Good Guys Love Dogs (16 page)

first dibs on it.

It was a nice gesture. She should
have been overjoyed.

The house might still be hers, after
al , but something

about the thought of it fell flat
now. “Thanks, she said. “I

really appreciate that.

Ian took a sip of his iced tea.
“At one time, it was a

grand old place.

“It would be
again with the right person giving it what

it needs. Sometimes things just need
a little love and

attention.

“Yeah, I guess
they do. That's something I've realized

myself recently, Ian said.

She sensed the statement held more
meaning than

readily apparent. But Thomas brought
their veggie burgers

just then, and he didn't elaborate.
They ate in silence for the

first few bites while conversation
hummed around them.

She felt a few gazes on them and
knew the gossip would

start within the afternoon. No
sooner had the thought

crossed her mind than she caught a
glimpse of Louise

Mason and her twelve-year old
daughter waiting for a booth.

Louise spotted her and all but
sprinted over.

Colby managed a smile. “Hel
o, Louise. How are you?

“Oh, I'm fine,
she said, patting Colby's shoulder.

“Aren't you going
to introduce me to your friend?

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

Grace won out over reluctance.
“Ian, this is Louise

Mason. She owns the hair salon in
town. Louise, Ian

McKinley. But I don't have to tel
you who he is.

Louise grasped Ian's hand in a
handshake that Colby

knew from personal experience
rivaled any sumo

wrestler's. “Wel
, I've just heard so much about you, Mr.

McKinley. And I'm so glad to see
you've managed to get

our Colby out and about. We'd just
about given up hope of

her finding a good guy.

“Nice to meet
you, Miss Mason, he said, looking more

than a little amused.

“Oh, it's Louise,
she said, al but preening. If the

woman hadn't had a wedding ring on
her finger, Colby

thought Louise would have knocked
her right off the stool

and bowled Ian over with her charm.
Colby said a prayer

of thanks when Louise's daughter cal
ed out to her from

their table. “I'd
better be getting back. You two enjoy your

lunch, she said, winking at Colby.

Colby lowered her forehead onto one
hand and stared

at the counter in mortification.
“I can't believe she said

that.

“She's harmless,
he said, chuckling. “There's no

reason to be embarrassed. Really.

“Easy for you to
say. The humor in the situation hit

her, and she smiled in spite of
herself. “I wonder what it

would be like to live in a place
where people actually have a

little privacy.

“Lonely,
sometimes.

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INGLATH COOPER

“It might be
worth it once in a while, she said. “Being

the eligible carrot on the end of
the stick does get a little

old. Fortunately, the positives of
living in a place like this

outweigh the negatives. The people
who can't keep their

nose out of your business are the
same ones who would be

there for you in a flash if you ever
needed their help. Maybe

this wasn't a good idea, though.
There will be talk, you

know.

“About what?

“The two of us
having lunch together. Louise wil have

everybody in the Dippety-Do informed
within thirty seconds

of getting back to the shop.

Ian toyed with a French fry. “I've
never cared too much

about what other people think.

Colby tilted her head and said in a
low voice, “Since

you're engaged, I didn't think you'd
want anyone to get the

wrong impression.

He held her gaze for a moment too
long while

something inside her flared to life,
the feeling inappropriate,

she knew. Nonetheless, there.

“To be honest, I
could use a friend here, he said. “Does

my engagement have to stand in the
way of that?

His question brought with it a surge
of

disappointment. From an adult
standpoint, nothing wrong

with the two of them being friends.
They had two difficult

teenagers in common. She found him
easy to talk to, as,

apparently, he did her. Friends.
Nothing wrong with the

two of them being friends.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“No, it doesn't.
She pushed her half-eaten sandwich

away. “As a
matter of fact, I'm going to a meeting on

Thursday night you might be
interested in attending. The

hospital hosts a lecture series each
month. This month's

topic is ‘Understanding
Your Teenager.' I thought I'd go just

to see if they can convince me there
is
any understanding

them. You're welcome to come if
you'd like.

“Fiction or
nonfiction? he asked with a half grin.

“Non, supposedly,
she said, smiling. “We'll see.

“Are you serious?
About my going?

“Sure, if you
think it might help things with Luke.

“It certainly
couldn't hurt.

She glanced at her watch, ignoring
the voice inside her

that questioned what she'd just
done. “I'd better be getting

back. I have a ful afternoon ahead.

Ian reached for the ticket. “Yeah,
I've got to go, too.

He looked up and caught her gaze.
The increasingly

familiar awareness resurfaced. She
resisted its pul .

But sitting beside him, staring into
those too blue, too

appealing eyes, she wondered if she
was kidding herself.

Friends? Friends.

Colby twisted her stool around and
slid to the floor.

“Thanks for the
lunch. The meeting is at the Kramer

building on Sycamore Street. Room
212. It starts at six.

“I'll be there,
he said, and her traitorous heart

fluttered in gladness.

153

25

aybe he wouldn't come.

M Colby arrived a few minutes early
for the lecture,

but at almost six o'clock, stil no
sign of Ian.

Maybe he'd changed his mind.

Maybe it would be for the best if he
had.

A hand touched her shoulder. She
looked up to find

the source of her thoughts looking
down at her with an

apologetic smile on his face.

