pricked up and he cocked his head. When Logan and Ben stood, Zeus scrambled to his feet.
“You coming, Mom?”
Beth rose from her chair. “I’m right behind you.”
They wended their way in the darkness to the front of the house. Beth paused by the front steps. “Maybe I should get a flashlight.”
“That’s cheating!” Ben complained.
“Not for the dog. For you. So you don’t get lost.”
“He won’t get lost,” Logan assured her. “Zeus will find him.”
“Easy to say when it’s not your son.”
“I’ll be fine,” Ben added.
She looked from Ben to Logan before shaking her head. She wasn’t entirely comfortable, but Logan didn’t seem worried at all. “Okay,” she said, sighing. “I want one for me, then. Is that okay?”
“Okay,” Ben agreed. “What do I do?”
“Hide,” Logan said. “And I’ll send Zeus to find you.”
“Anywhere I want?”
“Why don’t you hide out that way?” Logan said, pointing toward a wooded area west of the creek, on the opposite side of the driveway from the kennel. “I don’t want you accidentally slipping into the creek. And besides, your scent will be fresh out that way. Remember, you two were playing out this way before dinner. Now once he finds you, just follow him out, okay? That way you won’t get lost.”
Ben peered toward the woods. “Okay. How do I know he won’t watch?”
“I’ll put him inside and count to a hundred before I let him out.”
“And you won’t let him peek?”
“Promise.” Logan focused his attention on Zeus. “Come,” he said. He went to the door and opened it before pausing. “Is it okay if I let him in?”
Beth nodded. “It’s fine.”
Logan motioned for Zeus to go in and lie down, then closed the door. “Okay, you’re ready.”
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