Shared Custody

Whitney explained about the patches of white fur on his shoulders looking like 'angel wings' and how the dog had wandered into their yard and how badly Jodie wanted to keep him. As they got ready to leave Whitney whispered, "I really don't want a dog, but if his owner comes to claim him, it's going to crush her. This is the first thing that's made her happy since...."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed that things work out," Mrs. Carroll said quietly.

Then she looked over at her new student and said, "Jodie? I'll see you next week, okay?"

She didn't speak but she did sort of wave goodbye, and Whitney wasn't about to lecture her daughter on the importance of good manners at that particular time. Eventually, she'd get past this. For now, dealing it with the best she could was all she felt she could handle.

As they walked outside into the cool evening air, Whitney was beginning to think it might not be such a bad thing to have a dog, especially if it could turn her daughter's life back around. Besides, he really was a very beautiful animal and if 'Angel' made her little girl feel better, she'd learn to adapt to its presence which included shedding and...other things.

Jodie lit up again the moment they pulled back into the garage. She literally ran into the house to play with Angel and didn't complain when her mom told her to take him outside to 'do his business.'

Whitney stood outside with Jodie as they watched Angel sniff the grass in the back yard before finding the perfect spot. When he finished, he came bounding back to Jodie who hugged him and told him, "Good boy!" before taking him back inside.

"Mom? Can Angel sleep in my room tonight?"

She feared her daughter would get so attached it really would crush her to give him up, but she wasn't about to let him sleep in her room so she gave in. After putting Jodie to bed, Whitney peeked in before retiring for the night herself and smiled when she saw Angel curled up on the foot of the bed. He raised one eyebrow and started wagging his tail when he saw her, and Whitney couldn't help but smile.

Just as she had promised, Jodie fed, walked, and cleaned up after 'her' new dog each day and did so without complaint. Initially, they fed him leftover scraps until Whitney could get to the store and pick up a bag of dog food. She also stopped at a pet store and picked up a leash and a scoop with a pan for the 'Tootise-Roll tracks' Angel laid in the yard twice a day.

Angel had been with them for just over a week when Whitney agreed to take Jodie and the dog to the same park Logan always took Rusty. The girl ran ahead with her dog and when she slowed down, she saw a poster for a lost dog that looked exactly like Angel. Even though she knew she was doing something wrong, she reached up and pulled it down and stuffed it in her pocket before her mom caught up. She didn't say a word about it as they played at the park for the next hour or so.

Whitney had now made peace with keeping Angel, and the decision was made easier when Mrs. Carroll called her and told her Jodie was interacting with her classmates again. When she learned her daughter had even laughed a time or two, it nearly brought her to tears. Keeping a dog, especially one as sweet and gentle as Angel, was a small price to pay. In fact, he was even growing on her, and she found herself looking forward to the affection he freely gave whenever she came home.

Logan was back from his road trip and still feeling very despondent. He'd checked with all of the local shelters often enough that some of the people who answered the phone recognized his voice. No, no one had brought in a yellow Lab. That's what he heard over and over again. In fact, only one of them had ever seen a dog like that brought in during the entire time they'd worked at a shelter.

He'd gone to the park the day he got back and had no way of knowing he'd missed Rusty by just hours. He was in town for three games then headed back out on the road for another four-game road trip.

The day he got back, he drove out to the park again on a Saturday afternoon and started walking around just looking and hoping. He'd been there maybe twenty minutes and was getting ready to leave when he saw a girl, her mom, and a yellow Lab on their way in.

Even from a distance, he could tell. To anyone else, he was just another yellow Lab, but Logan knew that was Rusty, and he broke into a trot calling his name as he got closer. The dog pulled so hard on the leash that the young girl holding it lost control and the dog came running toward Logan with the leash bouncing wildly behind him.

"Hey, Rusty!" Logan said as he knelt down to receive his friend who nearly knocked him over before starting to lick his face.

"Angel! Come back!" he the girl saying as she ran his way. The mother was also walking quickly maybe twenty yards behind.

As the girl reached Logan and the dog, he stood up and said, "Hey, there. You found my dog! I don't know how to thank you."

She didn't speak, and the mother was there seconds later.

"This is your dog?" Whitney asked.

"Yeah. This is Rusty. He's been with me since the day he was weened. I put posters up all over the place with his picture on it. I even offered a reward and it's yours," he said having no idea how attached Jodie had become to 'her' dog.

