Good Guys Love Dogs Read Online Free PDF Page A

table,
    setting her gently on the floor and
patting her head.
    â€œGood girl.
    Smidge looked up, her tail thumping.
    â€œShe should be
fine. Colby wiped her hands on her
    jacket, annoyed with herself for not
letting her gaze quite
    meet his. She'd been off-kilter
since the moment he'd
    walked in the door.
    â€œI'm Ian
McKinley, by the way. He stuck out his
    right hand. “We've
only been in town for a couple of
    weeks.
    â€œWelcome to
Keeling Creek, Mr. McKinley, she said,
    gripping his hand with her own and
wondering why that
    name sounded familiar. “I
hope you and your family wil
    like it here.
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    GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
    â€œI hope so, too.
He let go of her hand, though his
    gaze stayed fixed on her for a
second longer. He glanced
    away, then backed toward the door.
“Come on, Smidge.
    Let's get you home so you can put
your paw up for a
    while.
    Colby smiled and followed them
through the doorway.
    â€œDon't forget to
make sure she takes the ful seven days'
    worth of medicine.
    â€œI won't. He
raised his hand in a wave before stopping
    at the front desk to pay Stacey, who
beamed a thousand-watt
    smile his way. He took out his wal
et and smiled at her,
    apparently oblivious to the
admiration in the young
    woman's eyes.
    Colby went into the examining room,
wondering about
    the man and what he was doing in
Keeling Creek, the
    familiarity of his name still
nagging at her.
    The door dinged. She waited another
second or two to
    make sure he'd left before she went
back out.
    â€œIncredible or
what? Stacey asked from behind the
    computer.
    Colby ignored her dreamy-eyed
receptionist and went to
    the door. She watched Ian McKinley
get into the same
    black Mercedes she'd seen at the
high school that morning.
    Ah. Ian McKinley was Awesome Luke's
father.
    39
    5
    olby Wil iams was the first person
Ian McKinley
    Cmet in Keeling Creek who didn't
look at him as if
    he'd just stepped out of a flying
saucer. She'd been polite
    but asked none of the questions he'd
been getting from
    almost everyone he met. People were
curious. He got that.
    He was the outsider, after all, in a
small town. Very
    small. He still hadn't gotten used
to that, or to the
    quietness. Police sirens were
background noise in New
    York City. He couldn't remember
hearing one since he
    and Luke moved here two weeks ago.
    Flicking on his blinker, Ian turned
off Main Street
    onto 152 and headed out of town.
    So far, Smidge was the only one who
had happily
    adjusted to the move. She loved it
here. Her tail had
    barely stopped wagging since they'd
first let her out of
    the car.
    Luke? Another matter altogether. He
hated it here
    and made no secret of the fact.
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    GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
    There were times when Ian still
couldn't believe
    he'd actually packed up everything
and left the city. But
    the night Luke was arrested opened
his eyes in a big
    way. Luke had always been an
exemplary student, never
    got into any trouble. Seeing him in
the police station
    shook Ian to the core, Luke's
accusations of his
    deliberately not spending time with
him the biggest
    curve of all. It sickened him to
think his son had been
    suffering those kinds of feelings
and he hadn't realized
    it. After that night, Ian knew only
that he wanted to be
    the father he'd always intended to
be.
    Judge Watley Townsend took Luke's
case under
    advisement, putting him on one
year's probation with
    the admonition that if he got into
similar trouble again,
    the incident would go on his record.
After the hearing,
    Ian met with the judge in his
chambers. Not sure how
    his request would be received, he
said, “Your Honor,
    with your permission, I'd like to
move Luke out of the
    city for his senior year in high
school. I've bought a
    home in a small town in Virginia
where he'll be exposed
    to a different way of life.
    The judge peered at him over the
rims of his
    tortoiseshell glasses and said,
“With all due respect, sir,
    what makes you think Luke's
surroundings will have