Good Guys Love Dogs

by Inglath Cooper

  The first sip tasted awful. She nearly gagged, and when it hit her throat, still sore from being sick, it felt like fire blazing a trail to her stomach.

  She went to the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice container, watering down the gin with it. Still awful, but not quite so bad.

  Taking the bottle and the glass with her, she went into the living room, sat on the couch, and, for the first time in her life, proceeded to get drunk.

  51

  She was drunk.

  Luke knew it as soon as he answered the phone.

  “H-he doesn’t want me,” Lena said.

  The words were slurred and hard to understand. “Lena, who are you talking about?”

  “He s-said I wouldn’t c-care ’cuz I never met him. But that’s not true.”

  Her father. She must be talking about her father. “Where are you, Lena? Are you at home?”

  He barely heard her answer.

  Luke knew her mom wasn’t home, because Mrs. Walker called earlier to say his dad had gone out to the lake to meet Colby. “Lena?”

  No answer. The receiver dropped to the floor, and he felt his heart fall with it. “Lena, I’ll be right there!” he yelled, hoping she heard him. He grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter and bolted out the door.

  52

  Ian lay awake, looking down at this woman who had come to mean everything to him. She had simplified life for him, brought into focus everything important, screening out the things that were not. Her innate goodness became more clear to him with each moment he spent with her. His heart belonged to her, and he could not imagine a future without her.

  She stirred and opened her eyes to stare up at him with the expression of a sated woman. The sight of it filled him with an almost primitive gladness that he had been the one to put that look in her eyes.

  She stretched beside him, her legs entwined with his. “You can’t expect to look at a man like that and get away with it,” he said, trailing a finger across the flat plane of her belly.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with renewed heat before saying, “I don’t intend to.”

  They were quiet for a bit, just holding each other, while Colby thought how incredible it was that there could be such pleasure in companionable silence. It felt almost too perfect to last. “What are we going to do about this?” she asked, and immediately wanted to take the question back. It was too soon. He’d just broken his engagement, and she didn’t want him to think she expected something more from him.

  “You mean what happens when the school year is up?”

  She nodded.

  “I think that’s something we need to talk about.”

  The phone rang. She sat up, wrapping her arms around herself.

  “Phoebe?” Ian asked.

  “I can’t imagine she would call,” Colby said, frowning.

  The ringing stopped. A couple of seconds later, it started again.

  “We’d better get it in case something’s wrong,” he said.

  “The phone’s in the kitchen,” she said. She watched him leave the room, wishing she hadn’t said anything about the future. She’d gotten so caught up in what had happened between them that she’d let herself forget he had another life in another world. He might no longer be engaged, but that didn’t change the fact that his stay in Keeling Creek would be temporary. He’d said he loved her, but she’d long ago learned the lesson that love didn’t mean forever.

  His footsteps sounded in the hallway. She looked up to find him standing at the door, his face creased with worry.

  “What is it?” she asked, knowing immediately that something was wrong.

  “We have to go,” he said, clearly shaken. “Luke and Lena have been in an accident. Frank heard about it on his police scanner, and he and Phoebe are on their way to the hospital.”

  All the way back to town, Colby prayed. Harder than she’d ever prayed in her life.

  Ian held on to her hand as the Mercedes roared down the driveway, his grip firm enough that she knew he suffered the same agonies as she.

  It seemed like hours before they finally reached the emergency room door. As soon as Ian stopped the car, Colby jumped out and ran. He was right behind her. Colby went to the first nurse she saw. “Our children, they were brought in a little while ago. Lena Williams and Luke McKinley. Can you tell us where they are?”

  “Certainly. Just follow me.”

  Ian took Colby’s hand, and they anxiously trailed the woman to an examining room, where both Lena and Luke lay in separate beds. The blood drained from Colby’s face. Lena looked as white as the sheet covering her. Her eyes were closed, and a nasty-looking gash arced across her temple. A doctor was stitching it up.

  Luke lay on the other side of the divider curtain. Bandages encircled his hands, and white gauze covered the center of his forehead. A nurse adjusted the IV taped to his hand.

