around town like a monkey in a cage.
"How can you turn
them down, son?"
"I'm tired, Dad."
"It's just an hour or two.
Surely that's not too much to
ask from someone who's made it as
big as you have."
Guilt. John Kincaid played it better
than anyone Wil had
ever known. No one had pushed him
harder toward his
success in the NFL. No one had
reminded him of it more
often.
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
Wil had relented final y, certain by
the end of their
discussion that his father would get
more pleasure out of the
event than anyone else in Lake
Perdue.
He hadn't exactly dressed for the
occasion, a fact his
father would be certain to point
out. Wil had never been
much for Armani suits and the like.
Designer jeans had
battled for their share of the
market without ever making it to
a hanger in his closet. His taste
had remained constant over
the years. He stil preferred Levi's,
the kind that had been
washed so many times they'd gone
soft and white. Today he'd
paired them with a denim shirt and a
worn-looking leather
jacket that cost more than a lot of
used cars. He wore equal y
wel -worn loafers on sockless feet.
He hated socks.
He reached forward and popped in a
CD. The sound of
Wagner's “Die
Walkure split the air, blasting away at the
edges of his impatience. He sighed
and ran a hand through
his hair, while he controlled the
steering wheel with the other.
The car had been a bonus from Hank
Calhoun, owner of the
team on which Wil had played wide
receiver. A farewel
present for a job wel done. And
maybe a bit of a bribe, as
wel , Wil had later realized. For
him to consider going back
to work for Hank in some other
capacity. To reconsider not
forgetting Hank's daughter once he
left L.A.
"You and Grace make a fine
couple, Wil ," Hank had
said the last time they'd talked.
"There aren't too many men
I'd hand my daughter over to, you
know." Wil knew it was
true. But it had taken him three
years to realize he wasn't the
man for that particular honor.
349
INGLATH COOPER
Like the rest of the world, Hank had
known Wil 's career
was over. No one seemed wil ing to
dispute the evidence that
he would never again play football.
"With the number of
injuries you've had on that knee,
this was just the final straw,
Wil ," one of the doctors had
said. "The average playing time
is three-and-a-half years,"
another had consoled. So he'd had
more than most. But that didn't make
the verdict any easier to
accept. A verdict he'd sentenced
himself to years ago. Time to
pay the hangman.
Using his left foot, Wil braked to a
halt at the first of the
town's three stoplights.
No one understood why he'd left the
West Coast mecca
of wealth to come back to a town
where the population
hovered around five thousand. He
wasn't sure himself. He
just knew that home was the place
for him to recover—both
physical y and mental y.
With one wrist draped over the
wheel, he glanced at his
surroundings. Things had changed
since his last visit.
Progress had stuck its big toe into
Lake Perdue. Aaron Tate's
General Store, which had since risen
to One Stop Gas & Go
status, stil sat on the corner of
Second and Main. A pizza
joint had been wedged in between it
and Kawley's Drugstore,
more than likely giving Simpson's
Ice Cream, the old high-
school hangout, a run for its money.
On the other side of the
street, Ethel's Fine Fashions had
been replaced by a shop that
looked as though it belonged on
Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,
a concession to the customers coming
in from some of the
lake's new developments.
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
Disappointment shot through him.
Nothing stayed the
same. The rest of the world was
beginning to discover Lake
Perdue, the quiet little town that
had been his refuge in the
years of traveling from one big city
to another.
The light turned green. He put his
foot to the accelerator
and continued along Main Street,
dodging the potholes and
passing a car and then a truck. He
didn't know either of the
drivers, but he lifted a hand in
greeting, anyway. Here,
everybody waved. Wil pictured
himself cruising down Sunset
Boulevard, waving at every car he
passed. He shook his head
and smiled to himself for the first
time that day.
Tom Dil on, an old friend and now a
town deputy
sheriff, stood just ahead in the
middle of the street, directing
traffic for the parade. Wil rol ed
down his window and lifted
a cautious hand in greeting. The two
had been buddies in
high school, until they'd had a fal
ing-out just before
graduation. Wil hadn't forgotten it.
Tom apparently had. He grinned and
yel ed, "Hey, Wil ,
man how's it going?"
"How ya doin', Tom?" Wil
threw back, a cool note in his
voice.
Tom blew his whistle and motioned a
lane of traffic
forward, shouting over his shoulder,
"Come on out to
Clarence's when you get a chance.
Buy you a beer."
With a half nod and a wave, Wil
swung off Main onto
McClanahan for the First Baptist
Church. He checked his
appearance in the mirror and then
glanced up just in time to
see a stop sign ahead that hadn't
been there the last time he'd
been home.
351
INGLATH COOPER
Brake lights flashed as the car in
front of him rol ed to a
stop. Nothing short of a miracle
would al ow him to miss it.
