path. Ian sent a frantic glance over
his shoulder to make
sure it hadn't done exactly that.
Saying a quick prayer of thanks, he
finagled the
transmission into first with a
grinding of metal against
metal, then lurched toward the south
pasture. He
arrived there in a frenzy of jerks
and starts that
suggested the engine might be on its
last leg. He
stopped at the gate, got out and
opened it, then rolled
through, the sputtering tractor
bouncing him around
like a basketball at center court.
Inside the field, he worked with a
few levers until he
figured out how to raise and lower
the mean-looking
blade attached to the back. That
took no time at all, and
with a ridiculous sense of pride, he
set off across the
pasture, the tall grass falling in
his wake.
Despite feeling as if he were in the
middle of a
“Green Acres
episode, he decided this wasn't too bad,
after all. No problem. Over the
years, he'd grown so
used to financial success that it
simply became a part of
what he did. As a reward, it had
lost some of its
gratification. But this, crazy as it
sounded, made him
feel as if he'd accomplished
something. He considered
driving into town just to roll past
Thurman's Hardware
and see the look of shock on the
faces of Dillard and
Willard Nolen.
He had too much time on his hands.
Clearly. Either
that or he was losing his mind.
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
He worked on for an hour or more,
feeling
something almost peaceful about
jostling along on the
old tractor with the warm September
breeze tugging at
the collar of his shirt. He rolled
across a slope now, the
tractor at what all at once seemed
too steep an angle. He
probably shouldn't go any higher. .
. .
Suddenly, the machine tilted. For a
moment, it held
there, suspended, then tipped and
teetered drunkenly.
He tried to hold on, thinking it
would right itself.
In the next instant, he went
airborne, projecting
himself as far from the machine as
he could manage. He
landed on his back with a crack that
ripped the air from
his lungs. The blade hung over him,
swaying like a
guillotine about to drop.
Ian rolled, tumbling down the hill,
his head
slamming against the ground. And
before he figured out
whether he'd outrun the blade or
not, the blue sky
above him went black.
121
20
e would have come back for them
sooner or
Hlater.
Colby eyed the set of keys bouncing
on her dashboard. She
wouldn't have bothered to drop them
off if she hadn't
needed to deliver some medicine to
the Carter farm
anyway. When she'd gotten back from
lunch, Stacey found
them on the bench where Ian had been
sitting next to Don
Juan. Realizing they must have been
for something other
than his car, Colby told Stacey she
would take care of
them, not mentioning that she
thought they were Ian's. That
way there would be no probing
questions.
She could have mailed them to him.
Asked Stacey to
run them by his house. Left them
outside the clinic for
him to pick up. But here she was.
Delivering them in
person when common sense told her
she shouldn't be.
Pul ing up to the house, she cut the
engine and sat for
a moment. The front yard looked
newly mown. The pasture
gate hung open. She went to the back
door of the house and
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
knocked, but no answer. Ian's car
sat in the driveway
though.
She peered out across the yard, then
toward the field
behind the barn, hearing a noise she
didn't recognize.
It sounded like an engine running.
Faint, but a definite
chug, chug, chug.
A tractor
engine.
She stepped down from the porch and
cal ed out,
“Ian?
Silence except for the stil idling
machine.
She ventured to the open gate. He
wouldn't be out on
the tractor. Would he? She'd walk
out a bit and see.
She'd gone no more than fifty yards
past the gate when
she spotted the tractor sitting at a
crazy angle on the hil .
And then she saw Ian. She took off
at a run for the ravine at
the bottom of the incline.
He lay flat on his back, his face
turned to one side. Her
first thought? He was dead.
Her heart pounded against the wal of
her chest, and
sweat beaded across her forehead.
Dropping down beside him, she
checked his pulse,
relieved to find it steady.
“Ian? She put her
hand to his cheek and repeated his
name several times.
His eyes opened final y, slowly, his
pupils dilated and
unfocused. “What
happened?
“You must have
had an accident. Can you move? Where
do you hurt?
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INGLATH COOPER
“I'm not sure. He
tried to struggle up on one elbow,
then sank back onto the ground, one
hand going to his
neck. “Ouch. That
answers that.
“Don't move, she
said. “You might have a
concussion. Wait here and I'l go cal
the rescue squad.
“No. Don't. No
need for that.
“We won't know
until we get you checked out. I'll be
right back, okay?
He nodded, wincing again as if the
action made his
head hurt.
“I'm going to
turn off the tractor first, she said,
heading up the hil at a run.
Part of the blade lay on the slope,
as if it had been
broken off. A few yards from the
machine, she thought she
noticed one tire roll back slightly.
She kept her gaze on the
tires. The right one slipped a
notch. It was moving! She sent
a frantic look over her left
shoulder. Ian lay in the direct
path of the now-rolling tractor.
She had no time to try to stop it.
Without thinking,
Colby sprinted toward Ian, reacting
on pure adrenaline. A
glance back told her the machine was
gaining on her. She
tackled him, and rol ed, pul ing him
with her. Over and over
they went. She groaned with each
turn.
They came to a stop at the edge of
the creek, Ian lying
on top of her. Neither of them
moved.
“Do you want to
tel me what that was— he began,
then glanced up the hil and spotted
the tractor, which now
sat where he had just been lying,
the engine stalled. He
looked down at her, a stunned
expression on his face.
