Good Guys Love Dogs (14 page)

GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

A young resident returned a few
minutes later to tel

Colby what she already knew. Her
wrist hadn't been

fractured, but she did have a
sprain.

They wrapped it for her and advised
light use for a few

days. Once they'd finished with her,
she was released and

free to go. She went back to the
emergency room to check

on Ian and found him waiting by the
door.

“How's the wrist?
he asked.

She held up her bandaged arm.
“It'l live. How about

you?

“Just a knot the
size of an egg. I'm a free man.

“Come on, then.
I'll drive you home.

This time, he got into the truck
without arguing.

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21

either of them said much during the
drive back

N to Oak, Hill. Ian's head pounded,
and he felt

subdued by the reality of what had
nearly happened that

afternoon. Apparently, Colby felt
the same, quiet, too,

and concentrating on the road in
front of her.

She stopped the truck in the
driveway and left the

engine idling. “Would
you like some help getting

inside?

“No, I'll be
fine. I think you've done quite enough

for me today.

“It was nothing.

He cocked a brow at her and shook
his head.

“Right.

He opened the door but didn't move.
“Sure that

wrist is all right?

She gave him a stiff wave. “Be
good as new soon.

“You really did
save my life, you know. I won't

forget that.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“I'll be sure to
send you the bill, she said, a smile

on her lips.

After six now, the light had begun
to fade, casting

shadows across her face. He sat
there in the twilight,

knowing he should go and yet not
wanting to. The

wrongness of that did not escape
him. “Would you like

to come in? he asked before he
realized his own

intention. “I
could fix us some dinner.

She looked down at her wrist, toyed
with the

bandage and then shook her head.
“I'd better not.

She was right to turn him down.
Since the moment

he'd found himself lying at the edge
of the creek with

her pinned beneath him, things
somehow felt different

between them. The urge to kiss her
now nearly

overpowered him. Just as he wondered
where the devil

that thought had come from, the
screen door of the

house wheezed open. Luke stepped
out. Ian waved him

over, glad for the diversion.

“What happened?
Luke asked, eyeing the scrapes

on Ian's face.

“I kind of had a
run-in with the tractor, Ian

explained. “Dr.
Williams came by and saved me from

myself.

“Are you all
right?

Ian wondered if he'd imagined the
note of worry in

his son's voice. “I'm
fine. Thanks to me, Dr. Williams

has a sprained wrist, though. Luke,
this is Colby

Williams. Colby, my son Luke.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Hello, Luke, she
said. “It's nice to meet you. You

might know my daughter, Lena.

Luke scuffed a tennis shoe against
the pavement.

“Yeah, we've met.

Colby studied him for a moment, and
then said,

“Well, I've got
to get going.

“I owe you one,
Ian said.

“We're all good,
Colby said.

He waved as he watched her drive
off, telling

himself what he felt just then was
nothing more than

gratitude.

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22

olby had been home for less than an
hour when

CPhoebe caled, wanting to know
everything. A

tennis buddy of hers who worked with
a nurse at the

hospital told her that Colby saved
Ian McKinley's life.

“The town
grapevine is up to the speed of light

now, I see, Colby said, shaking her
head.

“And you didn't
tell me? Phoebe asked indignantly.

“Phoebe, I just
got home. It was no big deal,

anyway.

“No big deal? Did
you really push him out of the

way of a rolling tractor?

“Sort of.

Phoebe's whoop of laughter sounded
less than

ladylike. “Incredible!
How could a man resist a woman

who saved his life?

“Phoebe—

“Well, really,
Colby. I couldn't have planned it

better myself.

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INGLATH COOPER

“The man is
engaged. What is it about that word

you don't understand? Colby asked,
exasperated.

“Things change.
You never know.

“My dinner's
burning. I'll talk to you later. She

hung up, feeling only slightly
guilty for the exaggeration.

The pot on the stove did need
stirring. She removed the

lid and checked the boiling
potatoes.

It was way past time Phoebe gave up
on this

particular venture. Colby thought
about those last few

moments at Ian's before Luke
appeared. The tension

between Ian and her was easily
explained. People who

went through traumas together often
felt a temporary

sense of closeness.

That night, Lena joined Colby at the
dinner table

without being prodded to do so for
the first time in

weeks. Colby hid her surprise and
sat down with her

daughter as if her presence were
nothing out of the

ordinary.

“What happened to
your wrist? Lena asked, any

concern that might have prompted the
question

adequately concealed.

With the way things had been going
between them,

Colby was surprised she'd asked at
all. “I had a little

accident at the McKinley farm. It's
nothing major, she

said, not wanting to elaborate.

Lena looked as if she wanted to know
more, but

didn't ask. Colby asked her about
her day, how school

was, all the things she would
automatically have asked

her not so long ago.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

Lena answered each of her questions
in

monosyllables.

Colby had nearly given up hope of a
two-sided

conversation when Lena said,
“There's a campout two

weeks from this Friday. The
Fellowship of Christian

Athletes is sponsoring it. Is it all
right if I go?

She realized then what Lena's sudden
appearance at

the dinner table had been about.
Disappointment

stabbed at her, and she wished for
the first time since

Lena's birth that the child didn't
have such power over

her heart. “Sure.

