think it possible, anyway.
Considering everything going on with
Lena right now,
she hardly needed to set herself up
as the other woman.
No, the friends thing definitely
wasn't working. But it
wasn't too late for damage control.
She would just stay away
from him. No more complicated than
that. The right thing
to do. The only thing to do.
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
In the week fol owing the incident
at Colby's clinic, Ian
was tempted to cal and find out
whether she'd heard from
Lena's father yet. The way he saw
it, the jerk didn't deserve
a chance to be part of Lena's life.
But he didn't cal . His
reasons for wanting to weren't as
pure as they should have
been. And he knew it.
He worked in his office each
morning, then spent his
afternoons puttering around the barn
and the outside of the
house. The leaves had begun to
brighten toward ful color
now, the oak trees lining the
driveway streaked in yel ow.
Somehow, in the city, the beauty of
autumn always escaped
him. Here, he reveled in it. He
brought Matilda out in the
afternoons and let her nibble at the
grass while Smidge
raced circles around her, wanting to
play.
Even though he didn't see Colby, she
was never far
from his thoughts. He'd gone over
that Sunday morning so
many times, it played like an old
movie running through his
head. As much as he tried to
rationalize it to himself, a voice
in his gut told him that a happily
engaged man didn't do
what he'd done with Colby Wil iams.
Be that as it might, he
found reassurance in the realization
that it didn't have to. . .
wouldn't. . .happen again.
When Rachel cal ed on Wednesday and
said she would
like to come down for the weekend,
he said al the right
things. Of course he wanted her to
come. He would be glad
to see her. But when she cal ed back
on Thursday and said
something had come up at work and
she would be tied up
al day Saturday, he felt more than a
little unsettled to find
that he wasn't disappointed.
223
INGLATH COOPER
Then he ran across a letter from
Colby on the editorial
page of Friday's paper. The sight of
it made his chest tighten
and blew to pieces any notion that
he'd put what happened
between them from his mind. Without
taking his gaze from
the page, he set down his cup of
coffee and began to read.
Dear Editor,
On my way to work today, I found
a black-and-white beagle
puppy lying in the middle of the
road at the top of Nolen Hil . His
smal body was twisted and broken,
rain pelting of his fur. It was too
late for me to do anything to
help him.
A few yards away, his brother and
two sisters sat huddled together
on the shoulder, looking as if
they were sure the person who had left
them there would soon return to
take them home.
This isn't the first time I've
seen dogs and cats who, no longer
wanted, have been dropped of and
left to sit by the road in that same
way, just waiting.
I have to wonder how someone left
those puppies, knowing that
they would either starve to death
or be hit by a car. Their fate was
certain to be one or the other.
As anyone who has ever been to my
clinic knows, I encourage the
spaying and neutering of pets so
that unplanned-for puppies and kittens
won't be brought into the world.
If such a thing should happen, though,
please don't abandon them to the
kind of fate I've just described.
I plan to one day be part of
bringing a No-Kil shelter to this
county where unwanted pets can
stay until they are adopted. Until then,
I hope I never see another animal
abandoned this way.
Colby Wil iams, DVM
224
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
The editor included a note below the
letter that read:
“For anyone
interested in adopting a pet, the county shelter
wil be holding Adopt-A-Pet Day on
the lawn outside the
courthouse on Saturday from 1:00 to
4:00 p.m.
Ian put down the paper and turned
his chair to stare out
the window. His throat felt tight,
and it was hard to swal ow.
The letter made him think about the
choice Colby made
sixteen years ago. She had accepted
responsibility for her
actions. Had a child and raised her
by herself. Not an easy
task for someone trying to get
through col ege and then vet
school. She was the same woman today
that she had been
then. A woman with values that she
not only spoke, but
practiced. Her own life couldn't
exactly be a bed of roses at
the moment, and yet she'd taken the
time to write this letter.
He read it again, and if he'd had
any doubts before, he
no longer thought that putting Colby
Wil iams out of his
mind would be easy.
225
34
ithout looking up, Colby knew
exactly when Ian
Wwalked through the gate to the
Adopt-A-Pet Day
on Saturday afternoon. She glanced
up and found him
smiling at something Stacey Renick
was saying to him.
It had been almost a week since
she'd seen him, and
yet her awareness of him was as
pronounced now as
before. She felt as if she had a
divining fork inside her, and
he was the only water in a bone-dry
desert.
She'd been tempted to cal him, to
apologize for
unloading on him last Sunday, but
when she'd picked up the
phone, cowardice won out. She hadn't
trusted her own
declarations of indifference.
She still didn't.
For the next hour, she deliberately
put herself as far
away from him as possible. At one
point, she looked up and
found him staring at her. She swal
owed, caught up in
remembering the heat of their kiss,
and almost, almost, lost
her resolve to keep her distance.
226
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
Phoebe walked up just then. “Well,
aren't you going to
go over and say hi?
“No, Phoebe, I'm
not, she said, and inserted herself in
a debate between a young husband and
wife trying to choose
a kitten. Colby convinced them to
take two, since the couple
had a nice barn in which the cats
earned their keep by
keeping the mice away.
At four o'clock, she made her way
back to the gate,
where Stacey said, “Boy,
this was a great day. I think your
letter to the paper pricked a few
consciences.
Colby smiled. “Good.