Tires squealed, rubber smoked
against asphalt as the Ferrari
plowed into the back of the stopped
car.
The air bag exploded, preventing Wil
from going
through the windshield.
He slammed a palm against the
steering wheel and leaned
forward to get a closer look at what
he'd done. The brand-
new Ferrari now sat with its nose
tucked under the ancient
relic in front of him.
The car was the color of his aunt
Fan's grasshopper pie.
It appeared to be a good thirty feet
long, sporting twin
pointed extensions just above each
tail ight. He recognized
the make—a Cadil
ac Sedan de Vil e. Had it been a
convertible, it would have looked a
lot like something Batman
drove.
With another muttered curse, he
climbed out of the car,
pul ing his leather bomber jacket
close against the February
chil . He cast a glance at the
damage and decided it might not
have been as bad as he'd thought. A
few scratches maybe if
they were careful about separating
the two cars. Not worth
cal ing the police.
Lips pressed together, he limped
across the pavement to
the other driver's door. A woman. He
should have guessed.
Judging from the antique she was
driving, she probably hadn't
been on the road in fifteen years.
Wil knocked on the window and leaned
forward. The
woman sat there, staring straight
ahead as if in a trance. Alarm
stabbed at him. What if she was
hurt?
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
Before he could complete the
thought, the car door
opened, barely missing his nose. The
woman slid out of the
front seat, sidestepping him until
they stood a good four feet
apart. Focusing to the left of his
shoulder, she asked in a
frigid voice, "Was there a
problem with your brakes?"
The question sounded innocent
enough. But her tried-
and-convicted tone rankled Wil . He
took a step back and
arched a brow, taking in the wool
cap pul ed so low on her
head that she appeared not to have
any hair, the round glasses
that seemed to dwarf her smal face,
the scarf wrapped
around her neck and tucked under her
chin. From the way
she'd mummified herself, he could
barely see where the hat
ended and the scarf began.
"Hey, I'l be the first to admit
this was my fault. But you
were barely moving, you know."
The woman kept her eyes averted and
appeared to be
searching for words. Her response,
when it final y came, was
calm and reasonable. "McClanahan
wasn't exactly made for
drag racing."
He slid his sunglasses down his nose
and stared at her,
his eyes narrowed. Something about
the woman seemed
familiar. Only he couldn't see her
wel enough to figure out
what. He stepped back and frowned at
her. "Do I know
you?"
The woman hesitated. Then she
quickly pushed past him
and slid into the car to shuffle
through some papers she
pul ed from the glove compartment.
"I have an appointment
in a few minutes, so if you don't
mind, I'd like to get this over
with. I assume you have insurance."
353
INGLATH COOPER
Wil couldn't remember the last time
a woman had given
him the cold shoulder. Maybe he'd
gotten spoiled, but her
attitude ticked him off. "I
do," he snapped. "And I'd rather
not get the police involved in this.
I've had a pisser of a day, if
you'l pardon the language. Your
damage is minimal. I'l take a
chance on mine. I'm late for
something myself."
Her eyes widened. “If
you could please give me your
company's name." She kept her
gaze on the notepad in her
hand, pen poised in midair.
"Better yet," he said, his
voice softer now, "how about if
I just pay you for the damage? We
could make a reasonable
estimate, and if it's more, you can
get in touch with me later."
"I'd prefer to keep this within
the law."
"I wasn't suggesting anything
il egal, just—"
"Convenient. You're interested
in convenience." She
nodded impatiently. "Al right.
We'l do it your way."
"Sounds reasonable enough."
He turned and made his
way back to the Ferrari,
deliberately taking his time. Reaching
for the wal et inside the glove
compartment, he pul ed out a
wad of cash and counted out several
large bil s. That ought to
do it. He doubted the whole car was
worth that much.
Favoring his right knee, he ambled
back to the woman's
car and leaned inside to hand her
the money along with a few
insurance papers. "It's all
there. With a tol -free number. I
don't imagine you'l need it, though.
This should cover it."
The woman glanced down at the money
and shook her
head.
"I made what I thought was a
generous guess, he said.
“If it's too
much, keep the rest for your trouble."
354
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
"Fine," she said, looking
suddenly angry. With surprising
strength, she yanked the door
closed, leaving him staring at
her through the window.
He took a hasty step back and then
grimaced when a
pain shot through his leg. Suddenly
he realized he hadn't told
her he'd disconnect the two cars
himself. It would need to be
done careful y, just right in order
to—
He reached out to pound on the
window just as she fired
the old clunker, jerked it into gear
and surged forward.
Speechless, Wil stood there watching
as she floored the
heap and roared through the
intersection at a speed that
couldn't possibly be described as a
snail's pace.
355