Good Guys Love Dogs (24 page)

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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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.