Good Guys Love Dogs (25 page)

Luke chuckled again. The sound
filled Ian with

gratitude, and he knew that anything
he'd sacrificed in

coming here had been worth it. This
was the boy he'd

missed. “You can
have the basket, he said, hearing the

waver in his own voice.

Luke scooped the basket up with one
hand and

headed out of the room. ‘“Night,
Dad, he said.

“Hey, Luke?

“Yeah? he said,
turning around.

Ian searched for words and prayed
that his timing

was right. “Remember
what you said that night at the

police station? About me blaming you
for your mother's

death?

Luke held the puppy a little closer
and nodded.

“I want you to
know that was never true. You were

what kept me going then. I don't
know what I would

have done without you. I'm the one
who's made some

mistakes. It's kind of hard to
explain why people do the

things they do, but I guess I used
my work as a way to get

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through the grief. After a while,
working became a way of

life. I wanted to give you all the
things my father never

gave me when I was growing up. I
didn't realize that I

wasn't there for you in the ways
that count, either. I hope

you can forgive me for that, because
I really want to

make it up to you.

Luke looked down at the puppy. When
he glanced

back up, his eyes held the sheen of
tears. “I haven't

exactly been the world's greatest
son.

“With both of us
trying, we're bound to get things

right sooner or later, Ian said.

Luke nodded, not quite meeting his
gaze. “See you in

the morning.

“'Night, son.

Luke turned in the doorway. “Maybe
we could make

a house for Rebel outside next to
Smidge's tomorrow.

Ian felt such love for the boy.
“That'd be great, Luke.

Really great.

And for the first time since they'd
moved to Keeling

Creek, Ian went to sleep feeling as
if he'd made some

small headway in the healing process
between him and

his son.

Life was good.

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36

urling iron in hand, Lena put the
finishing

Ctouches on her hair, deciding that
maybe her own

color - somewhere between blond and
brown - wasn't so

bad. She'd stopped putting the
purple streaks in it when Luke

had said he thought her color much
prettier.

Because of Luke, Lena actual y
looked forward to school

these days. She lived for the breaks
in between classes when

the two of them would meet at her
locker.

Since the campout, they had spent
more and more time

with each other. Sometimes, she stil
wanted to pinch herself

to make sure it was true.

Lena had never known anyone like
Luke. He was

exciting and fun. He made her feel
things she didn't

understand but wanted to more than
anything. When they

were together, she didn't think
about the fact that her mom

hadn't brought up the subject of her
father since the night

she'd confronted her with the
letter.

She and Luke had been hanging out
after school every

day. Lena even told her mom she was
going to the movies

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and met Luke instead. Even though
her mom's rule was that

she couldn't date until she turned
sixteen, Lena justified

whatever guilt she felt by reminding
herself of how her

mother deceived
her
all these
years. This hardly compared.

Luke felt easy to talk to in a way
she very much

needed since she and her mom were on
the outs. She'd

found herself tel ing him about it
one day after school when

they'd been sitting outside on the
school steps. She'd

somehow known he would understand.
She told him about

how she'd gone through her whole
life thinking her father

was dead. When she'd reached the
part about finding the

letter in her mother's closet, she'd
broken off, her voice

cracking.

“Did you ask her
about it? Luke had asked.

Lena nodded. “Yeah,
she was pretty freaked out. She's

supposedly trying to track him down.

“So, do you want
to see him or something?

Lena stayed quiet. “I
don't know, she said finally.

“Yes, I want to.
But I'm scared.

“Why?

“What if he
doesn't want to see me?

“Why wouldn't he?
He'd be crazy not to.

They'd sat on the grass while a fal
breeze hinted at

cooler weather. With Luke, Lena felt
as if she could conquer

al the demons inside her, her anger
at her mother, her need

to know about her father. He did
that to her, made her feel

like more than she was. She liked
that most about him. That,

and the fact that she'd never met a
better-looking guy. She

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INGLATH COOPER

felt proud to walk down the hal
beside him with al the

other girls, even the cheerleaders,
looking at her with envy.

Lena unplugged the curling iron now
and stood looking

at herself in the mirror. She'd
never thought of herself as

pretty like her mom, but maybe she
wasn't so bad.

She put away her things and headed
downstairs, hoping

that today would be the day Luke
asked her to the

homecoming dance.

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37

oday was the day.

TLuke was going to ask her. He'd
been thinking

about it for days but hadn't worked
up the courage yet.

When he and his dad first moved
here, he couldn't have

imagined ever wanting to go to the
homecoming dance.

All he'd wanted was to move back to
the city as fast as

possible.

But things were different now. He
and his dad were

actually talking. About everything.
His schoolwork. The

books he read for English class.
Luke had started

helping him work on the house a few
afternoons a

week. He'd surprised himself by
thinking it was kind of

fun. They'd even gone out the
afternoon before and

bought an old truck for the farm
together. His dad

needed something to haul stuff
around on, and he'd said

Luke could drive it when he wanted.
They'd named it

Pokey because it had about as much
power as a twenty-

year-old lawn mower.

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INGLATH COOPER

Things
were
different. At
home and at school. Luke

liked Lena. She had to be the
coolest girl he'd ever

known. And he identified with her.
She'd had problems

with her mom the same as he'd had
with his dad.

