table,
setting her gently on the floor and
patting her head.
“Good girl.
Smidge looked up, her tail thumping.
“She 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.
“I'm Ian
McKinley, by the way. He stuck out his
right hand. “We've
only been in town for a couple of
weeks.
“Welcome 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.
38
GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
“I 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.
“Don't forget to
make sure she takes the ful seven days'
worth of medicine.
“I 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.
“Incredible 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.
40
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