Good Guys Love Dogs (21 page)

Luke turned then, his shoulder
against the fence. His

head lowered toward hers. He was
going to kiss her!

His lips brushed hers. He pul ed
back and said, “Your

eyes are open.

“I know. I want
to watch.

Luke smiled, cupped the side of her
neck with his hand

and kissed her again. She did watch
for a second or two, but

never-before-experienced feelings
flooded her, and her eyes

drifted closed. She savored every
single sensation. There

were so many. The smel of him, warm
and overheated

from their run across the field. The
feel of him, big, broad,

the very essence of him male and
thoroughly intriguing.

His head tilted, and he deepened the
kiss. Shock waves

of surprise and pleasure ricocheted
through her. Somehow,

they managed to get closer. His arms
went around her waist,

and she found herself pressed close
against his chest. It felt

so good. Better than she'd imagined.
Better than she'd ever

dreamed.

She'd been kissed a couple of times.
But never like

this. Not quite sure what to do, she
let instinct guide her,

hoping she wasn't opening her mouth
too wide, following

his lead when his tongue brushed
against hers.

They kissed for long, pulse-pounding
minutes until Luke

lifted his head. “When
you set out to prove a guy wrong,

you pul out all the stops.

Lena smiled. “I
like to win.

“Yeah. I can see
that. His thumb caressed her chin,

lingering at her bottom lip, filling
Lena with a yearning for

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something she didn't quite
understand but wanted more of

nonetheless.

“I think we'd
better get back, Luke said in a reluctant

voice.

Disappointment tumbled through her.
She straightened

her clothes, feeling as if she'd
done something wrong.

“Yeah. Someone
wil have missed us by now.

“Hey. He reached
for her arm and stopped her jerky

motions. “Lena, I
didn't expect. . .I mean—

“Please don't say
you're sorry, she said. Being with

him made her feel better. For a
short while, she'd even

become her old self, not the bitchy
brat she'd been since

she'd discovered her mother's
betrayal. Being with Luke

made her feel wanted and worthwhile.
Being with him

made her forget about the father who
hadn't wanted her.

She didn't want to hear that he
wished it hadn't happened.

“I don't know
what you're thinking, Lena. He reached

out and curved his hand around her
neck. “But the last

thing I want to do is go back.

In the span of a couple of hours,
her whole life had

changed. She knew without a doubt
that she would never

be the same again.

Once he'd made sure Lena had reached
the campsite,

Luke climbed the hil to Tim
Anderson's Wagoneer and

pul ed a sleeping bag out of the
back. He made his way to

the tent the two of them had pitched
earlier.

Tim was already inside. Opening the
flap, Luke ducked

in, trying not to wake him.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“Where you been?
the other boy asked, lifting up on

one elbow.

“Went for a walk.

“Some walk. Who
went with you?

“Nobody.

Tim grinned. “Yeah,
I believe that.

Luke rol ed out the bed, then lay
down on it, ignoring

the other boy's baiting.

“Somebody said
Lena Wil iams wasn't back a little while

ago. She wasn't out walking with
you, was she?

‘“Night,
Anderson, Luke said, rol ing over on his

side.

Tim chuckled. “I'll
take that as a yes.

Luke couldn't fall asleep, his mind
wide-awake with

what had happened between Lena and
him. Everything

about it surprised him.

Lena Wil iams was nothing like the
girls he'd hung

around with in the city. Most of
them would have eaten her

alive. But something about her
appealed to him. She had

guts, that was for sure, but kissing
her had been the biggest

surprise of al . It had just
happened as if it were supposed

to all along. And he'd enjoyed it.
More than he wanted to

admit, even now. He'd liked the way
she felt against him.

He'd sensed that she hadn't done a
lot of kissing. He'd

gotten used to girls who showed him
things. He'd liked being

the one to show her. It was a rite
of passage for al guys to

brag when they'd been with a girl.
So why hadn't he wanted

to tell Tim?

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Lying there on his sleeping bag,
Luke avoided answering

that question. He stared up at the
ceiling of the tent and let

himself admit that maybe Keeling
Creek wouldn't be so

bad, after al . Something about the
place had kind of started

to grow on him. It was even getting
to his dad. He'd

actual y gone out and bought a calf
a few days ago. A calf,

of al things! When Luke had come
home and found it tied

under one of the oak trees in the
front yard, he'd thought

for sure his father must be losing
it. Luke questioned him

about it, but he'd just said a farm
needed animals.

Luke still couldn't get over it.
Even though he hadn't

let on as much to his dad, he
thought it was pretty cool. This

place was definitely having a weird
effect on his father. And

maybe on him, too.

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31

fter leaving the clinic on Saturday
morning, Colby

Astopped by her parents' house for
lunch since

Lena wouldn't be home from the
campout until later that

afternoon.

She knocked at the back door,
sending a glance around

the familiar yard. Samuel and Emma
Williams had the

neatest house around. They weren't
wealthy by some

standards, but they took great pride
in their things. They

loved working in the yard together,
planting bulbs in the

spring and fal , pruning bushes and
keeping the lawn as

closely mowed as the golf course at
the Low Val ey Country

Club. People drove from as far as
seventy-five miles away just

to see her mother's flower garden.
An enormous old

magnolia tree stood in the front
yard. In the spring and

summer, red impatiens encircled it,
thick as clover in a hay

field. Fal brought out different
flowers, the driveway now

lined with burgundy mums, four
plants wide on each side.