“Sorry I'm late,
he said.

“They're just
getting ready to start. She turned to the

side so he could take the chair next
to hers. Before they had

time to say anything more, the
lecturer stepped to the

podium and tapped the microphone to
get the room's

attention. “Good
evening, everyone. Thank you so much for

coming. I'm Dr. Betsy Watson, and I
hope to say a few

things this evening that wil
convince you there is light at

the end of the tunnel for you and
your teenager.

Laughter rippled across the room,
indicating that

everyone knew what she was talking
about. For the next hour

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

and a half, they listened while Dr.
Watson discussed some of

the ways in which they, as parents,
might make the teenage

years of their children's lives more
bearable for all

concerned. The most important thing,
she stressed at the

beginning of the talk, would be
keeping the lines of

communication open. Easier said than
done.

Colby made an attempt to listen
intently. As things

were with Lena, she needed every
morsel of intelligence she

could garner. But awareness of the
man seated beside her

eroded her concentration until she
barely heard the

speaker's words, too disturbed by
Ian and the knowledge

that a fraction of an inch lay
between them.

Minute details assaulted her senses.
The fresh, clean

smel of his cologne, the starched
crispness of his white shirt

and the contrast it made with the
sun-browned skin on his

well-shaped hands.

At one point, he dropped his program
and bent to pick it

up. His left shoulder brushed her
right thigh. Colby jumped.

Ian sat back up and whispered,
“Sorry.

She shook her head and waved his
apology away.

Feeling ridiculously self-conscious,
she forced her

attention back to the speaker. That
lasted for all of thirty

seconds, before her senses took over
again, and she felt

grateful when the meeting final y
drew to a close. For the

past hour and a half, she'd felt as
if she were on sensory

overload. Standing, she introduced
Ian to some of the

people she knew. After a few
minutes, they moved about the

room, separately, until a half hour
or so later, they both

ended up near the door.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Ready to cal it
a night now that we've learned how to

deal with our kids? he asked.

“I'd stay until
morning if I thought I could go home

and make things like they were when
she was ten.

“If I got
anything out of what our speaker said, that's

so much wishful thinking.

“Unfortunately, I
think you're right, she said.

A few people cal ed out goodnight as
they left the room.

“Nice people, Ian
said in the hal way.

“Yes, they are.
They took the stairs to the first floor,

then hung back in the hal way.

“How about a cup
of coffee somewhere? he suggested.

A tempting invitation, but something
told her it would

be better to end the evening here.
He looked entirely too

good in a smart-looking jacket and
black wool pants, both of

which had Italy written all over
them. Definitely not the kind

of clothes that inspired women to
think about friendship.

She glanced at her watch. “It's
late. I should get home.

“Sure. I
understand.

But she didn't think he understood
at al . She didn't

know if she did herself.

Despite her declaration, they made
no move toward the

door.

He leaned up against a locker, his
arms folded across his

chest. “She was a
good speaker.

“Yes. I got the
feeling she'd definitely been through

it, Colby agreed, hoping he wouldn't
ask her opinion on

something that had been said when
she'd been paying more

attention to him than to the
lecturer.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“I think that's
the only way anyone could understand it.

Firsthand experience.

“It's hard to
know what being a soldier is al about until

you've been on the battlefield.

“Some days I
definitely feel that way. His expression

grew solemn. “I
just wish I had the chance to go back and

do some things differently.

Regret threaded his voice, and she
knew there was more

to his situation than he'd let on.
Sensing that he wanted to

talk about it, she said, “Why
did you move here, Ian?

He looked down at the floor for a
long while, his hands

shoved deep in his pants pockets.
“Luke got arrested on a

drug charge, he final y said, his
voice low. “I wanted to get

him away from the city.

The revelation took her total y by
surprise. She'd never

imagined anything like that. She
thought of her own problems

with Lena and felt lucky. “Oh.
I'm sorry, Ian. It's not easy

being a parent these days.

“I wasn't doing a
very good job of it, I'm afraid. I

spent too much time working and not
enough time knowing

where my son was and what he was
doing.

“You can't blame
yourself for—

“Oh, but I do, he
interrupted firmly enough to indicate

that he'd spent a great deal of time
thinking about exactly

that. “I do.

Again, Colby felt fortunate not to
have had that kind of

trouble with Lena.

“Don't short
yourself, Ian. Putting your life on hold is

pretty generous, even for a parent.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Thanks. I
appreciate that.

“Have things
improved since you've been here?

“Between the two
of us, no. He's going to school and

doing the things he's supposed to be
doing. He swore to me

that the drugs had never been a
problem and wouldn't be in

the future. I have to believe him.

She found him appealingly vulnerable
in this moment of

admission, knew it hadn't been an
easy thing for him to talk

about. “Well, as
for Luke getting used to being here, give

him time. He'l adjust. No sooner
were the words out than

she realized that she'd offered him
the same platitudes people

had been giving her about Lena for
the past two months.

“So, now that
I've pul ed all my skeletons out of the

closet, what's the problem between
you and Lena? he

asked, looking down at her.

“Hah. Now there's
a question. It seems like she just

woke up one day and decided she
didn't like me anymore.

I've reached the point where I don't
think I can do

anything more than take my own
cliché advice and wait for

things to change again.