"It's a thousand dollars," Jodie said in a hollow voice.

"How did you know that, honey?" her mother asked.

After several seconds of silence Jodie admitted to taking down one of the posters.

"I had no idea," Whitney said having no idea and feeling horrible.

"I'm sorry, Mom," she said. "I didn't want anyone taking Angel away."

"You can have the reward money," he said cheerfully thinking that would make someone smile.

"Not to be rude, but can you prove this is your dog?" Whitney asked politely as she put her hands on Jodie's shoulders.

"Yeah, sure," he said pulling out his phone. He showed her a bunch of pictures and one of them clearly displayed the red tag hanging off Rusty's green collar. It didn't have his name on it, but the collar matched perfectly as did the tag.

"And see here," Logan said pointing to another picture and then the dog. "He has these kind of like 'wings' on his back. The fur. It's white. See?"

"Yes, we know," Whitney said in a very sad voice. "My daughter named him Angel because of them."

Logan knelt down and looked the girl in the eye.

"His name is Rusty," Logan told her. "Thank you for taking care of him for me. I've been so worried about him, and I was beginning to think I'd never see him again."

Jodie didn't speak and Whitney saw that now-familiar look back on her face.

"Can I talk to the man alone for just a minute, honey?" she asked her daughter.

"Please don't let him take Angel away," she said in a monotone voice.

Logan followed her several steps then stopped where did.

"She got attached to him, didn't she?" Logan said before Whitney could speak.

"Very," she replied. "I know this isn't your concern, but she lost her father...my husband, about a year and a half ago, and I can't ever remember seeing her smile since then until Angel—sorry, Rusty—showed up in our yard. She's going to be devastated."

Logan ran his hand through his short, dark hair and said, "Wow. That's...that's awful. I'm so sorry for both of you."

"Thank you, but I'm finally doing better although I'm not sure what 'better' really means. But Jodie, that's my daughter's name, isn't. Or she wasn't until Ang...Rusty...came along."

"Listen, I'll not only pay you the reward, I'll be happy to buy her a puppy. Any puppy. If you like, we could find a Lab breeder and get her another Lab just like him if you think that would help."

Whitney forced a smile and told him, "I suggested something similar the first day when I warned her the owner might show up. She was adamant she didn't want any other dog."

Logan looked back over at Jodie who was staring out into space. It seemed like she might not have moved or even blinked since they walked away.

"My wife and I never had children," Logan began as he noticed her looking at his ringless left hand. "Oh, we're um...we're getting divorced which is a whole other story. Anyway, I don't have a child, but I can at least imagine how difficult this must be for you both."

"I'm not sure you can, Mr....?"

"Sorry. I'm Logan. Logan Benson."

"I'm Whitney. Gallagher," she said extending a hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Gallagher. I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances. I really do feel terrible."

"I believe you, Mr. Benson, and I appreciate you saying that. But unfortunately, that doesn't make it any easier for my daughter."

Logan looked back over at the girl who still seemed catatonic.

"Mrs. Gallagher? I'm assuming you must live reasonably close to the park and I'm not that far away, either. So...well, I travel a lot...."

He stopped then said, "Well, that's going to change pretty soon, but I will be gone for several days three more times before my um...job...ends. Maybe we could work something out."

"Work something out?" Whitney said, her eyebrows raised in anticipation of an explanation.

"Yeah. I mean, since you guys have gotten so attached to Rusty or...Angel, what if I left him with you when I was out of town?"

"You mean like co-parenting or something?" she said not wanting to get her hopes up.

"Sure. A kind of...shared custody," he said smiling his amazing smile at her.

"That's very kind of you, but if it's just temporary, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. I mean, if Jodie's going to have to give him up down the road in a month or two or whatever, then it might be best to just, you know, 'rip off the bandaid' now."

A third look at the girl did him in.

"Listen, this is nowhere near the same thing, but my wife kind of just up and left a while back. Having Rusty in my life was all that mattered to me so I know how much having him around means. If your daughter, if...Jodie...loves him anything like I do...I can't do that to her."

"So what are you saying, Mr. Benson?" she asked feeling cautiously optimistic for the first time.

"Well, it's obvious you've taken good care of him. And it's just as obvious Jodie loves him, too. So what if in addition to caring for him while I'm out of town, we work out some kind of shared-custody agreement? You know, like parents do when they divorce."

