Free Good Guys Love Dogs by Inglath Cooper

mud.
    Silhouetted in the light shining
from the car's interior,
    he looked at the ground where his
two feet were currently
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    INGLATH COOPER
    held prisoner. He pul ed one free,
then the other. They made
    a loud, sucking noise.
    Laughter bubbled up in Colby's
throat. She clapped
    her hand over her mouth to stop it,
but failed miserably.
    Ian ducked his head back inside,
chagrined. “Guess I
    should have taken Mr. Pasley up on
those coveralls, huh?
    She did her best to keep a straight
face, but the tears
    leaking from the corners of her eyes
gave her away.
    â€œCan you slip
across and get behind the wheel? I don't
    recommend getting out.
    â€œSure. Colby's
cheeks hurt with the effort of trying not
    to laugh.
    He made his way to the back of the
car, mud slurping at
    his shoes with each step. “I'l
let you know when I start to
    push, he cal ed out. “Give
it the gas when I say go.
    â€œOkay.
    She adjusted the seat so her feet
reached the pedals. A
    few seconds later, he said, “Al
right. Hit it.
    She pushed the pedal. The car
groaned and protested,
    the back tires whirring again.
    She stopped, and he called out,
“One more time.
    They repeated the process, only this
time the tires spun
    once, then the car shot out of the
mud like a launched
    rocket.
    Back on the gravel, Colby parked and
got out.
    Harry came out. “What
happened?
    â€œWe got stuck,
she said.
    â€œI'd have pulled
you out.
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    GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
    â€œIt only took two
pushes, she began, and then stopped
    when Ian stepped back into the light
shining from the barn.
    She stared at him in disbelief.
“Oh, no!
    â€œIt kind of
splattered, he said, wiping a hand across the
    side of his mud-covered face.
    Harry chuckled. “I'll
say.
    Colby couldn't hold back her
laughter any longer. The
    sophisticated New Yorker beside whom
she'd sat at dinner
    earlier that evening now stood
covered in mud, head to toe.
    â€œI'm sorry, she
said, trying to stop. “It's not funny. Really.
    It isn't.
    â€œNo, actually, it
kind of is, he said, his smile broader
    now.
    â€œHow about those
coveral s? Harry offered. “I've got
    a hose inside if you'd like to rinse
off.
    â€œI think I'l take
you up on them this time, Ian said,
    disappearing inside the barn with a
grinning Harry.
    Colby waited outside, drying her
eyes with the back of
    her hand. At least the man had a
sense of humor. She
    thought about Doug and the
comparisons she had made
    between the two. When she and Doug
started dating, she
    brought him home one weekend to meet
her parents. She'd
    taken him out to the Bower farm,
where she'd worked part
    time in high school, doing odd jobs.
She tried to teach
    Doug how to milk one of the cows,
and when he'd been less
    than gentle at the task, the cow
planted a hind hoof beneath
    his chin. From then on, Doug did a
poor job of hiding his
    eagerness to leave Keeling Creek.
She'd often thought that
    was the point at which she should
have seen they had no
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    INGLATH COOPER
    future. The Doug she had known would
not have laughed
    about what happened here tonight.
    Harry and Ian reappeared. Ian wore a
pair of old blue
    coveral s that would have sold Today's Farmer a record
    number of copies had he been wearing
them on one of
    their covers.
    He had apparently taken Harry up on
the use of his
    hose, too. His hair was wet, the mud
no longer evident on
    his face and hands.
    â€œSure you trust
me to drive you home? he asked with a
    sheepish grin.
    â€œOf course, she
said.
    Shaking his head, Harry waved
goodnight and went
    back inside.
    Ian threw his discarded clothes in
the trunk, and they
    both got into the car. Their gazes
caught and held for a
    second before they started laughing
again.
    When she final y stopped, Colby
wiped her eyes and
    said, “I'm really
sorry about all this.
    â€œHey, it's not
your fault. I'm the one who backed into
    the mud and then insisted on playing
Superman.
    She chuckled again.