how to

respond to it. Before he could say
anything, Luke said,

“You're different
since you met her, Dad. That ought to tel

you something. He turned and went
inside the house.

More than amazed, Ian sat on the
steps, staring after him.

Since the moment he'd dropped Colby
off at the high school

on Saturday night, he'd been
miserable. For the past few days,

he'd done little more than mope
around the house. When

Mabel final y asked him what on
earth was bothering him,

he'd waved away her concern, not
wanting to talk about it.

Apparently, Luke had been doing some
observing of his own.

The truth? He couldn't stop thinking
about the dance

and what almost happened between
Colby and him. Or the

reasons behind it. He had always
prided himself on being

honorable. What was honorable about
infidelity? Even if he

hadn't been unfaithful to Rachel in
the complete physical

sense, the breech felt complete. At
some point, he began to

feel that the real relationship in
his life was with Colby.

He'd never intended for it to
happen. They'd started out

as friends. He wasn't sure when that
changed. But it had.

Colby had helped him rediscover a
missing piece of

himself. The part of him that final
y remembered that life had