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.
135
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.
137
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?
139
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.