she saw Zeus lying near the door, his head raised.
She pulled to a stop out front and ran for the porch, rain stinging her face. Zeus approached her, nosing at her hand. She ignored him as she walked inside, expecting to find Logan at the desk.
He wasn’t there. The door that led from the office to the kennel stood open. She steeled herself, pausing in the middle of the office, as shadows moved in the darkened corridor. She waited as Logan emerged into the light.
“Hey, Elizabeth,” he said. “I didn’t expect to see you . . .” He trailed off. “What happened?”
Staring at him, she felt her emotions threaten to boil over. Her mouth suddenly felt papery dry, and she didn’t know how to start or what to say. Logan said nothing, sensing her volatile state.
She closed her eyes, feeling on the verge of tears, then drew a careful breath. “Why did you come to Hampton?” she finally asked. “I want the truth this time.”
He didn’t move. “I told you the truth,” he said.
“Did you tell me everything?”
He hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering. “I’ve never lied to you,” he said, his voice quiet.
“That’s not what I asked!” she snapped. “I asked if you’ve been hiding anything!”
He appraised her carefully. “Where’s this coming from?”
“That doesn’t matter!” This time, she heard the anger in her tone. “I just want to know why you came to Hampton!”
“I told you—”
“Do you have a picture of me?”
Logan said nothing.
“Answer the question!” She took a step toward him, biting out the words. “Do you have a picture of me?”
She wasn’t sure how she expected him to react, but other than a soft exhale, he didn’t flinch.
“Yes,” he said.
“The one I gave Drake?”
“Yes,” he said again.
With his answer, she felt her whole world begin to topple like a row of dominoes. All at once, everything made sense—the way he’d stared at her when they first met, the reason he was willing to work for such a low wage, why he’d befriended Nana and Ben, and all his talk about destiny. . . .
He had the photo. He’d come to Hampton to find her. He’d tracked her down like prey.
All at once, it was difficult to breathe.
“Oh, my God.”
“It’s not what you think. . . .”
He stretched his hand toward her, and she absently watched it draw closer before she finally realized what was happening. With a start, she reeled back, desperate to put more space between them. All of it had been a lie. . . .
“Don’t touch me!”
“Elizabeth . . .”
“My name is Beth!”
She stared at him as if he were a stranger until he lowered his arm.
His voice was a whisper when he tried again. “I can explain—”
“Explain what?” she demanded. “That you stole the picture from my brother? That you walked across the country to find me? That you fell in love with an image . . .”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said, shaking his head.
She didn’t hear him. All she could do was stare at him, wondering if anything he’d said was true.
“You stalked me . . . ,” she said, almost as if talking to herself. “You lied to me. You used me.”
“You don’t understand . . .”
“Understand? You want me to understand?”
“I didn’t steal the photo,” he said. His voice remained steady and even. “I found the photo in Kuwait, and I posted it on a bulletin board where I thought it would be claimed. But no one ever claimed it.”
“And so . . . you took it back?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Why? Because you had some sick and twisted idea about me?”
“No,” he said, his voice rising for the first time. The sound startled her, slowing her thoughts, if only for an instant. “I came here because I owed you.”
“You owed me?” She blinked. “What does that even mean?”
“The photo . . . it saved me.”
Though she heard him plainly, she couldn’t comprehend the words. She waited for more, and in the steady silence that followed, she realized she found them . . . chilling somehow. The hairs on her arms prickled, and she took another step back. “Who are you?” she hissed. “What do you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything. And you know who I am.”
“No, I don’t! I don’t know anything about you!”
“Let me explain . . .”
“Then explain why if this was all so pure and true that you didn’t tell me about the photograph when you first came