Good Guys Love Dogs (19 page)

“Well, I'll clean
up and meet you downstairs, she

said, breaking the silence.

He stepped back as if jolted from a
trance. “Sure. I'll

just go order the pizza. What do you
like on yours?

“Mushrooms and
black olives?

“You got it. He
stopped at the door. “When you're

finished, there's something I'd like
to show you.

And he left her then to wonder what
it was.

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29

e stood waiting for her at the foot
of the stairs when

Hshe finished showering and
changing. His hair

was wet, and a few drops of water
stil clung to his neck

after his own shower. He'd found a
fresh shirt and a pair

of faded jeans somewhere, not a spot
of tomato juice in

sight.

He waved her toward the back door
off the kitchen.

“The pizza's on
its way.

More than a little curious, she fol
owed him outside to

the barn. He opened the large, faded
red door and

motioned her toward a stall a few
yards away.

Standing before her was a
black-and-white calf, which

she immediately recognized as one of
the twins she'd

delivered at Harry Pasley's. She
opened the stall and went

in, dropping down on her knees to
rub the calf's forehead.

“Hey, little
girl. How'd you get here?

She heard Ian move in behind her and
looked up to

find him with one shoulder against
the doorframe. “You said

she wouldn't be of much use to
Harry. I kept thinking

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

about how she almost hadn't made it
and what you said

that night after the lecture about
how easy it is to ignore

things that make our lives more
complicated. I've been

pretty good at that. I couldn't
stand the thought of her

being sent to the stockyard. Harry
brought her over in his

truck for me.

Colby stood perfectly stil , so
touched by what he'd

done that words eluded her. Finally
finding her voice, she

said, “Well, you
surprised the devil out of Harry.

“Luckily, he
hadn't let her go yet, and when I told him

I'd like to have her, he seemed
pretty pleased. He's keeping

the other little guy. He said the
father was one of his good

bulls.

“So what did you
name her?

“Mabel thought
Matilda suited her. What do you

think?

“I think. .
.Matilda is a lovely name, she said,

swal owing the lump in her throat
and stroking the calf 's

soft fur.

“I'm feeding her
by bottle three times a day. Harry

showed me how to mix up the formula.
She seems to like

it.

The calf let out a bleat and butted
its nose against

Ian's leg.

“She likes you,
too, Colby said.

Looking a little embarrassed, he
said, “She's just

hoping I'll give her an extra
bottle. Actually, she's won us

all over. Mabel's down here every
hour or so checking on

her. Luke didn't say much about her
at first, but I've noticed

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INGLATH COOPER

that he heads straight for the barn
every day when he gets

home from school.

“What will you do
with her when you and Luke move

back to the city?

He didn't say anything for a moment,
as if he hadn't

yet considered the question. “I
guess I haven't gotten that

far yet. But I ful y intend for her
to get old and fat.

A horn sounded from outside.

“That'll be the
pizza. Ian hitched a thumb back

toward the house and stepped out of
the stal .

“I'll be right
up. Once he'd left the barn, Colby turned

and stroked Matilda's soft forehead
with the backs of her

fingers, thinking about what he had
done. She felt strange,

as if the room had tilted, and she
didn't quite have the

balance to stand.

Matilda looked up at her with
enormous round eyes,

swiping her hand with her rough,
pink tongue. Colby

rubbed a thumb across the calf's
moist nose and said, “If

we're not careful, Miss Matilda, you
and I are both going

to be in a heap of trouble.

A few minutes later, Colby sat on
the couch with her

pizza-fil ed plate. She'd felt
decidedly awkward after

returning to the house. She sensed
that he did as wel . They

said very little while he gathered
their plates and silverware

and carried it all to the living
room. She watched him when

she was sure he wasn't looking.
Saving Matilda from the

stockyard wasn't the kind of thing
she would have

expected from a man whom she initial
y likened to Doug.

More and more, she realized just how
wrong she had been.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

Not sure what to make of that, she
said, “So tel me about

your work in New York. I know it had
to be more exciting

than painting houses. Not that you
aren't good with trim.

“Thanks. He
smiled, wiping the corner of his mouth

with a napkin. “I'm
keeping my finger in the pie from

here.

“Do you like what
you do?

He considered the question for a
moment. “It's pretty

consuming work. Or rather, I let it
be. I think the answer

to your question is yes. When this
whole thing with Luke

happened, I'd just brought in the
biggest client ever for the

firm. It was a moment I'd spent a
lot of years working pretty

hard for. But somehow it wasn't
everything I thought it

would be.

“What do you
mean?

“I don't know
exactly. It just felt like something was

missing. That was the night I found
out about Luke being in

trouble. That was when I realized
what a lousy father I'd

been, that I hadn't real y been
there for him any more than

mine had been there for me.

“I can't imagine
that being true.

Ian stayed quiet for a few moments.
“I grew up pretty

poor, he said at last. “Really
poor, in fact. My father left

my mother when I was six. She spent
most of her adult life

trying to make ends meet. For as
long as I can remember, I

wanted to make something of myself,
to make her proud of

me. She encouraged me even though I
think it was hard for

her to believe I could really do it.

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INGLATH COOPER

Astonished that his childhood had
been nothing like

his life now, Colby realized she'd
once again jumped to

conclusions where he was concerned.
“Is she still alive?