Who took our last little beagle?
“Mr. McKinley.
You should have seen them leaving. That
little fella was as happy as a bee
in clover.
“That's great,
Colby said, caught off guard by the
news.
Stacey laughed. “Yeah,
I'd be happy if he took me
home with him, too.
Colby aimed for a laugh herself and
failed noticeably.
She tried not to think about him,
but he wasn't helping
matters any. Sooner or later, he
would do something to
tarnish his image. Sooner or later,
al men did.
227
35
aving a puppy was like having a
newborn baby in
Hthe house.
On the way home, Ian stopped by the
grocery store and
bought several different varieties
of puppy food, wanting to
make sure he found one the puppy
would like.
Ian felt guilty about not taking
every single animal home
with him. Seeing those pets, each of
whom once had a
home to live in, staring up at every
person who walked by
with hopeful looks on their faces,
made him feel sick
inside.
That explained why he'd ended up
driving home with
a grateful little beagle in the
front seat. A beagle, of all
things. Beagles weren't New York
City dogs. They liked
to run. And chase rabbits. Didn't
they? There weren't any
rabbits on Park Avenue.
First a calf and now a beagle. What
was happening to
him?
He thought about the office he'd
left behind in New
York and the no-nonsense person he'd
been. Would any
228
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
of those people even recognize him?
Would his own
fiancée recognize him?
He didn't think so.
He didn't recognize himself.
Back at the house, Mabel fussed over
the puppy and
fixed him a bowl of warm food,
clucking and persisting
until he'd finished every morsel.
“Pretty soon
we'll have more animals roaming
around here than Colby has at her
clinic, won't we, Mr.
McKinley? she asked with a knowing
smile.
Ian pretended to miss the innuendo
behind Mabel's
seemingly innocent remark and went
to the sink to rinse
out the puppy's bowl.
Mabel left just after six, leaving
Smidge and him
alone with the latest addition to
the family. The puppy
refused to stay in his bed. He
trotted around the house
and acquainted himself with his new
surroundings while
Smidge followed, curious and a
little miffed by his
presence. Ian suspected the two
would soon be devoted
buddies.
That night, Ian left them in the
kitchen together.
Luke had gone out with friends, and
he didn't expect him
back until late. Ian had hoped he
would get home in time
to meet the new puppy, but it would
have to wait until
morning.
He fixed a basket with a towel
inside it and a ticking
alarm clock beneath it. He'd once
heard the noise
comforted puppies recently taken
from their mothers. He
hoped it would work.
229
INGLATH COOPER
He'd been upstairs no more than five
minutes when
the howling started. Only it sounded
more like crying. Ian
gave the puppy a few minutes,
thinking he'd adjust. He
didn't.
Guilt led Ian to the kitchen, where
he scooped the
puppy up, basket and all and took
him to his room.
Smidge stayed in the kitchen as if
she didn't want her
sleep disturbed again. Ian tucked
the puppy back in and
kept his hand on the little guy's
head until he fell asleep.
As soon as he removed his hand from
the basket, the
puppy started howling again.
Ian finally dozed off at some point
after eleven, but
came abruptly awake to a pitiful,
protesting wail
sometime later. “Okay,
okay. He bent down to pick up
the scrawny little puppy and tuck
him beneath the covers.
“You win.
“What's going on?
Luke stood in the doorway, dressed
in jeans and a
leather jacket. He glanced at Ian
and then at the puppy.
“We've got a new
member of the family, Ian said.
“Come meet him.
Luke hung back for a few moments,
struggling not to
appear too interested. But curiosity
apparently got the
better of him. He stepped inside the
room and said,
“Where did he
come from?
“The adoption
event today.
“Why?
230
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
Ian heard the surprise in his son's
voice and realized
that it was justified. He wouldn't
have done that a few
months ago. “He
needed a home.
“Is he one of the
puppies Dr. Williams wrote to the
paper about?
Ian nodded. “You
read the letter?
“Yeah. Luke
rubbed the sleepy puppy's ears. The
puppy got up and wagged his tail,
then playfully swatted
Luke's hand with his paw.
“We need to come
up with a name for him, Ian said.
“Like what?
“I don't know.
What's he look like?
“A shrimp.
Ian smiled. “You
think he'd answer to that?
Luke shrugged and rubbed the puppy's
ears again,
surprising Ian with his half smile.
“Too bad we can't
think of something that means
‘doesn't sleep at
night.'
Luke laughed, startling Ian into
speechlessness. He
stared at his son for a moment,
completely taken aback.
How long had it been since he'd made
his son laugh?
Too long. Way too long.
Rubbing the puppy's back, Luke said,
“What do you
think about Rebel?
The puppy licked his hand and wagged
his tail like a
windshield wiper on high speed.
“He does have a
bit of a James Dean look to him,
doesn't he?
231
INGLATH COOPER
“Yeah, he does.
Luke picked the puppy up and
cradled him against his chest.
Pleasure rose inside Ian and spread
outward, love for
his son a pain in his heart. “He
doesn't like sleeping by
himself. You want to take him with
you?
Luke looked up at him, obviously
pleased. “Sure.
“Smidge didn't
know what to think of him at first.
“She'll like him.
She'll have somebody to play with
other than Matilda.
Ian smiled. “Matilda's
not much on chasing rabbits.