He looked up when I called his name.
“Where did you get that?” I asked, completely detouring from the reason I came looking for him to begin with.
“I saw somebody selling it on campus,” he said. “I’ve always wanted a motorcycle. It’s pretty beat-up but I think I can do most of the repairs myself. Then when we move back to Asheville, I’ll be able to ride my new bike around the mountains.”
“That sounds really cool,” I said with a smile. “I was worried that maybe you wouldn’t be coming back to Asheville anymore.”
“What, just because you and Michael are going to be together? Nah, I’ll always be around. I still love you and we’re still all friends. None of that has changed. I may not be sleeping in the same bed with you guys when we get there, but I’ll be close by.”
“Good,” I said, feeling better about that, at least. “Can I ask you to do me a favor?”
“Depends,” he smirked.
“On what?”
“On whether or not this favor has to do with the messed up pregnancy allegation by that girl.”
I didn’t say anything, and Rob rolled his eyes and sighed at me.
“Okay, what’s the favor?” he asked.
“You’re used to doing detective stuff for the police force; can’t you just snoop around a little bit and use your agent skills to try and figure out what’s going on?” I asked. “It doesn’t seem right to me.”
“Which part?” he asked.
“None of it, to be honest. Michael wouldn’t have slept with another woman, Adam wouldn’t lie to me, and Sarah hasn’t had any men around here and has barely left her room.”
“Yeah, I agree that shit is definitely not adding up,” Rob said. “But one of those three people has to be lying. It’s impossible to have all three opposing stories be true. Somebody isn’t telling the truth about what happened.”
“Agreed,” I said. “The only thing we know for sure is that Sarah is pregnant.”
Rob stood up and wiped his greasy hands on his jeans. He stood back and admired the bike. It was kind of cool-looking, actually. It was run-down and in need of obvious repair, but the black leather of the seat looked worn and soft, and the metal of the bike was still trying to shine from beneath all the grime. It would be a pretty sweet bike by the time Rob was done with it.
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll see what I can find out, but no promises because this isn’t really the same kind of thing as police investigations.”
“What’s different about it?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Well for one thing, two out of three of the suspects aren’t usually my best friends.”
Point taken. I knew it was a lot for me to ask of him, but somehow or another I had to find out the truth and I couldn’t wait until a baby was born or a paternity test was done. I needed to know now.
I hadn’t really talked to either Michael or Adam since the other night. I wanted so badly to hold on to the images and feelings of the night in the garden, and I didn’t want to tarnish it with the thought that one of the two men closest to me was lying to my face. I walked back into the house and sat down at a desk in the common room to work on some of the payroll for the staff. It needed to be done and I figured that it was a mundane sort of thing that would help keep my mind off of everything else. Running this place was so much more work than I had imagined. Even with people hired out to do various jobs, it was still an immense undertaking. But it was successful, and we were helping people, and that was all that mattered for now.
“Hey,” Adam said as he walked over and stood near the desk where I was working.
“Hey,” I said as I looked up. I was hoping this wasn’t going to turn into some kind of argument. I had questions that I wanted to ask him, details about what he claimed to have seen, but I just didn’t have the energy to get into it or to be disappointed if his story didn’t add up and I felt like he was lying.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“I’m okay,” I said. “You?”
Adam knelt down beside my chair and put his hand on my thigh.
“I can see that’s not true,” he said. “Remember how long I’ve known you? I can tell when you’re not okay, Lisette.”
“I just don’t really want to talk about it right now,” I said as I glanced back at my paperwork in order to keep myself from getting emotional.
“I understand that. But I want you to know that you can always talk to me about stuff if you need to. You can ask me anything that you want to, and I’ll tell you the truth. I’m always here for you.”
Okay, well I couldn’t really ignore that.
“Are you telling me the truth about Sarah?” I asked point-bank. “Did you really see Michael leaving her bedroom? Adam, I’m not going to lie, if you made this whole thing up then I’m going to be beyond hurt about it. But I’d rather know the truth now, before things get deeper and the damage becomes harder to undo.”
Adam looked sad and hurt, maybe because he had lied and was getting ready to fess up, or maybe because he was telling me the truth and was upset that I would ever doubt him. But before he could answer me, Sarah walked in with a book to sit and read in the common room. It was weird how she was suddenly more out and about in the house than she had been before. Maybe pregnancy made her finally feel like socializing a bit more, although I’m not sure what that would have to do with it. She gave Adam a strange glance as she walked by and plopped down in one of the soft chairs near the window. Adam stood up and slowly pulled his hand from my thigh.
“We can talk about this more later,” he said as he turned to leave. “I need to go do something.”
I watched Adam walk toward the hallway, wondering what that was all about and why he didn’t even seem to want to be in the same room with Sarah. Everything about all of it was weird. When Adam got to the mouth of the hallway, Michael was coming out from the hall at the same time and the two of them brushed shoulders on accident. It was such a small thing, nothing that would make anyone get upset or get into a scuffle over. But both men were so triggered by each other right now, and so on-edge about the situation, that the small touch of their shoulders sent them into an impulsive and reactionary spiral.
Adam glared at Michael as he looked around the room to see who was here.
“What are you doing in here?” Michael asked him when he saw me and Sarah sitting in the common room.
“None of your damn business,” Adam shot back. “I live here, remember? I can do whatever the hell I want.”
“Not when what you want to do is create lies and deception,” Michael snarled.
“You’re not one to talk about deception, Michael.”