"You'd really be willing to do that?" she asked, her heart now having been touched.

"Yeah. Sure. I'm just so glad to know he's okay and that I can see him again. I don't want to share him, but giving him up part-time seems a whole lot easier now that I know he's alive...and how much it means to your little girl. So, yes, I'd be willing to do that."

Logan was surprised and touched when he saw this attractive, younger woman's eyes welling up with tears.

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Benson. 'Thank you' seems so trite."

"You could start by calling me Logan, and maybe you could show me where you live?" he suggested.

Whitney reached for a tissue in her purse and dabbed her eyes.

"I can't thank you enough...Logan," she said. "This dog has turned my daughter's life around. I won't bore you with the details, but she's even doing better in school again and...."

"You wouldn't be boring me," he told her. "In fact, I'd like to hear more if you wouldn't mind sharing."

He saw her looking at him not sure what he had in mind so he decided to be direct.

"Would you possibly consider having dinner with me sometime soon?"

"Oh, um...I...I don't really date, you know? I'm not sure I'd be very good company or...."

"Maybe you could let me be the judge of that," he said politely with a smile.

She looked at him again as though was sizing him up.

"Um, well...I suppose that would be okay," she said rather tentatively. "But for the record, I'm not a terrible cook. If you like, you could have dinner with us one evening. Rusty too, of course. It might be a an easy way to get to know one another and work out the details of our agreement," she said really smiling for the first time.

"You know what? I'd like that," he told her. "So...how about letting Jodie know what we've decided and then perhaps I could follow you to your place? Then we can exchange phone numbers and I'll give you my address for drop offs and pick ups."

"That sounds more than fair," she replied. "And Logan? Thank you. Thank you so much!"

She glanced at Jodie who still wasn't looking, then put her hand on Logan's shoulder before standing on her tip toes and kissing him on the cheek.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," she told him sincerely.

Logan stood there and watched as Whitney explained their agreement and he nearly got choked up when he saw Jodie's reaction. Her eyes got wide as saucers as she sucked in a big breath of air.

"Really? We get to keep him?" she said barely able to speak.

"No. Not keep him, honey. We get to share him with Mr. Benson," she said nodding to the tall, handsome, older man standing next to them.

Jodie looked up at him then took two quick steps and threw her arms around his waist and hugged him as hard as she could.

"Thank you!!!" she told him.

Not sure what to do, Logan patted her on the head and said, "You're welcome."

When she pulled back, he handed her the leash and said, "Here you go."

The little girl's eyes were bright and alive and for the first time since Bridgett left him, Benson felt alive again, too.

"Did you need us to leave right now?" Whitney asked.

"No. There's no hurry. I'm off until tomorrow evening so take your time and enjoy yourself," he said. "You guys can go do whatever you like and I'll wait here."

"Oh, I don't really do anything," Whitney said. "I just watch Jodie playing with Ang...sorry, Rusty, until she's ready to go home."

"You can call him Angel when he's with you," he told her.

Jodie had run off to play with her dog leaving the grown ups alone.

"Jodie asked me if her father was an angel when she named your dog," Whitney explained.

"Our dog," Logan corrected her with a smile.

"Okay. Our dog," she said allowing herself to smile back.

"Would you maybe like to sit down?" he asked. It was getting chilly now and he was wishing he'd brought a jacket. Whitney was wearing one so he wasn't concerned about her getting cold while they sat and waited.

"Sure. That sounds nice," she said as they walked over to a wooden bench.

"So what is it you do, Logan? What takes you out of town so often?" she asked trying to make conversation.

"Me? Oh, I'm just a has-been ball player," he told her.

"What kind of ball?" she asked.

"Baseball. Until the 20th anyway. That's the last day of the season and we're definitely not going to the playoffs this year."

"Baseball as in...the Seattle Mariners baseball?" she asked as that was the only baseball team she knew of in the area.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. "This is my last season and I'm not exactly playing much these days, but I am still with the team."

"I'm sorry I don't recognize you, but I'm not much of a sports fan. Baseball or otherwise," she confessed.

"No big deal. Even people who would recognize me probably wouldn't be too anxious to admit it these days. I'm lucky to still be on the team after the kind of year I had last season. They just kept me around this year because of my good looks," he quipped smiling at her.

