Nicholas Sparks - The Lucky One

"What's up?" he asked. "Like I said, Ben and I had a great time this weekend."

"Did you make him clean your kitchen again?"

The grin faded. "What do you want, Beth?"

"Don't get sore. I just asked a question."

He continued to stare at her, trying to read her. "I don't tell you what to do with Ben when he's with you, and I expect the same courtesy. Now what did you want to talk about?"

"A few things, actually." Despite the disgust she felt, she forced a smile and motioned to the porch swing. "Would you like to sit down?"

He seemed surprised. "Sure," he said. "But I can't stay long. I've got plans this evening."

Of course you do, she thought. Either that, or you want me to think that you do. The kind of reminder that had been typical since their divorce.

They took a seat on the swing. After sitting, he jiggled it back and forth before leaning back and spreading his arms. "This is nice. Did you do this?"

She tried to keep as much distance between them on the swing 35 she could. "Logan put it up."

"Logan!"

"Logan Thibault. He works for Nana at the kennel now. Remember? You met him."

He scratched his chin. "The guy that was here the other night?"

As if you don't know. "Yes, that's him."

"And he's okay with cleaning cages and scooping up crap?" he asked.

She ignored the obvious dig. "Uh-huh."

He exhaled as he shook his head. "Better him than me." He turned toward her with a shrug. "So what's up?"

She considered her words carefully. "This is hard for me to say…She trailed off, knowing it would make him more interested.

"What is it?"

She sat up straighten "I was talking to one of my friends the other day, and she said something that just didn't sit right with me."

"What did she say?" Keith leaned toward her, alert.

"Well, before I tell you, I just want to say that it was one of those rumor mill things. A friend of a friend of a friend heard something, and it eventually got passed on to me. It's about you."

His expression was curious. "You have my attention."

"What she said was…" She hesitated. "She said that in the past, you've followed me on my dates. And that you told some of them that you didn't want them to date me."

She made a point not to look directly at him, but from the comer of her eye, she saw his expression freeze. Not only shocked. Guilty. She pressed her lips together to keep from blowing up.

His face relaxed. "I can't believe it." He drummed his fingers on his leg. "Who told you that?"

"It's not important." She waved off the comment. "You don't know her."

"I'm curious," he pressed.

"It's not important," she said again. "It's not true, is it?"

"Of course not How could you even think something like that?"

Liar! she screamed inside, willing herself not to say anything. In the silence, he shook his head.

"Sounds to me like you need to start picking better friends. And to be honest, I'm a little hurt that we're even having this conversation."

She forced herself to smile. "I told her it wasn't true."

"But you wanted to make sure by asking me in person."

She heard a tinge of anger in his voice and reminded herself to be careful.

"You were coming over," she said, trying to sound casual. "And besides, we've known each other long enough that we can talk like adults." She looked at him wide-eyed, the victim of an innocent mistake. "Did it bother you that I asked?"

"No, but still, to even think it…" Keith threw up his hands.

"I didn't. But I wanted to tell you because I figured you might want to know what other people might be saying behind your back. I don't like them talking about Ben's father that way, and I said that to her."

Her words had the effect she wanted: He puffed up with self-righteous pride.

"Thanks for defending me."

"Nothing to defend. You know how gossip is. It's the toxic waste of small towns." She shook her head. "So how's everything else? Work going well?"

"Same as always. How's your class this year?"

"It's a pretty good group of kids. So far, anyway."

"Good," he said. He motioned toward the yard. "Some storm, huh? I could barely see the road."

"I was thinking the same thing when you drove up. It's crazy. It was gorgeous at the beach yesterday."

"You were at the beach?"

She nodded. "Logan and I went. We've been seeing each other for a while now."

"Huh," he said. "Sounds like it's getting serious."

She offered a sidelong glance. "Don't tell me that woman was tight about you."

"No, of course not."

She worked up a playful smile. "I know. I was just teasing. And no, we're not serious yet, but he's a great guy."

He brought his hands together. "How does Nana feel about that?"

"Why does that matter?"

He shifted in his seat. "I'm just saying that situations like this can be complicated."

"What are you talking about?"

"He works here. And you know how the courts are these days. You're opening yourself up to a major sexual harassment lawsuit."

"He wouldn't do that-"

Keith spoke with patience, as if lecturing someone much younger. "Trust me. That's what everyone says. But think about it. He has no ties to the community, and if he's working for Nana, I doubt he has much money. No offense. But remember, your family owns a lot of land." He shrugged. "I'm just saying that if I were you, I'd be very careful."

He sounded persuasive and, despite her knowledge to the contrary, caring. A friend who was generally concerned for her well-being. The man should be an actor, she thought.

"Nana owns the land and the house. Not me."

"You know how lawyers can be."

I know exactly, she thought. I remember what your lawyer did at the custody hearing. "I don't think it'll be a problem. But I'll talk to Nana about it," Beth conceded.

"That's probably a good idea." He sounded smug.

"I'm just glad I was right about you."

"What do you mean?"

"You know-not having a problem with me dating someone like Logan. Aside from the sexual harassment concern. I really like him."

He uncrossed his legs. "I wouldn't say I have no problem with it"

"But you just said-"

"I said I don't care who you date, and I don't. But I do care who comes into my son's life because I care about my son."

"As you should. But what does that have to do with anything?" Beth protested.

"Think about it, Beth… you don't see the things that I have to see. In your work, I mean. But I see terrible things all the time, so of course I'd be concerned about anyone who spends a lot of time with Ben. I'd want to know if he was violent or if he was some sort of pervert-"

"He's not," Beth interrupted. She felt her color rising despite herself. "We ran a background check on him."

"They can be faked. It's not hard to come up with a new identity. How do you even know his real name's Logan? It's not like you can ask anyone around here. Have you talked to anyone from his past? Or his family?"

"No…"

"There you go. I'm just telling you to be careful." He shrugged. "And I'm not saying that just because of Ben. It's for you, too. There are some bad people in the world, and the reason they're not in jail is because they've learned how to hide it."

"You make it sound like he's some sort of criminal!"

"I'm not trying to. He could be the nicest, most responsible guy in the world. I'm just saying that you don't know who he really is. And until you do, it's better to be safe than sorry. You read the papers and watch the news. I'm not telling you something you don't already know. I just don't want anything to happen to Ben. And I don't want to see you get hurt."

Beth opened her mouth to say something, but for the first time since sitting down with her ex, she could think of nothing to say.