Good Guys Love Dogs (2 page)

Mr. McKinley.

It took a moment for the words to
sink in. One by one,

they final y did, even as disbelief
washed over him. “Is he al

right?

“Yes.

“There must be
some mistake. Luke has never—

“No mistake, Mr.
McKinley.

The detective gave him the address
of the station and

told him where to find Luke. Ian
hung up, feeling as if

someone had just punched him in the
gut. He found Rachel

and told her everything he knew.
When she offered to go

with him, he asked her to stay and
explain to the others that

he'd had an emergency.

He caught a cab outside the
building, imagining, during

the drive, a hundred different
scenarios involving Luke and

jail.

When the driver pul ed over at the
police station, Ian

handed him a fifty and sprinted for
the door, his stomach

churning. Inside, he took the
elevator to the third floor. Even

at this hour, the place vibrated
with purpose. Stil dressed in

his tuxedo, he got his fair share of
stares as he wound his way

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INGLATH COOPER

through a maze of desks littered
with coffee cups and

mounds of paper.

From the far corner of the room, a
thin man with graying

hair and skin that could use a
little sunshine waved at him and

cal ed out, “You
Mr. McKinley?

“Yes.

“Your son is in
the room across the hal . Go on in. I'l be

right with you.

“Thank you, Ian
said, while the detective went back to

his cal .

At the door, Ian stopped and drew in
a deep breath

before quickly turning the knob.
Relief flooded him at the

sight of Luke standing by the window
with his hands jammed

in his pockets.

His hair, long in front and short at
the sides, halfway

covered his eyes. His stance
screamed defensive, his mouth

set in a straight line. “Guess
I messed up your party, huh? he

asked, his tone bel igerent.

If Luke felt any fear, he wasn't
showing it.

“Is that what you
meant to do? Ian asked quietly, not at

all sure where to go with this.

“I didn't mean to
do anything. Luke shrugged, clearly a

rebel with a cause, the origins of
which Ian couldn't begin to

guess.

“They said you
were arrested for drug possession.

Another shrug. “Big
deal.

“Big deal? Ian
repeated. “Do you have any idea how

serious this is?

“It must be if
you left your party to come down here.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

The verbal slap achieved its
intended sting. “I know

things have been busy lately, but. .
. .

“Lately? Luke
interrupted with a short laugh. “You've

been saying ‘lately'
since I was six years old. Probably before

then, I just can't remember so far
back. You only have time

for work. And Rachel, of course, now
that she's going to be

your wife.

Bitterness layered the declaration.
The vehemence

behind it shocked Ian. Luke wasn't a
big talker. For the past

few years, getting information out
of him took the finesse of

a secret service agent. Ian chalked
it up to teenage rebel ion.

The boy had been even less
communicative since he'd told

him about his engagement to Rachel.
He looked at his son

now and felt as though he were
seeing him for the first time

in a very long while. “I
think we need to talk.

“So pencil me in
before your nine-thirty, and I'l tel you

all about how I know you wish I'd
never been born.

The anger in the boy's voice hit Ian
like a brick in the

face. “Why would
you say a thing like that, Luke?

“Because it's the
truth.

“No. It's not.
Son—

“If it hadn't
been for me, she wouldn't have died, Luke

yelled. “Don't
you think I know that?

Ian grappled for composure.
“Nobody could have

prevented what happened to your
mother. She had a stroke.

How could you possibly think I
would—

“I don't know, he
interrupted. “Maybe because you

work all the time just so you don't
have to be around me.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Luke! Ian
stopped, at a complete loss for a response.

Somehow, when he hadn't been
looking, something had gone

terribly wrong between the two of
them. Staring across at his

son, part boy, part man, Ian
wondered how Luke had felt this

way without his knowing. How long
had Luke been trying to

get his attention? “Does
this have something to do with my

marrying Rachel?

“I don't care who
you marry. I'm sure you'l make al the

time in the world for her.

Ian felt as if someone had just held
a mirror in front of

him. He didn't like what he saw. He
thought about the party

given in his honor tonight and
realized the price. He'd spent

the past seventeen years trying to
make sure Luke had the

things he himself never had as a
kid. He'd sent the boy off to

a camp in Wyoming every summer and
to Austria in the

winter with his ski team. In fact,
he'd given him everything

possible except one thing.

Time.

Maybe if he had, none of this would
be happening.

Maybe if he had, he wouldn't have
needed this kind of

wake-up cal to see what a mess he'd
made of things.

Ian sank down on the chair behind
him. He raked a hand

through his hair and wondered how
he'd gone from such

heights to such depths in the span
of one night. Luke was in

trouble. Ian could blame no one but
himself.

18

1

onday morning started like every
other Monday

M morning of this past month. Heaven
help her,

Colby Williams did not understand
the adolescent mind-

set.

She shot a glance at her watch.
“Baby, why can't you

just wear the first outfit you put
on? We're late. I've got to

get to the clinic.

“Don't call me
that, Mom. Lena frowned. “I'm not a

baby. And the first outfit looked
like dogsh—

“Lena! Surprised,
Colby stared at her daughter. Lena

didn't talk that way. At least not
until recently.

Lena rol ed her eyes and stomped up
the steps to change

for the third time. “Dog
poop, she called out. “The first

outfit looked like dog poop.