Whitney glanced at him briefly then said rather sweetly, "I can see that."

"Oh, well, thank you," he said. "I wasn't fishing for a compliment. I was just...."

"It's okay. I was just being honest. You are a very nice-looking man."

"Again, thank you, and you are a very attractive woman," he told her sincerely.

Whitney made a kind of 'pffft' sound and said, "Hardly. Since Joel died...that was my husband's name...I don't feel very attractive. Most of the time I don't even really feel."

Instinctively, Logan put a hand on her shoulder and said, "I really am very sorry for your loss, but I meant what I said. You're a very pretty young woman."

"Well, thank you for saying that. Maybe there really is hope for me...."

"Mom! Look!" Jodie called out. She found an abandoned frisbee on the ground and threw it for Rusty who chased it and caught it in the air.

"Good boy, Rusty!" Logan called out. "Do you mind?" he asked pointing toward Jodie.

"No, not at all," she said as he got up and trotted over toward them.

For the next 10-15 minutes he and Jodie took turns throwing the frisbee for Rusty who happily chased it every time and caught almost as often.

"I think he's tired now," Jodie finally said as Rusty, who was panting heavily, dropped the frisbee at her feet.

They both bent down and petted him, Jodie on his head and Logan on his body. Jodie reattached his leash before walking him back toward her mom who was smiling brightly as they approached.

"You two make quite the pair," she said when they got back to her.

"Mom, we had so much fun! Did you see when Logan threw the frisbee behind his back and Angel still caught it?" she bubbled.

"I did. And his name is Mr. Benson, okay, honey?"

"I don't mind her calling me by my first name unless you do," Logan offered quietly.

"Oh, well, if you're sure," she replied.

Jodie took Angle and went on ahead as Logan walked alongside Whitney.

"My daughter is just so different now. Or maybe I should say she's so much like her old self," Whitney told him. She looked over at Logan and said, "I have you and your dog to...."

"Our dog," Logan said again raising a finger to make a point.

"Right. Our dog to thank for that."

He walked her to her car then said to her and Jodie, "Why don't you keep...Rusty or Angel or maybe...The Rusty Angel...with you and I'll follow you to your place."

"Can that be his name from now one? Can we call him The Rusty Angel?" Jodie asked excitedly.

Whitney looked at Logan who smiled and looked at Jodie.

"Sure thing. Rusty is now formally The Rusty Angel!"

Jodie let him into the back seat and Whitney turned to Logan and told him again how grateful she was then said with some hesitation, "Would...would tonight be too early for dinner?"

Logan not only wanted to spend more time with this very pleasant, very attractive younger woman, he was getting hungry and didn't much feel like eating alone.

"Not at all. That sounds very nice in fact. What time should I stop by?"

"If you don't mind waiting for me to get it ready, you can just hang out. Or you could help out if you like."

"Oooh. Yeah, me and kitchens. Bad idea," he said making a face and shaking his head. "I'm happy to sit and watch or even hand you something, but you don't wanna let me get close to anything you plan to eat. Uh-uh. No. Very bad idea."

Whitney laughed a genuine laugh and said, "Forewarned is fair warned, right? Okay so...do you want to follow me?"

Logan smiled and said, "Yes. I do in fact want to follow you."

Whitney understood the hidden meaning and smiled back as he excused himself to go get in his car.

Logan was glad he'd driven his second least pretentious vehicle, an Audi A8. Even so, when he pulled in behind Whitney at her home, she whistled and said, "Wow. Not bad," after getting a good look at the $85,000 German-made automobile.

"Oh, yeah. It's a nice little car. I'm going to have to end up selling a couple of them to pay off my soon-to-be ex-wife, but I think I should be able to hold onto this one," he said as he followed her inside.

"A couple of them?" she said with incredulity while nodding at her own much-older sedan. "I'm barely able to afford this old clunker."

Whitney had really struggled financially since Joel's death. He had a life insurance policy but the company wasn't paying because he died within two years of the issue date, and any death ruled a suicide wasn't covered the 'exclusionary period'. She was behind on their mortgage and had gotten more help than she wanted from her parents and refused to accept any more. She was at the point where she knew it was high time to sell their very nice, very comfortable home and move into something she could actually afford before it got repossessed and destroyed her credit. The only good news was she'd made the last payment on her car a month ago and that gave her a bit of breathing room financially speaking.