That Runaway Summer by Darlene Gardner Page B

Maguire children, Karen had taken the role of the oldest to heart. Dan’s father used to call her the Little General. “Is that Starsky and Hutch I hear? How are they?”
    “In need of obedience school,” he said.
    She laughed. “How’s their owner?”
    “I can’t complain.” Dan peered out the kitchen window to see the two pygmy goats romping around the yard. He checked the fencing, reassuring himself it was high enough to leave them outside during the day. “Listen, Karen, I’d love to talk but I’m due at work soon. Any specific reason you’re calling?”
    “As a matter of fact, there is,” she said. “Nancy told me you’d sent in your RSVP.”
    Now the call made sense. Their first cousin was planning a lavish wedding in late August at a local country club. She’d invited her entire family and all of the groom-to-be’s relatives, including the groom’s sister Maggie.
    “I wish you’d change your mind about not coming,” she said. “Nancy feels the same. You don’t even have to call her. I’ll do it for you.”
    Dan suppressed a sigh. “I’m not coming to the wedding, Karen.”
    “It’s because of Maggie, isn’t it?” Karen asked. “The best revenge would be to come and show her you’ve gotten over her.”
    He’d been striving to do exactly that for the past year.
    “Just because I don’t want to see Maggie—” and her husband, he added silently “—doesn’t mean I’m pining for her.”
    “It’ll seem that way to her,” she argued. “When are you going to realize she did you a favor?”
    “She deceived me, Karen,” he said softly even though the logical part of his mind had reached the same conclusion. “She knew she was leaving for an entire month and didn’t say a word.”
    “Exactly. What kind of life would you have with someone who could lie to your face like that?”
    “Not much of a life,” Dan conceded.
    “So when are you going to be ready to meet someone else?”
    “Maybe I already have,” he said without thinking.
    “You’re kidding! That’s great!” his sister exclaimed. He closed his eyes, wishing he could rewind the conversation, bracing himself for what was coming. “You can bring her to the wedding.”
    “We barely know each other,” Dan said. “We haven’t even been—”
    “You have almost two months to get better acquainted,” Karen interrupted before he could say they had yet to go on a date. She hardly took a breath between sentences. “What’s her name? How did you meet? What does she do for a living? Do you—?”
    Raucous barking drowned out his sister’s next question. The noise wasn’t coming from the house but the yard. Dan’s eyes flew to the screen door, which was standing wide open. He should have known the flimsy lock wouldn’t hold with the dogs jumping against the door.
    “I’ve gotta go, Karen.” He disconnected the call, dropped the phone and sprinted for the backyard. He was sickeningly aware he didn’t have a prayer of arriving before the dogs.
    He thundered down the porch steps, his bare feet slapping on the hard surface. He hit the dew-sprinkled grass so fast he slipped and almost went down.
    Then he stopped dead.
    The two goats stood perfectly still in the middle of the yard. Starsky and Hutch circled them, sniffing at the air, their tails pointing skyward.
    His stomach plummeted as Starsky advanced, targeting Tinkerbell, the smaller of the two goats.
    Except something was off. The dog wasn’t approaching the goat’s hindquarters, the area most vulnerable to an attack. Starsky was going straight at her, aiming for her…snout?
    The dog had no sooner nudged Tinkerbell than she butted him back, as good as she’d gotten. She bleated a loud, angry cry, then stared him down.
    Starsky retreated, his tail between his legs. Hutch took a few steps backward. Dan could breathe again.
    Saved by the dog-and-goat show, he thought, but it was only a temporary reprieve. His sister would call back. Sooner or later he’d