Standing there on the brick walkway,
Colby realized

not for the first time that if
things had worked out

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differently for her, theirs was the
kind of marriage she

would want. A partnership. Someone
to share things with,

do things with. After Doug, she'd
been so busy trying to

prove that she could accomplish on
her own all the things

in life that really mattered that
maybe she'd never real y

given anyone a chance. The hurt he'd
caused her shaped

her adult life, and she wondered now
if she'd been wrong to

let him have that much power over
her.

Her mother appeared at the door, a
pleased expression

on her face. “Colby.
You're just in time for lunch, dear.

“I'd hoped I
would be. She stepped inside and gave

her mom a hug. “Sorry
I didn't cal first.

“As if you need
to. Your father's golfing this morning,

so he won't be back for a while yet.
Let me grab another

bowl, and we'l sit down.

Colby washed her hands and tested
the soup on the

stove. “Um,
that's good.

“Vegetable soup.
Every one from my summer garden.

She poured them each a glass of iced
tea, and they began

eating. The soup tasted perfect for
an early fal afternoon.

“How's Lena?

“The same.

“Maybe I should
talk to her, honey.

“Thanks, Mom, but
this is something I need to handle

on my own.

“I understand,
and you're probably right. But you

know it's a mother's nature to want
to fix whatever's

wrong in her daughter's life.

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“I know, Mom. And
I appreciate it, Colby said,

stirring some sugar into her tea.

“While we're on
that subject, I ran into Phoebe at the

grocery store this week. She told me
she'd fixed you up

with Mr. McKinley.

“It wasn't a
date. You know Phoebe. She thinks I'm

desperate for a husband.

“Wel , he is
awfully handsome.

“Handsome and
engaged, Colby said pointedly.

Emma's expression fell. “She
forgot to mention that

part.

“Phoebe's an
optimist. She considers that a minor

hitch in her plan.

Emma chuckled and shook her head.
“Your father said

he saw your truck at Oak Hil last
night, though. We thought

you might have had a date.

Colby reached for some crackers and
crumbled them

into her soup. “Actually,
I helped him de-skunk his dog.

“Oh.

“Not the answer
you'd hoped for, I gather.

“Now, honey—

“Mom, even if I
were interested, which I'm not, she

emphasized, trying not to think
about last night, “the man

is not up for consideration. You and
Phoebe both might as

well accept that.

“All right,
honey. Whatever you say, she said, a

curious look in her eye that Colby
determinedly ignored.

It was almost dinnertime when Mrs.
Mitchel 's car pul ed

up in front of the house, and Lena
got out, wearing faded

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jeans and a multicolored sweatshirt.
From her position at

the living room window, Colby
noticed that she was smiling

and looked happier than she had seen
her in months. The

sight of it both lifted her heart
and sent it plummeting.

How long since Lena smiled at her
that way?

A minute later, Lena bounded through
the door, her

hair tousled, her cheeks bright with
color.

Colby tried to keep her voice light
when she said, “Hi.

How was the campout?

Lena looked up, her expression
closing immediately.

“It was okay.

“Did they have a
good turnout?

“Yeah. Lena
headed for the stairs without looking

back.

“Lena?

She stopped midway up and said,
“What?

Sighing, Colby decided then and
there to take the bul

by the horns. This couldn't go on
any longer. She'd done

everything but stand on her head to
try to mend a rift she

didn't even understand. “Come
down here. I think we

need to talk.

“I've got stuff
to do, she called back with attitude.

“This can't wait,
Colby said, her voice unusual y firm.

Lena turned and clomped down the
stairs, the heaviness

of her footsteps echoing her
reluctance.

Colby went into the den and stood by
the window.

Confrontations had never been a part
of her relationship with

her daughter, and she wished
fervently that they weren't

now. “I want to
know what's wrong, Lena. And don't say

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‘Nothing.' I've
tried to be patient, hoping that whatever it

was would blow over. But obviously,
it isn't going to. So

tell me what's going on.

Lena folded her arms across her
chest and glared at

her. “There's
nothing to talk about.

“I don't believe
that.

“Believe what you
want.

Anger and hurt were neck and neck
among the emotions

gal oping through Colby's insides.
She subdued them both

and said, “We
used to be able to talk about everything,

Lena. What's changed?

“Nothing.

“Yes, it has. Why
is it different now?

For a long time, Lena didn't say
anything. She kept her

gaze locked somewhere over Colby's
left shoulder. When

she spoke, her voice rang out harsh
with anger. “Why did

you lie to me?

“About what? she
asked, caught off guard by the

question.

Lena turned and stomped up the
stairs without

answering. Stunned, Colby stayed
where she was. What on

earth was she talking about? Just
when Colby started to go

after her, Lena tramped back
downstairs with a piece of

paper in her hand. She held it out
to her with a look of

condemnation in her eyes.

Colby took it, glanced at it and
then felt the color drain

from her face when she realized what
it was. “Where did

you find this? she asked in little
more than a whisper.

“In your old room
at Grandma's.

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Dread marched down Colby's spine,
followed by a

crystal clear understanding of what
brought about the

changes in her child. “Lena—

“Why couldn't you
just tell me the truth, Mom? That

he didn't want anything to do with
either one of us.

“Oh, Lena, it's
not what—

Tears running down her face, Lena
ran back up the