wondering if the things they'd said
to each other last night
would last through the light of day.
“After all these years of
thinking I'd never find someone
who—
“—was
worth risking your heart for? her mother
interrupted softly.
“It's terrifying.
“There's always
risk in loving someone, honey. And if
he's the man I know he must be for
you to care for him,
then he's worth it.
Colby's mother and father stayed
until after lunch, just to
make sure Lena was all right.
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
While Lena took a nap, Colby put
together a batch of
her favorite cookies. She'd just
slipped the first pan into
the oven when the doorbell rang.
Wiping her hands on a
dish towel, she made her way to the
front of the house,
Petey and Lulu at her heels. She
opened the door to find
Ian standing on the porch, dressed
in gray wool pants and a
blue-green wool sweater. Good
heavens, he looked good.
Memories of last night flashed
through her mind, and she met
his gaze with difficulty.
“You have flour
on your nose, he said, reaching out
to rub it off.
His touch sent a thousand shock
waves through her.
“I was baking
Lena some cookies. I was going to send
some to Luke. How is he?
“Mabel's with
him. She may mother him to death, but
other than that, he's fine.
Realizing he was stil standing
outside in the cold, she
stepped back. “Come
in, please.
Petey and Lulu greeted him by nearly
knocking him
down. “Whoa
there, guys, he said, smiling and then
bending down to pat their heads.
“Okay, you two,
scoot now, Colby said.
Looking disappointed, the two dogs
slunk into the den
and plopped down on the rug.
“I have to finish
the cookies, Colby said, heading
toward the kitchen. She picked up a
spoon and stirred the
remaining batter just so she
wouldn't have to look at him.
“Mmm. They smel
good. What kind? he asked.
“Chocolate chip.
327
INGLATH COOPER
“My favorite.
“Lena's, too.
“Good. That's one
more thing we'l have in common.
Colby looked up, afraid to wonder
what he meant by
that.
“Want to know
what the other is? He moved closer
and tilted her chin toward him.
“What? she asked,
her voice little more than a whisper.
“Loving you.
Colby's chest tightened. She
couldn't breathe normally.
“When you didn't
cal today, I thought maybe—
“Hey, he said,
shushing her with a finger on her lips.
“You're messing
up my plan here.
She looked up at him, shaking her
head. “What plan?
“The one where I
ask you to marry me.
It took a couple of seconds for the
words to register.
She folded her arms across her chest
and smiled up at him.
“Oh, that plan.
He grinned, then reached into his
pants pocket and
pulled out a little black box. He
opened the lid.
“Ian, she
whispered.
“You'd be
surprised what it took to get Gentry
Saunders to open his jewelry store
today. His wife had a
baby in the middle of the night. I
had to promise him free
vet services for his potbel y pig.
Laughing, Colby looked down at the
ring. Every bit of
two carats, it might not have been
the most practical piece of
jewelry for a small-town
veterinarian to wear, but she wasn't
immune to feminine vanity, and she
marveled at the size and
328
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
sparkle of it. “It
would be hard to get you out of a verbal
contract like that, she said,
emotion making her voice
hoarse.
“Yeah, and I hear
he's in pretty tight with the Better
Business Bureau.
She smiled up at him, tears of
happiness in her eyes.
“Is that right?
He nodded and pulled her to him.
They held each
other, renewing the bond they'd
formed last night. He
removed the ring from the box, took
her hand and slid it
on her finger. The stone sparkled in
the light from the
kitchen window. “Wil
you marry me, Colby Williams?
Hope for a future she'd thought she
would never have
blossomed inside her. “Ian,
are we kidding ourselves about
this? You have a life in New York.
“I want my life
to be with you. It may not be easy at
first, but I'll find a way to make
it work. He tilted her chin
upward. “I cal ed
my partners this afternoon and told them I
want to sel my interest in the firm.
I still have some
thinking to do, but I can work out
of my office at Oak
Hil . I have a few clients I think
would be wil ing to stay on
with me. Enough to keep me busy and
stil al ow time for
you and Lena and Luke. I might even
try my hand at
putting away some hay for Matilda.
“With the
tractor? she asked, a tearful smile in her
voice.
“Only if you
agree to give me driving lessons.
“I can do that.
For the safety of the community.
329
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“Think a city
slicker like me could ever get the hang of
it?
“With a little
practice.
His eyes grew serious again. “So
how about it, Dr.
Wil iams?
“Yes, she said, a
smile on her lips. “Yes.
They kissed with a hunger last night
had only begun to
satisfy. Colby again felt that sense
of utter completeness
she found only in his arms. It stil
amazed her that she
knew with such certainty that this
was the man she had been
meant to find. The right one. The
only one. And she
realized then she hadn't feared
marriage all these years. She
had feared ending up with the wrong
person: someone like
Doug who would decide that he didn't
love her as soon as
the going got rough. Certainly there
would be bumps along
the way. Like the not-so-smooth road
she and Ian had
traveled as parents. Life would deal
them a wild card now
and then, but with Ian, she knew
that he would be right
there beside her, handling the bad
right along with the
good.
“Hey, Mom, who
was that at the—
Still wrapped in each other's arms,
Colby and Ian
looked up just as Lena stopped in
the kitchen doorway and
said, “Oh.
Remaining in the loose circle of
Ian's embrace, Colby
said, “Come here,
honey.
