Clayton tried and failed to negotiate the lake that had formed in front of Beth\'s house, his boots disappearing into the mud. He stifled the urge to issue a string of profanities. He could see the windows open near the front door, and he knew that Nana would hear him. Despite her age, the woman had the hearing of an owl, and the last thing he wanted to do was make a poor impression. The woman already disliked him enough. He climbed the steps and knocked on the door. He thought he heard someone moving inside, saw Beth\'s face in the window, and finally watched as the door swung open. "Keith? What are you doing here?" "I was worried," he said. "I wanted to make sure everything was okay." "It\'s fine," she said. "Is he still here? Do you want me to talk to him?" "No. He\'s gone. I don\'t know where he is." Clayton shuffled his feet, trying to look contrite, i\'m sorry about this, and I hate that I had to be the one to tell you. I know you really liked him." Beth nodded, her lips pursed… "I also wanted to tell you not to be so hard on yourself. Like I mentioned earlier, people like that… they\'ve learned to hide it. They\'re sociopaths, and there\'s no way you could have known." Beth crossed her arms. "I don\'t want to talk about it." Clayton held up his hands, knowing he\'d pushed too hard, knowing he had to backtrack. "I figured. And you\'re right. It\'s not my place, especially given the crappy way I\'ve treated you in the past." He tucked his thumb into his belt and forced a smile. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay." "I\'m fine. And thanks." Clayton turned to leave, then stopped. "I want you to know that from what Ben said, Thibault seemed like a nice guy." She looked up in surprise. "I just wanted to tell you that, because had it been different— had anything happened to Ben— Thibault would have regretted the day he was born. I would die before I let anything happen to our son. And I know you feel the same way. That\'s why you\'re such a great mom. In a life where I\'ve made a ton of mistakes, one of the best things I\'ve done is to let you raise him." She nodded, trying to stop the tears, and turned away.............