Ben started to jog toward the woods as Logan began to count out loud. In midstride, Ben called over his shoulder, "Count slower!" His figure gradually merged into the darkness, and even before reaching the woods, he'd vanished from sight.
Beth crossed her arms. "I must say that I don't have a good feeling about this."
"Why not?"
"My son hiding in the woods at night? Gee, I wonder."
"He'll be fine. Zeus will find him in two or three minutes. At the most."
"You have an inordinate amount of faith in your dog." Logan smiled, and for a moment they stood on the porch, taking in the evening. The air, warm and humid but no longer hot, smelled like the land itself: a mixture of oak and pine and earth, an odor that never failed to remind Beth that even though the world was constantly changing, this particular place always seemed to stay the same.
She was aware that Logan had been observing her all night, trying hard not to stare, and she knew she'd been doing the same with him. She realized she liked the way Logan's intent made her feel. She was pleased he found her attractive but liked that his attraction didn't possess any of the urgency or naked desire she often felt when men stared at her. Instead, he seemed content simply to stand beside her, and for whatever reason, it was exactly what she needed.
"I'm glad you stayed for dinner," she offered, not knowing what else to say. "Ben's having a great time."
"I'm glad, too."
"You were so good with him in there. Playing chess, I mean."
"It's not hard."
"You wouldn't think so, right?"
He hesitated. "Are we talking about your ex again?"
"Am I that obvious?" She leaned against a post. "You're right, though. I am talking about my ex. The putz."
He leaned against the post on the opposite side of the stairs, facing her. "And?"
"And I just wish things could be different."
He hesitated, and she knew he was wondering whether or not to say anything more. In the end, he said nothing.
"You wouldn't like him," she volunteered. "In fact, I don't think he'd like you, either."
"No?"
"No. And consider yourself lucky. You're not missing anything."
He looked at her steadily, not saying anything. Remembering the way she had shut him down earlier, she supposed. She brushed away a few strands of hair that had fallen into her eyes, wondering whether to go on. "Do you want to hear about it?"
"Only if you want to tell me," he offered.
She felt her thoughts drifting from the present to the past and sighed. "It's the oldest story in the book… I was a nerdy high school senior, he was a couple of years older than me, but we'd gone to the same church for as long as I can remember, so I knew exactly who he was. We started going out a few months before I graduated. His family is well-off, and he'd always dated the most popular girls, and I guess I just got caught up in the fantasy of it all. I overlooked some obvious problems, made excuses for others, and the next thing you know, I found out I was pregnant. All of a sudden, my life just… changed, you know? I wasn't going to go to college that fall, I had no idea how to even be a mother, let alone a single mother; I couldn't imagine how I was going to pull it all off. The last thing in the world I expected was for him to propose. But for whatever reason, he did, and I said yes, and even though I wanted to believe that it was all going to work out and did my best to convince Nana that I knew what I was doing, I think both of us knew it was a mistake before the ink was dry on the marriage certificate. We had virtually nothing in common. Anyway, we argued pretty much constantly, and ended up separating soon after Ben was born. And then, I was really lost."
Logan brought his hands together. "But it didn't stop you."
"Stop me from what?"
"From eventually going to college and becoming a teacher. And figuring out how to be a single mother." He grinned, "And somehow pulling it off."
She gave him a grateful smile. "With Nana's help."
"Whatever it takes." He crossed one leg over the other, seeming to study her before he smirked. "Nerdy, huh?"
"In high school? Oh yeah. I was definitely nerdy."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Believe what you want."
"So how did college work?"
"With Ben, you mean? It wasn't easy. But I already had some AP credits, which gave me a bit of a head start, and then I took classes at the community college while Ben was still in diapers. I took classes only two or three days a week while Nana took care of Ben, and I'd come home and study when I wasn't being Mom. Same thing when I transferred to UNC Wilmington, which was close enough to go to school and make it back here at night. It took me six years to get my degree and certificate, but I didn't want to take advantage of Nana, and I didn't want to give my ex any reason to get full Custody. And back then, he might have tried for it, just because he could."
"He sounds like a charmer."
She grimaced. "You have no idea."
"You want me to beat him up?"
She laughed. "That's funny. There might have been a time when I would have taken you up on that, but not anymore. He's just… immature. He thinks every woman he meets is crazy for him, gets angry at little things, and blames other people when things go wrong. Thirty One going on sixteen, if you know what I mean." From the side, she could sense Logan watching her. "But enough about him. Tell me something about you."
"Like what?"
"Anything. I don't know. Why did you major in anthropology?"
He considered the question. "Personality, I guess."
"What does that mean?"
"I knew I didn't want to major in anything practical like business or engineering, and toward the end of my freshman year, I started talking to other liberal arts majors. The most interesting ones I met were anthropology majors. I wanted to be interesting."
"You're kidding."
"I'm not. That's why I took the first introductory classes, at least. After that, I realized that anthropology is a great blend of history and supposition and mystery, all of which appealed to me. I was hooked."
"How about frat parties?"
"Not my thing."
"Football games?"
"No."
"Did you ever think you missed out on what college was sup' posed to be?"
"No."
"Me neither," she agreed. "Not once I had Ben, anyway."
He nodded, then gestured toward the woods. "Um… do you think we should have Zeus find Ben now?"
"Oh, my gosh!" she cried, her tone slightly panicked. "Yes. He can find him, right? How long has it been?"
"Not long. Five minutes, maybe. Let me get Zeus. And don't worry. It won't take long."
Logan went to the door and opened it. Zeus trotted out, tail wagging, then wandered down the stairs. He immediately lifted a leg by the side of the porch, then trotted back up the stairs to Logan.
"Where's Ben?" Logan asked.
Zeus's ears rose. Logan pointed in the direction Ben had gone. "Find Ben."
Zeus turned and started trotting in wide arcs, nose to the ground. Within seconds, he'd picked up the trail and he vanished into the darkness.
"Should we follow him?" Beth asked.
"Do you want to?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go."
They'd barely reached the first of the trees when she heard Zeus emit a playful bark. Right after that, Ben's voice sounded in a squeal of delight. When she turned toward Logan, he shrugged.
"You weren't lying, were you?" she asked. "What was that? Two minutes?"
"It wasn't hard for him. I knew Ben wouldn't be too far away."
"What's the longest he's ever tracked something?"
"He followed a deer trail for, I don't know, eight miles or so? Something like that, anyway. He could have gone on, too, but it ended at someone's fence. That was in Tennessee."
"Why did you track the deer?"
"Practice. He's a smart dog. He likes to learn, and he likes to use his skills." At that moment, Zeus came padding out from the trees, Ben a step behind him. "Which is why this is just as much fun for him as it is for Ben."