Lena crossed the room, and Colby
took her hand in
hers. “Ian just
asked me to marry him. What do you think
about that?
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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
A smile broke across Lena's face.
“Real y? Well, yeah,
that's great! But, gee, Mom, you
real y know how to kil a
girl's love life.
Both Colby and Ian broke into
laughter. Ian put a
hand on Lena's shoulder and said,
“I hope you and I can
work on being friends. You and Luke
knew each other
before we ever decided to get
married, so I don't see why
you have to start acting like
brother and sister. The four of
us wil have to sit down and have a
serious talk about
things. Deal?
“That's cool. But
I sure don't want to think of him as
my brother.
Colby pulled her daughter close and
hugged her, with
Ian's arm still around her. Lena
still had pain to deal with.
Colby would be there for her in
every way she could. This
new family they were creating
wouldn't be a family in the
traditional sense of the word, but
it would be a family,
nonetheless, and that fil ed Colby
with a joyful satisfaction.
“Don't you think
we should go see what Luke thinks
about al this? Colby asked, smiling
up at her husband-to-
be.
“I think we'd
better. Phoebe might get wind of it, and
the rest of the town would find out
before he does, Ian
said, chuckling.
“Let me get
dressed first, Lena said, trotting off for
the stairs.
“Are you sure you
feel up to it, honey? Colby called
out.
331
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Lena popped back around the corner.
“My head stil
hurts, which I deserve. But I'm not
about to miss this. She
was off again, only to add from the
bottom of the stairs,
“Don't forget the
cookies, Mom. Luke likes chocolate
chip.
“I won't, honey,
Colby said, smiling. “I won't.
332
Epilogue
ake up, sleepyhead. Today's the day.
WColby roled over and stretched
alongside her
husband, naked beneath the sheet.
The bedroom felt cool
with the onset of January. Oak Hil
was Colby's dream
house, but they stil had a lot of
work to do, including
installing a new furnace. She didn't
mind the cool room
with Ian here to keep her warm. She
didn't think she would
ever quite get used to waking up
next to him. Or to having
him wake her in the middle of the
night with kisses and
loving. Now that she had him, she
couldn't remember how
she ever lived without him.
“What's today?
she asked, her voice stil husky with
sleep.
“The day you get
your wedding present.
They'd been married three weeks
before at the First
Baptist Church of Keeling Creek with
Luke as best man,
Lena as maid of honor and the front
pews fil ed with her
parents, Phoebe and Frank, and
Mabel, none of whom
managed to get through the ceremony
with dry eyes. They'd
333
INGLATH COOPER
decided to put off their real
honeymoon and had gone to
Manhattan for a short one right
before Christmas, spending
a few days at Ian's apartment—if
something that elaborate
could be cal ed an apartment—in
blissful solitude. He had
decided to hang on to the place for
a while, since he would
occasional y need to stay in the
city. When they returned to
Keeling Creek, Phoebe planned a
party one Saturday
afternoon to help move Colby and
Lena out to Oak Hill.
Christmas had been like a fairy
tale. They'd gone in
search of their own tree and
decorated the house with white
pine wreaths and candles in the
windows. Colby couldn't have
imagined a more fulfilling holiday.
They had a full house—
Luke and Lena, along with Critter,
Petey and Lulu, Smidge
and Rebel. Ian even insisted they
bring Don Juan home
from the clinic. What was one more
dog when they already
had four, he had asked her on
Christmas Eve.
If possible, Colby's love for him
had taken on new
dimensions at that moment.
After the holidays, she and Ian took
on the project of
renovating the old place together.
And she was enjoying
every minute of it.
She slipped her arms around her
husband's waist now
and pressed her cheek to his chest.
“So, how much longer
do I have to wait?
“Just how anxious
are you to see it? he asked, slipping
his leg between hers and running his
hand up her thigh.
“Wel , she said,
pretending intense concentration while
the now-familiar hum began inside
her and love for him
334
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
played through her like the sweetest
of songs. “I think we
could put it off a bit longer.
He grinned. “As
much as I would like to take you up on
that, I'm going to be in serious
trouble if I don't get you out
of this house within the next twenty
minutes.
Thoroughly intrigued now, Colby gave
him a protesting
kiss before getting out of bed and
heading for the shower. A
little while later, she followed him
out to the car, begging for
at least a hint. He remained
stubbornly close-mouthed for
the duration of the drive. A mile or
so down the road from
the house, Ian made a right-hand
turn at the edge of a
cornfield that was part of Oak Hill
property. Since it was on
the backside of the farm, Colby
rarely drove past it, but she
noticed now that a road had been cut
through the field and
covered with gravel.
“Did you do this?
she asked, more curious than ever.
“Maybe, he said,
looking at her with a smile.
“But what on
earth for?
“Patience, he
said.
The road wound on for several
hundred yards and then
curved to the right. Just around the
bend, she saw Lena and
Luke. They were both wearing
face-splitting smiles, one on
each side of a sign that read:
The Oak Hil Home For Animals
A Sanctuary for Pets
Waiting to be
Adopted
335
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Colby stared at it, unable to
believe what she had just
read. Behind the sign sat a bul
dozer with Davis
Construction emblazoned on the side.
Colby's eyes filled with tears. She
turned to look at Ian.
“This is. . .you
did this for me?