Good Guys Love Dogs (35 page)

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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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.

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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

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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.

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INGLATH COOPER

“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.

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INGLATH COOPER

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

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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

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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

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INGLATH COOPER

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?