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."
"That was amazing!" Ben called out. "He just walked right up to me. I wasn't making a sound!"
"You want to do it again?" Logan asked.
"Can I?" Ben pleaded.
"If it's okay with your mom."
Ben turned to his mother, and she raised her hands. "Go ahead."
"Okay, put him inside again. And I'm really going to hide this time," Ben declared. "You got it," Logan said.
The second time Ben hid, Zeus found him in a tree. The third time, with Ben retracing his steps in an attempt to throw him off, Zeus found him a quarter mile away, in his tree house by the creek. Beth wasn't thrilled with this final choice; the unstable bridge and platform always seemed far more dangerous at night, but by then, Ben was getting tired and ready to call it quits anyway.
Logan followed them back to the house. After saying good night to an exhausted Ben, he turned to Beth and cleared his throat. "I want to thank you for a great evening, but I should probably be heading home," he said.
Despite the fact that it was close to ten o'clock, part of her didn't want him to go just yet.
"Do you need a ride?" she offered. "Ben will be asleep in a couple of minutes, and I'd be glad to bring you home."
"I appreciate the offer, but we'll be fine. I like to walk."
"I know. I don't know much about you, but I do know that." She smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"I'll be here at seven."
"I can feed the dogs if you'd rather come in a bit later."
"It's no problem. And besides, I'd like to see Ben before he leaves. And I'm sure Zeus will, too. Poor guy probably won't know what to do without Ben chasing him."
"All right, then…" She hugged her arms, suddenly disappointed at the thought of Logan's departure.
"Would it be okay if I borrowed the truck tomorrow? I need to ran into town to get a few things to fix the brakes. If not, I can walk."
She smiled. "Yeah, I know. But it's not a problem. I have to drop Ben off and run some errands, but if I don't see you, I'll just put the keys under the mat on the driver's side."
"Fine," he said. He looked directly at her. "Good night, Elizabeth."
"Good night, Logan."
Once he was gone, Beth checked on Ben and gave him another kiss on the cheek before going to her room. She replayed the evening as she undressed, musing on the mystery of Logan Thibault.
He was different from any man she'd ever met, she thought, and then immediately chided herself for being so obvious. Of course he was different, she told herself. He was new to her. She'd never spent much time with him before. Even so, she reasoned she was mature enough to recognize the truth when she saw it.