Whatever the reason, he just liked
being with her. He

felt as if he could tell her
anything, that he could be

himself with her.

He opened his locker and threw his
books inside.

He was supposed to have met Lena in
the cafeteria five

minutes ago. He slammed the door and
swung around,

almost bumping into the two guys
standing behind him.

“Hey, the tall
one said. Luke thought his name was

Larry. He had long, stringy hair,
and from what Luke

knew of him, he spent most of his
time in detention

hall. The shorter one was Jimmy, or
something like that.

Like his buddy, he wasn't one of
Jefferson County

High's finest students.

“Hey, he said,
and moved to step around them.

Larry caught his arm and stopped
him, glancing

over his shoulder before saying,
“Hey man, we heard

you were connected.

Luke frowned. “Who
told you that?

The short guy shrugged.
“Grapevine. What differ-

ence does it make?

“Are you or
aren't you? Larry prodded.

Luke stepped back, feeling sick
inside. Nobody

knew about his past except the
principal. Mr. Walters

had promised Luke's dad that the
knowledge wouldn't

leave his office. He'd agreed to
give Luke a second

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chance here. That meant there was
only one person who

had told them. Lena.

“I don't know
where you got your info, but you've

got it all wrong, he said, and then
took off down the

hall and out of the school.

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38

omecoming at Jefferson High always
fel on the

Hlast weekend in October. Colby had
been asked to

act as a chaperon at the dance on
Saturday night. She felt

every bit the fifth wheel as she
walked alone into the high

school gymnasium at just after
seven.

She would probably be the only adult
without a date.

Being single had never bothered her
the way it seemed to

lately. Especially during the past
two weeks, when she'd

done her best to avoid crossing
paths with Ian and yet heard

about him at every turn. A stop at
Cutter's Grocery led

Maude Cutter to extol the virtues of
her cinnamon rolls

based on Mr. McKinley's rave
reviews. And a call to Harry

Pasley's farm to help out with
another problem delivery

meant listening to how he couldn't
get over somebody like

that McKinley fel a buying that calf
as a pet. Needless to say,

it had been impossible to erase him
from her own thoughts

when everyone else insisted on
bringing him up.

She'd planned to drive Lena and Mil
ie to the dance

tonight, but that afternoon, Lena
announced she was going

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over to Mil ie's to get ready and
that Mrs. Mitchell would be

taking them.

If possible, Lena had become even
more withdrawn

and upset in the past couple of
weeks. Colby stil hadn't

heard from Doug. She'd told herself
she would hold out for

a while longer, mainly because she
wanted him to contact

Lena on his own terms, but also
because she didn't know

how to explain it to her daughter if
he refused to see her.

When Colby suggested picking her up
after school one

afternoon to look for a dress, Lena
refused. And when

Colby came home a few nights later
to find a new one on

Lena's bed, Lena had said she'd gone
with Grandma

Wil iams to pick it out.

Lena's deliberate attempts to hurt
her were clear. She

told herself not to dwell on them.
Lena herself was hurting,

and someone had to be the target of
that pain.

One afternoon when she needed to get
away for a while,

she drove to Charlottesvil e by
herself, hitting a total of eight

stores before she found something
suitable for the dance.

The dress didn't sparkle, and it
wasn't weighed down with

fril s. Its simplicity caught her
eye, black with cap sleeves and

a V-neck that hinted at cleavage but
didn't actual y reveal

any. The skirt fit close against her
hips, and even though it

was total y different from her
normal wardrobe, when she'd

glanced in the mirror, she'd
realized it flattered her.

She caught herself wondering if Ian
would like it. But

she hadn't bought it with him in
mind. He probably

wouldn't even be here.

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INGLATH COOPER

She hung her coat on one of the
racks in the cloakroom,

making her way into the gym. Ian
stood by the bleachers,

talking with Randall Walters, the
high school principal.

Since he couldn't see her watching
him, she took advantage

of the moment. While most of the men
here were far more at

home in jeans and work shirts than a
suit, Ian looked as if his

had been made for him. Dark blue
with a tastefully muted

tie knotted at his throat. His face
was tan from the work he'd

been doing outdoors. He definitely
stood out among the

other men there, but then, he would
have stood out most

anywhere.

Memories of the last time she'd seen
him alone

assaulted her. Her mouth tingled
with the recol ection of his

kiss. Warmth spread through her and
set butterflies astir in

her midsection.

He glanced up and caught her
staring. She looked away

too hastily to be anything but
guilty. She headed toward a

table set up with punch bowls and
poured herself a glass.

Lena had helped decorate the gym
earlier in the day.

Bal oons hung in clusters from the
ceiling. Banners

announcing the names of this year's
homecoming queen

and king were draped across the
front and back of the

gymnasium. The one thing
conspicuously absent? The band.

Colby wandered over to a group of
parents, most of

whom she knew. They al greeted her
with smiles. She'd been

chatting with them for a couple of
minutes when the

principal approached them, Ian right
behind him.

“Evening, folks,
Mr. Walters said. “Have most of you

met Ian McKinley? His son, Luke, is
a senior here this year.

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Ian shook hands with everyone. When
his gaze final y

met hers, she knew that he, too,
remembered that morning

at the clinic.

“Our band for
tonight went to the wrong state. Right