He shook his head. “I
had just found out about my

scholarship to Columbia when she
died.

“She must have
been very proud of you, she said,

saddened that his mother hadn't been
able to see what he'd

done with his life.

“I think she was.
That's always given me comfort, even

if it is selfish comfort.

“It's not selfish
at all, she said softly. “We all want our

parents to be proud of us. Colby put
her plate on the

table and sat back on the couch.
“Did you get married in

college?

Ian shook his head. “I
met Sherry, Luke's mother, my

freshman year. We got married right
after graduation. We

had Luke a little over a year later.
She died a few days after

he was born.

Colby didn't know what to say.
“I'm sorry. I shouldn't

have asked. I just assumed you were
divorced or—

“It's al right.
Really.

“Those were some
pretty tough blows to be dealt at

such a young age.

“Yeah. Life has a
big fist sometimes.

She had to agree with that. “You
were a single parent

from the beginning, too, then.

He nodded. “And I
was so determined to be different

from my own father, to give Luke the
things mine had

never given me, that I messed up my
priorities.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“You're being
hard on yourself.

“I don't think
so. One thing I've realized since being

here is that CCI hasn't fal en to
pieces without me. I could

have spent more time with Luke.

“Don't do that,
she said. “Those ‘maybe' games
can

get you into trouble. Believe me, I
know.

“So, why aren't
you married? I know it can't be for lack

of offers.

“I guess I just
never found the right man. Once the

toads started outranking the princes
ten to one, I decided it

wasn't worth the trouble of looking.

Ian laughed. “That
bad, huh?

“That bad.

“What about
Lena's father?

Colby sobered. “That
didn't work out.

“I'm sorry.

“Most men with a
baby would have remarried, she

said, turning the conversation back
to him.

“I never wanted
to make that kind of commitment to

anyone again. The thought was too
painful.

He had obviously loved his wife very
much. She heard

it in his voice. And she respected
him for that. “Rachel must

be a very special woman.

He hesitated. “It's
not the same kind of marriage. But

our lives complement each other's.

“I see, she said,
not sure she really did. Didn't he love

Rachel? Would their marriage be
based on compatibility

rather than passion?

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INGLATH COOPER

He watched her, not saying anything.
Colby again felt

somehow off balance, unsure of her
footing. How long they

sat there, she didn't know. But she
did know that it was

getting more and more difficult to
pretend indifference to

this man. The more time she spent
with him, the more

dimensional he became, the more she
identified with him.

“I should go, she
said, breaking the silence. “I can help

clean up before I leave.

“I can handle
throwing away a pizza box and sticking a

couple of plates in the dishwasher.

She smiled. “Okay,
then. Thanks for the dinner.

“Thanks for the
help.

“Let's just hope
it worked.

He walked her outside. The moon hung
high in the

sky, throwing shadowed light across
their faces. They

stopped at the door to her truck and
then stood there,

uneasy with each other. Colby felt
the electricity between

them. She might not have been the
most active member of

the Keeling Creek dating circuit,
but she could tell when a

man was thinking about kissing her.
Unless she was way

off, Ian wanted to kiss her.

The scary part? She wanted him to.
Unwise and highly

unadvisable, though it might be. She
opened the door and

got inside. The sooner she left the
better. “Good night, Ian.

Thanks again.

“Good night,
Colby.

She drove away then, her only
consolation the note of

regret in his voice.

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30

hroughout the week, Lena hadn't been
able to

T muster much enthusiasm for the
campout on

Friday night. All of her friends
were going. But the

problem was, every one of them would
be hooking up with

a guy once they got there. Every one
except her. She was

beginning to think something was
wrong with her.

They'd just finished setting up the
tents when Tim

Anderson's Wagoneer rol ed to a stop
above the pond

where they were camping.

Millie tapped Lena on the shoulder.
“Looks like it

might be your lucky night.

Lena's gaze fol owed her friend's to
the Wagoneer at the

top of the hil . Luke McKinley had
just gotten out of the

passenger side and made his way
around to the back of the

vehicle. He and Tim pul ed out a
couple of duffel bags and

headed toward the campsite.

Jefferson County High had its share
of good-looking

guys. Footbal players with big
muscles and broad shoulders.

But Luke McKinley was tal and lean
and different from any

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INGLATH COOPER

boy she'd ever known. His walk was
loose limbed and

hinted at attitude. She couldn't
find her voice. When she

did, it came out much higher than
normal. “I don't know

what you're talking about.

“Oh, right, Lena.
I've seen the way you look at him in

the halls. You're crazy about him.

“I don't even
know him, she said with what she

hoped sounded like indifference.

“So? I didn't say
you knew him. I said you were crazy

about him.

Lena ignored Millie's baiting and
went over to the

campfire to help gril the burgers.
What if she thought he

was cute? That didn't mean she
wanted to make a fool of

herself.

For the next two hours, she did an
admirable job of not

looking at him. It had to be her
overactive imagination that

she felt his gaze on her, though.
That or wishful thinking.

The Fel owship of Christian Athletes
was one of the

school's most popular organizations.
Jim Bevson, the

economics teacher who headed the
group was largely

responsible for that. Regarded as
the coolest teacher at