Good Guys Love Dogs (13 page)

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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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