Critter, Lena's one-eared cat,
pounced up the stairs

behind her. From the Oriental rug on
the living room

floor, Petey and Lulu, reigning
house dogs, eyed Lena's

ascent as if they knew it wouldn't
be her last.

19

INGLATH COOPER

“You're probably
right, Colby said to the pedigree-

free duo, then dropped onto the
oversize sage green chair

next to the fireplace. She surveyed
the smal but cozy room

with some measure of satisfaction.
At least order prevailed

in this part of her life. Bookcases
lined the wal to the right

of the couch, shelves fil ed with
hardbacks col ected since

her childhood, everything from
Beezus and Ramona,
which

she'd read in the fourth grade, to
Gone With The Wind,

which she still pulled out on rainy
days.

The home she and Lena furnished and
decorated

together with casual, country
touches could be cal ed more

than comfortable, but someday, Colby
hoped to buy them

a house big enough to have a room
for her books and a

bigger bedroom for Lena. She'd hoped
that house would be

Oak Hill, an old farm outside of
town. But it had sold

recently, and that hope was no
longer a realistic one.

From the radio on the kitchen
counter, a singer

twanged an appropriate tune about
not dwelling on stuff

you couldn't change. Following her
advice, Colby got up

and began putting things away, her
thoughts turning to Lena.

She didn't know whether to laugh or
cry these days where

her daughter was concerned. She was
a thirty-four-year-old

woman. A mother. A veterinarian with
a thriving practice.

And she was losing control of her
fifteen-year-old.

The worst part? She had no idea why.

In the past several weeks, Lena's
grades dropped from

almost straight
A'
s to
nearly al
C'
s. Lena was smart. Colby

knew that wasn't the problem. Lena
had always been a good

child. Maybe too good. Colby had
been spoiled by that. Her

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

relationship with her daughter had
been the most fulfil ing

aspect of her life for so long that
she couldn't imagine it

any other way.

The difference in Lena seemingly
happened overnight, as

if aliens had swooped down and
stolen her beautiful, fun-

loving daughter, replacing her with
a surlier version of

herself. The kid who lived with her
looked just like Lena,

sounded like Lena. But she wasn't
Lena.

More than once, Colby started to
drive over to her

parents' house and plead for their
advice on how to deal with

this new side to her. She'd stopped
herself each time. Samuel

and Emma Williams had always been
there for Lena and

her. They'd helped put Colby through
college and then vet

school, lending a hand when Lena was
a baby and Colby

had been determined to stay in
school. They'd been the best

of parents, and she'd cal ed on them
far too often. She'd find

a way to work this out on her own.

The phone rang. Tucking her
shoulder-length hair

behind one ear, she picked it up
with a distracted, “Hello.

“I know you're
headed out the door, but I've got a

proposition for you.

“Does it involve
convincing whoever stole my daughter

to bring her back?

Phoebe Walker laughed. “Hormones
raging, huh?

“I don't know
what it is. Isn't there some kind of pil I

can give her until it goes away?
Colby stretched the cord

across the kitchen and picked up
Lena's plate of uneaten

French toast.

21

INGLATH COOPER

“You're the
doctor, Phoebe said. “You ought to

know.

Colby dumped the toast in the
disposal and stuck the

plate under the faucet, watching the
syrup slide down the

sink. “My
expertise is in cows. They don't turn on their

mothers.

Phoebe chuckled. “If
it's any consolation, I think this is

normal.

“It's not, Colby
muttered, swiping at a water spot on

her blue cotton shirt, and then
wanting to change the

subject, “So
what's the proposition?

“An invitation,
actual y. To dinner.

Colby tucked the phone under her
chin and grabbed a

paper towel to dab at her shirt.
“What kind of dinner?

“The kind where
you put on a dress, a spritz or two of

perfume and leave your calf-birthing
clothes at home in the

closet.

“You want me to
do all that just for you and Frank?

she asked, deliberately
misunderstanding.

“Wel —

“That's what I
thought. Thanks, but no thanks.

“
Colby
—

“Don't
Colby
me. She slipped the plate into the

dishwasher. “Have
you forgotten what I told you the last

time you tried to fix me up?

“Are you going to
hold that against me forever?

Phoebe asked, a whine in her voice.

“I should. You
certainly deserve it.

“He wasn't that
bad.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“Yeah, if your
idea of a hot date is an octopus pickled

in Brut.

“Oh, for Pete's
sake, Colby, you're too picky!

“And you've got
too much time on your hands. As

Colby's best friend, Phoebe refused
to stay out of her love

life, saying she'd known her since
the beginning of the

world and therefore had a vested
interest in her happiness.

Personally, Colby thought she should
join the garden club

or take up knitting, anything to
relieve Phoebe's self-

appointed burden of finding Colby a
husband.

No matter how often they went over
it, Phoebe just

didn't get it. She refused to
believe a woman could be happy

living her life without a
man—maybe because she happened

to be married to one of the last
good men on earth. But

Colby qualified as walking proof she
was wrong. She'd tried

the dating scene off and on over the
years, thinking Lena

needed a father figure. Once in a
while, she'd even dated

out of a true desire for
companionship. But at some point,

it stopped seeming worth the
trouble. The only men she ever

met were either newly divorced and
neurotic or looking for a

housekeeper instead of a wife.

She'd long ago decided love rarely
turned out to be the

way Hollywood depicted it. But then,
she'd learned that

when she'd been eighteen and too
green to know better than

to fal for a great-looking guy with
a great-looking car who