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
Colby tried to find her voice, too
aware of the muscular
length of the man whose body pressed
into hers.
She scooted out from under him as if
someone just set a
match to the seat of her pants. She
tried to sit up, moaned
and sank back down on the grass,
feeling as if the tractor
had actual y run over her.
Ian slumped beside her. One palm
braced his forehead.
“You just saved
my life, he said in a shaken voice.
She slipped a hand inside her
jacket, pul ed out his keys.
“Now I remember
why I charge extra for house calls.
He took them from her and dropped
them in his shirt
pocket. Despite his pained
expression, a hint of a smile
played about his lips. “Are
you all right?
“A little flatter
than a few minutes ago, but I've been
meaning to do some ab work, she
said.
He stared at her for several
seconds, shaking his head.
A half smile spread across his face.
“Just send me your bill.
I'll expect it to be a big one.
Colby studied the blue sky above
them. They could
joke about it now, but she didn't
want to think what might
have happened if she hadn't found
him in time.
Ian sobered, too, and she wondered
if he was also
weighing the close cal he'd just
had.
“I can't believe
I did that, he said final y.
“Accidents
happen.
“But I endangered
your life, too.
“Oh, hey, the
life of a veterinarian is a risky one.
That prompted another smile.
“What happened?
she asked.
125
INGLATH COOPER
“It just started
tipping, and over it went. Serves me
right. The only reason I got on the
blasted thing was
because I overheard Dil ard and
Willard Nolen talking
about how unfortunate it was that
Oak Hil had been
bought by a city slicker who would
never do anything with
it.
Chagrin laced his voice, and she
realized that what they'd
said mattered to him. He cared what
they thought. He'd
gotten on that tractor in an attempt
to prove them wrong.
The realization touched her somehow,
made him more
human to her, vulnerable in a way
that only increased his
appeal. She glanced out at the field
where rows of fal en hay
now lay. Despite resenting the fact
that he'd been the one to
buy Oak Hill, she had to admit he
seemed determined to
give new life to the place. She
admired him for that. “It
looks like you were doing a fine
job.
“There's no
reason for you to be so kind. I make a
lousy farmer, but thanks for what
you just did. I don't
know too many people who would have
done that, he said.
“If I'd taken the
time to think about it, I doubt I'd
have done it myself.
“Yes, you would
have, he said quietly. “You're not the
type to stand around waiting for
someone else to do things
for you, are you?
Colby knew his comment was a
compliment, and yet
something inside her wanted him to
say something
altogether different. What, though?
That she was feminine
and beautiful? That she made Rachel
look like last year's
prom queen? Right.
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
Maybe
she
was the one with
the concussion.
She tried to get up, pushing off
with her left hand, and
letting out a pained yelp.
“What's wrong?
Ian asked, sitting up and looking a
little gray himself.
She rotated her left wrist and
barely suppressed
another moan of pain. “I
think I've sprained it.
Ian felt sick with guilt. He got to
his feet, swaying with
the wil ow tree just behind him.
“Come on. I'm taking you
to the emergency room.
Before she'd realized his intent, he
bent over and
scooped her off the ground, delaying
her protest for a few
seconds because of the absolutely
satisfying fit of his arms.
His chest felt exactly as it should
have. Broad and firm.
Masculine in a way that made her
feel protected, something
she would have sworn she couldn't
care less about.
His arms felt just right, too. Tight
and secure around
her. The only thing wrong with the
picture? He was about
as steady on his feet as a seasick
sailor. “Ian, this is
ridiculous. Put me down. I sprained
my wrist, not my leg.
“Can you walk? he
asked, sounding as if he hoped she
would say yes.
“I'm fine. You're
the one with the possible
concussion.
When he'd lowered her to her feet,
she said, “You wait
here and I'll cal an ambulance.
He shook his head. “We
tried that once and almost
turned into pancakes.
She smiled. “Are
you sure you can make it?
127
INGLATH COOPER
He nodded, and with one hand at her
elbow, set off up
the hil , his expression determined.
She suspected that he
felt much worse than he let on.
At the house, a short altercation
ensued over who would
get behind the wheel. Colby came out
the winner since she
could manage to keep them on the
road with one wrist
incapacitated, Ian's ability to stay
upright still in question.
She got them to the hospital's
emergency room door
without incident. She knew most of
the doctors and nurses,
and of course, all ears perked up
when she relayed the story
of the near-fatal tractor incident.
It would be al over town
within an hour or two. And because
she didn't have enough
money to pay everyone for their
silence, she would just have
to live with it.
Two separate nurses wheeled them
into individual
examining rooms. Molly Cramer took
charge of Ian. A
sweet girl with big, blue eyes and a
perky smile, she went
to Colby's church. Unfortunately,
Colby heard everything
the young woman said to Ian. The
conversation centered
around Mol y's awareness that Ian
was the recently relocated
bachelor the single women in town
had been talking about
since he'd arrived.
Colby tried not to wince when the
nurse took an X ray
of her wrist. While she waited for
the results, she had to
endure Molly's al -too-audible
giggles and admonishments
to Ian. Little did Mol y know that
she'd be wasting her time
with all the flirting.
128