The Lucky One

Oh, she'd talked to him about it. Talked to him ad nauseam. It went in one ear and out the other, of course. Same old story. Despite-or perhaps because of-his immaturity, Keith was stubborn and opinionated about many things, and raising Ben was one of them. He wanted a certain kind of son, and by God, he was going to get him. Ben, predictably, began reacting in his own passive-aggressive way. He began to drop everything his dad threw, even simple lobs, while ignoring his father's growing frustration, until his father finally slammed his glove to the ground and stormed inside to sulk the rest of the afternoon. Ben pretended not to notice, taking a seat beneath a loblolly pine to read until she picked him up a few hours later.

She and her ex didn't battle just about Ben; they were fire and ice as well. As in, he was fire and she was ice. He was still attracted to her, which irritated her no end. Why on earth he could believe that she'd want anything to do with him was beyond her, but no matter what she said to him, it didn't seem to deter his overtures. Most of the time, she could barely remember the reasons she'd been attracted to him years ago. She could recite the reasons for marriage-she'd been young and stupid, foremost among them, and pregnant to boot-but nowadays, whenever he stared her up and down, she cringed inside. He wasn't her type. Frankly, he'd never been her type. If her entire life had been recorded on video, the marriage would be one of those events she would gladly record over. Except for Ben, of course.

She wished her younger brother, Drake, were here, and she felt the usual ache when she thought of him. Whenever he'd come by, Ben followed him around the way the dogs followed Nana. Together, they would wander off to catch butterflies or spend time in the tree house that Grandpa had built, which was accessible only by a rickety bridge that spa

She knew she needed to check on Nana. Rising from her seat, she spotted the light on in the office, but she doubted that Nana was doing paperwork. More likely she was out in the pens behind the ke

She knew exactly who was behind all that. So did Nana, who pretended to be lobotomized while the lawyer spoke to her. She stared at him with wide, blank eyes, dropped grapes onto the floor one by one, and mumbled incomprehensibly. She and Beth giggled about it for hours afterward.

Glancing through the window of the ke

"Stay… come. Good girl! Good come!"

Rounding the corner, Beth saw Nana praising a shih tzu as it trotted toward her. It reminded her of one of those wind-up toy dogs you could purchase from Wal-Mart.

"What are you doing, Nana? You're not supposed to be out here."

"Oh, hey, Beth." Unlike two months ago, now she hardly slurred her words anymore.

Beth put her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't be out here alone."

"I brought a cell phone. I figured I'd just call if I got into a problem."

"You don't have a cell phone."

"I have yours. I snuck it out of your purse this morning."

"Then who would you have called?" She hadn't seemed to have considered that, and her brow furrowed as she glanced at the dog. "See what I have to put up with,

Precious? I told you the gal was sharper than a digging caterpillar." She exhaled, letting out a sound like an owl.

Beth knew a change of subject was coming.

"Where's Ben?" she asked.

"Inside, getting ready. He's going to his dad's."

"I'll bet he's thrilled about that. You sure he's not hiding out in the tree house?"

"Go easy," Beth said. "He's still his dad."

"You mink."

"I'm sure."

"Are you positive you didn't mess around with anyone else back then? Not even a single one-night stand with a waiter or trucker, or someone from school?" She sounded almost hopeful. She always sounded hopeful when she said it.

"I'm positive. And I've already told you that a million times."

She winked. "Yes, but Nana can always hope your memory improves."

"How long have you been out here, by the way?"

"What time is it?"

"Almost four o'clock."

"Then I've been out here three hours."

"In this heat?"

"I'm not broken, Beth. I had an incident."

"You had a stroke."

"But it wasn't a serious one."

"You can't move your arm."

"As long as I can eat soup, I don't need it anyway. Now let me go see my grandson. I want to say good-bye to him before he leaves." They started toward the ke

"I think I want Chinese food tonight," Nana said. "Do you want Chinese?"

"I haven't thought about it."

"Well, think about it."

"Yeah, we can have Chinese. But I don't want anything too heavy. And not fried, either. It's too hot for that."

"You're no fun."

"But I'm healthy."

"Same thing. Hey, and since you're so healthy, would you mind putting Precious away? She's in number twelve. I heard a new joke I want to tell Ben."

"Where did you hear a joke?"

"The radio."

"Is it appropriate?"

"Of course it's appropriate. Who do you think I am?"

"I know exactly who you are. That's why I'm asking. What's the joke?"

"Two ca

"Good. The poor kid needs something to cheer him up."

"He's fine."

"Yeah, sure he is. I didn't just fall off the milk cart, you know."

As they reached the ke