  “Oh, thank goodness, you’re here.”

  Colby swung around to find Phoebe and Frank hovering in the doorway. Phoebe had a stricken look on her face.

  “They’re going to be all right, aren’t they?” Colby asked, hearing the fear in her own voice.

  Phoebe nodded and waved them outside the door, where she said, “Oh, Colby, I’m sorry. I feel as if this is all my fault. If I hadn’t sent you two off to the lake, maybe this wouldn’t have—”

  “Phoebe, what happened?” Ian interrupted gently but with a distinct note of urgency.

  Frank squeezed Phoebe’s shoulder and said, “They were hit by another car, and. . .apparently, they had been drinking.”

  “Who had been drinking?” Colby asked, incredulous.

  “Lena and Luke.”

  Ian leaned against the wall behind him and dropped his forehead onto the heel of one hand.

  Colby knew what he was thinking. If Luke had been drinking when the accident happened, he would be in violation of his probation. She prayed that there had been some kind of mistake.

  “They’ve both been out of it since they got them in here, so nobody knows anything for sure,” Phoebe said. “And the blood work’s not back from the lab yet.”

  “Did you call my mom and dad?” Colby asked, her voice raspy with shock.

  “No. I thought you’d want to do that after we knew more.”

  “Good.” Colby and Ian went back inside and talked to the doctor who just finished with Lena. He assured them that they were bruised and bumped up but should be fine. He’d given them something for pain, and they would both probably sleep for a while.

  As soon as the doctor left the room, Colby slid back the curtain that divided the two beds. She and Ian stood between them, she holding Lena’s hand, he holding Luke’s, their own joined in the middle.

  Luke woke up first. His eyes opened, and he made a visible effort to focus.

  Relief flooded through Ian, making him weak with gratitude. “Luke?” He sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed his hand to his son’s face. “I’m right here. You’re going to be all right.”

  “Where am I?” Luke asked, still groggy. Before Ian could answer, the boy sat bolt upright and said, “Lena! Where’s Lena?”

  “She’s right here next to you,” Ian assured him. “She’s going to be fine. Everything’s okay. Just relax, all right?”

  Luke sank back on the pillow, one hand pressed to his temple.

  Colby moved to the other side of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not too great right now.”

  “What happened, son?” Ian asked, his voice heavy.

  “We. . .the car. . .it came out of nowhere. I was trying to get Lena to the hospital.”

  “Lena. Why?” Colby asked, her hands clasped together.

  “She called me. She sounded upset about her dad, and I could tell she’d been drinking. I rushed over to your house, and she was passed out. She wouldn’t wake up, so I was taking her to the hospital when—”

  “You weren’t drinking, son?” Ian interrupted, relief flooding
through him.

  Luke looked up at him and shook his head with a half smile. “After all the trouble you’ve gone through to reform me, I’m not gonna blow it that easily.”

  Ian smiled down at him. “I should’ve known that.”

  “Old Pokey won’t ever be the same, though,” Luke said.

  “Don’t worry about that old truck. It’s probably had its nine lives, anyway. You just rest now. Everything’s going to be all right.”

  Lena awoke a half hour or so later. Colby was sitting by her side when she opened her eyes and realized where she was. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she said, “Oh, Mom, I’m sorry.”

  “Baby.” Colby leaned down and took her into her arms, holding her as tightly as she could with the tubes attached to her.

  Ian opened the curtain between the two beds, while mother and daughter held each other for several long minutes, reestablishing the precious bond that had been threatened in the past few months.

  Colby finally pulled away and smoothed a hand across Lena’s hair. “What happened, sweetie?”

  “I should have left it alone.” Tears welled up in her eyes again, and she bit back a sob.

  Colby waited for her to go on, knowing she needed to get it all out.

  “A letter came for you today. It said Personal, but I opened it. I shouldn’t have. It was from—” Her voice broke, and fresh tears made their way down her cheeks.

  “Oh, Lena.” Colby’s heart fell as she realized who the letter had been from and what it must have said. She held her daughter close again, wanting to absorb her child’s pain. But she couldn’t. For so long, she’d tried to protect her from this, and she had failed.