Lena dropped her fork, obviously
startled by the

unexpected response. Judging from
her defensive

posture earlier, Lena expected an
argument. Colby

wouldn't give her one. She no longer
had the energy.

She got up and dumped the remains of
her dinner into

the garbage.

With her back to the table, she
heard Lena get up

and leave the room. Sighing, she
began gathering up the

bowls of vegetables they'd barely
touched. For the first

time in fifteen years, she disliked
being a single parent.

It had never been like this before.
Always, she and Lena

had been able to work out whatever
minor difficulties

they might have had. How small they
seemed in

comparison to this. Lena wanting her
ears pierced. Lena

wanting to meet Chuck Bailey at the
ninth-grade dance.

Lena wanting to learn how to drive
out in her

grandparents' pasture. Those issues
seemed so simple

now.

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INGLATH COOPER

She put the frying pan in the sink.
With her good

hand, she scrubbed it hard. She
resented this sudden

yearning for a partner to share
these decisions. She

chose to be single. And she couldn't
just pull a father

for Lena out of a hat. She'd never
wanted to marry

anyone enough to give up her own
independence.

Unbidden, Ian McKinley popped into
her thoughts.

Her hand stilled, and she stared out
the kitchen window

at the stars dotting the September
sky. She remembered

what it felt like to find herself
stretched flat out on the

ground with Ian on top of her, the
unexpected surge of

longing that swept through her. . .
.

She cut the memory off.

Engaged. Taken. Spoken for.

So stop thinking about him,
Colby, she told herself. Just stop

thinking about him.

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23

he stuck to her own mental guns for
the next

Sweek, keeping busy at work and
spending her

nights making one-sided conversation
with Lena.

On Thursday morning she stopped at
the bank before

dropping Lena off at school. They
were sitting in the drive-

through line when she spotted Ian
coming out of the post

office across the street, her first
uncensored thought that it

should have been illegal for anybody
to look that good in a

pair of blue jeans. He wore a
worn-looking leather jacket, a

Nike T-shirt and running shoes. Dark
sunglasses hid his eyes,

his black hair slicked back and wet,
as if he'd just gotten out

of the shower.

Warmth assaulted her midsection.

The car behind her tooted its horn.
She pul ed forward

just as Ian looked up and caught
sight of her. He waved.

She waved back. Casually. Smiling as
if she'd just seen him,

too.

He crossed the street and stopped at
the truck door.

Colby lowered the window and said,
“Hel o.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Hi. How's the
wrist?

“Fine. I already
got rid of the sling. How's your

head?

“Hard as ever,
I'm afraid. He smiled, and something

inside Colby shifted. Despite what
Dillard and Willard

Nolen thought, there was nothing
slick about this man.

His crooked smile crinkled the
corners of his eyes and

hinted at possibilities. As weapons
went, particularly

deadly.

“Good, she said,
hating the breathlessness in her

voice.

He ducked down and peered across at
Lena. “Hi. I'm

Ian McKinley.

“Sorry, Colby
said. “Ian, this is my daughter, Lena.

Lena looked at both of them
curiously. “Hello.

“I can see beauty
runs in the Williams family. Nice to

meet you, Lena.

Lena actually blushed! But then,
Colby's own face felt

warm, too.

The car in front of them eased away,
and it was their

turn to move forward.

Ian stepped back. “I'm
holding things up. See you

later, he said, his gaze lingering
on hers a second too

long.

She waved goodbye, and pretending
intense

concentration on her banking
business, ignored her

daughter's scrutiny.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

At seven-thirty the following
Sunday, Colby and Lena

arrived at church for the monthly
women's breakfast

prepared in the fellowship hall by
the men of the

congregation.

A big, open area in the basement,
the hall was used

for dinners and get-togethers of
this sort. The aroma of

buttered toast and fried apples
greeted them as they

entered the room already abuzz with
conversation. Lena

waved at her grandparents and went
over to join them.

“I just want to
make it clear that I'm not the one who

invited him.

Colby turned around to find Phoebe
standing in

defense mode with one hand on her
hip. “Who? she

asked, knowing full well her friend
could only be talking

about one person.

“It was all
Frank's doing. He invited Ian to go fishing

at our pond, and then he asked Luke
and him to come to

the breakfast.

“As a deacon of
the church, that was a nice thing for

Frank to do, Colby said, trying to
sound unconcerned.

With a suspicious look on her face,
Phoebe said,

“You mean you
don't mind?

“Why would I
mind?

“I just figured
you would accuse me of trying to fix

you two up again.

“Now that you
know he's engaged to someone else, I

know you wouldn't do that, Colby
said deliberately.

“Of course not,
Phoebe said with angelic innocence.

“How are things
with Frank and you?

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INGLATH COOPER

“I don't know.
Phoebe sighed. “He's just so

distracted all the time now. He
barely hears what I'm

saying to him. It's as if he's in
another world or

something.

“Maybe it's
something at work.

Phoebe shook her head. “He
says everything is fine.

Josephine Robertson approached them,
saying,

“There you are,
Phoebe. Reverend Thomas asked me to

get together with you on the
quarterly fund-raiser. Do

you have a minute?

“You two go right
ahead. I'll talk to you later,

Phoebe. Colby hung up her jacket and
headed for the

front of the room, stopping to chat
with several people

along the way.

Just as she headed over to speak to
her parents,

Davis Fralin stopped her with a
tentative smile.