Freshly showered, Beth was standing in her bedroom in an oversize T-shirt when Nana peeked her head in. "Do you want to talk about it?" Nana said. She jerked her thumb toward the window. "The school called to tell me you were on your way home. The principal seemed a little worried about you, and later I saw you pull up to the office. I figured the two of you were having a spat." "It\'s more than a spat, Nana," Beth said, her tone weary. "That I gathered from the fact that he left. And that you stayed on the porch so long afterwards." Beth nodded. "Was it about Ben? He didn\'t hurt him, did he? Or you?" "No, nothing like that," Beth said. "Good. Because that\'s the one thing that can\'t be fixed." "I\'m not sure this can, either." Nana stared out the window before heaving a great sigh. "I take it I\'ll have to feed the dogs tonight, huh?" Beth shot her a look of annoyance. "Thanks for being so understanding" "Kitty cats and maple trees," she said with a wave of her hand. Beth thought about it before finally grunting in frustration. "What does that mean?" "It means nothing, but for a second there, you were too exasperated to feel sorry for yourself." "You don\'t understand…" "Try me," she said. Beth looked up. "He stalked me, Nana. For five years, and then he trekked across the country to search for me. He was obsessed." Nana was uncharacteristically silent. "Why don\'t you start from the beginning," she suggested, taking a seat on Beth\'s bed. Beth wasn\'t sure she wanted to talk about it, but she figured it was better to get it over with. She began by recounting Keith\'s visit to her classroom, and over the next twenty minutes, she told Nana about her abrupt departure from school, her agonizing un-certa............