  “He didn’t want to know me, Mom. What did I do to—”

  “You did nothing, honey,” Colby interrupted with force. “Nothing. He’s the loser in all this. Not you. You’ve got to believe that.”

  “I’ve been so awful to you, Mom. I just couldn’t believe that he wouldn’t want to see me if he knew about me. I wanted to blame you for it, to believe that you were the reason he didn’t care about me.”

  “Oh, Lena.” Colby held her tight, rubbing her back, her own voice wavering when she said, “You don’t know how I wanted to spare you this.”

  “I know you did, but I asked for it.”

  Colby drew back and looked down into her daughter’s eyes. “You didn’t ask for any of this. You’ve done nothing wrong, my precious girl. From the moment I felt you move inside me, you’ve been the joy of my life. And you always will be.”

  Lena buried her face in Colby’s shoulder, crying silently and clinging to her. Colby held her close and sent up a silent, grateful prayer of thanks for her safety.

  Colby decided to wait until morning to call her parents. Since the kids were all right, there was no point in getting them out of bed at two a.m. The doctor wanted to keep both Lena and Luke overnight for observation.

  Colby and Ian stayed with them. Phoebe went home around three o’clock and surprised them by never even asking how their evening had gone.

  Lena and Luke were both awake off and on, so conversation between Colby and Ian was limited. In fact, they had no chance to talk alone at all.

  Colby called her parents at seven, and they arrived within half an hour, hovering over Lena to make sure she was all right. Even though her parents had met Ian and Luke once at the church breakfast, Colby introduced them again, and she saw that both her mom and dad were more than a little impressed.

  The doctor released both Lena and Luke when he came to check on them around eight. It was after nine when they got the paperwork taken care of and checked the two of them out.

  At the hospital exit, Colby’s father insisted on driving Lena and her home.

  Ian shook hands with her parents. “I hope to see you again soon,” he said, before turning to Colby. “I’ll call you later.”

  She nodded and watched him help Luke into the car, then pull away with a wave.

  At the house, they got Lena settled into her bed, where she fell asleep within minutes. After assuring herself that her daughter was all right, Colby went back downstairs and saw the letter from Doug lying on the coffee table in the living room. She picked it up and read it, aching for the pain it had caused Lena. How could anyone be so cruel and callous? Even though she knew Doug never intended for Lena to see the letter, anger propelled her toward the kitchen. She grabbed the phone and began punching in his number, the letter still in her hand.

  “He’s not worth it, you know.”

  Colby swung around to find her mother standing in the kitchen doorway. She hung up and pressed her forehead to the receiver. “She might have been killed, Mom. And Luke, too.”

  “I know.” Emma stepped forward and put her hands on Colby’s shoulders, pressing her cheek against her back. “I know. But you have to let this go. Whatever happens between Lena and her father will be between them. You tried to protect her and nearly lost her. Focus on what you can control—your relationship with her—and leave the rest alone.”

  Colby turned around and hugged her mother. “How’d you get so wise?”

  “It comes with the crow’s-feet,” she said, her eyes shining with love. “I’m so proud of you, Colby. You’re a wonderful mother. Don’t ever forget that.”

  “I had a wonderful role model,” she said. “And you’re right.” She opened the drawer beside her and pulled out a book of matches. Moving to the sink, she lit one and held it to the edge of the letter. The paper went up in a quick blue flame, crumpled and turned to ash.

  Emma squeezed her arm. “She’ll be fine, you know. She’s strong like you.”

  “I hope so.”

  They were silent for a while and then Emma said, “He’s awfully nice.”

  “You mean Ian?”

  Emma nodded. “Is it serious?”

  Colby hesitated, not sure what to say. In the hours since she and Ian separated, she’d been bombarded by doubts, 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.

  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 still 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 smell good. What kind?” he asked.

  “Chocolate chip.”

  “My favorite.”

  “Lena’s, too.”

  “Good. That’s one more thing
we’ll 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 call 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 potbelly 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 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. “Will 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.”