Good Guys Love Dogs by Inglath Cooper Page B

car
    with New York license plates. He had
company.
    Maybe she should forget delivering
the pie. She didn't
    want to interrupt. But it would be
sil y not to leave it
    now that she was already here. She
and Lena wouldn't
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    be able to eat two pies, even if
they were Lena's
    favorite.
    She knocked, then stepped back,
holding the dish
    in front of her.
    The large oak door opened, and a tal
, very
    beautiful woman stood in the
entryway. Dressed in
    navy pants and a white silk blouse
that somehow
    managed to look elegant and casual
al at the same
    time, she smiled, her expression
expectant. “May I help
    you with something?
    Colby glanced down at the pie,
suddenly too
    conscious of her own khakis and UVA
sweatshirt “I
    just wanted to leave this for the
McKinleys.
    The woman stared at her for a
moment, before
    smiling again and extending her
right hand. “How nice.
    I'm Rachel Montgomery. Ian's
fiancée.
    â€œOh! Colby
shifted the pie to her left hand,
    returning the woman's firm
handshake, noticing that
    the proffered hand felt smooth and
manicured against
    her own work-roughened skin and
short, unpolished
    nails. She took another step back.
“I'm Colby
    Williams.
    â€œIan says the
people here are very nice. It seems
    he was right.
    â€œMy truck broke
down the other night, and he helped
    me out. This is just a little
thank-you. I hope you all enjoy
    it.
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    â€œWould you like
to speak to Ian? Rachel asked. “He's
    in the shower, but he should be out
anytime.
    Colby backed down the steps, raising
a hand and
    wishing she could grab the darn pie
and run without Ian ever
    knowing she'd been here. “No.
Real y. That's al right. Nice
    to meet you, Miss Montgomery.
    A mile or so down the road, Colby
pulled over and
    glanced in the rearview mirror, her
face flushed and hot with
    embarrassment. Way to go,
Williams . Why had she ever given
    in to the impulse to do such a
stupid thing?
    She sat back in the seat, feeling
more than a little
    foolish. It wasn't at all like her
to have gone to Ian's home.
    She, the same woman who told Phoebe
she wouldn't do
    the song and dance that came with
the dating scene.
    And yet, she'd baked the man a pie.
    A pie, of al things! A pie she had
ended up presenting
    to the man's fiancée.
    Anger with Ian edged its way past
her own
    embarrassment. He'd sat through
dinner at Phoebe's and
    never bothered to say he was
engaged. And what about the
    rest of the evening? He'd had more
than ample opportunity
    to do so. But he hadn't.
    And Phoebe. Her own best friend, who
supposedly
    had her best interests at heart.
Phoebe, who neglected to
    mention that one small but critical
detail about Ian
    McKinley.
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    16
    didn't know. I swear.
    I“How could you
not have known? Colby asked in
    disbelief.
    â€œMabel never
mentioned it when I cal ed her to ask if
    she thought he would like to come to
dinner. I even told
    her that you would be there and that
I wanted to introduce
    you two.
    â€œDon't tell me
she's in on this, too!
    â€œShe said she'd
been hoping you two would get a
    chance to meet. How could I know he
was engaged?
    Phoebe wailed. “What
was I supposed to do? Ask for a ful
    personal history before inviting him
to dinner?
    â€œYes.
    â€œNext time, I wil
.
    â€œThere won't be a
next time.
    They were sitting in the wooden
swing attached to two
    old maples in Phoebe's backyard, the
day Indian-summer
    warm. The shade surrounding them did
little to cool the
    heat in Colby's cheeks.
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    â€œI can't believe
he's engaged, Phoebe said, still
    looking shell-shocked.
    â€œBelieve it. I
met her. What more proof do you want?
    â€œWel , he never
said anything about—
    â€œNo, he didn't.
He probably thought it was some grand
    joke. And no doubt stil laughing
about it.
    â€œOh, Colby, I
don't think so. He seems like a nice
    guy—
    â€œThen how do you
explain his not