"Thanks. It's small, but I like it that way. Big houses do nothing for me."
"Same here. Quaint is key."
"Exactly." I give him a weak smile as I unlock the door and disarm the security system.
Again, he looks around. "This is so you."
"Is that good or bad?"
"It's good." He sees some of my paintings and my portraits lined on the wall in the main hallway. They're a progression of pictures in black and white of my folks as they grew up to when they got married and so on. "That's really sweet. Never seen that before."
"It took some doing to dig up all those photographs. Some needed to be retouched."
My living room and dining room has hardwood flooring throughout. Dark maple, with cream furniture and black accents. Punches of color are in the couch cushions, the area rugs and peppered throughout the walls with some vibrant photographs. But most of my photography is black and white, especially in the hallways. I don't dare show him my bedroom. "Do you want some sweet tea?" I ask but regret it the second that it comes out of my mouth. I don't want to give him something that he can use as a missile and shoot across my living room.
"No, I'm fine, thanks."
Thank God.
He starts pacing again, and I get nervous. "Why don't you tell me what's going on, Lennie?"
"Please sit." I ask him.
He takes the proffered seat on the couch, and I sit across from him, dragging a dining room chair over. His gaze is on me and I couldn't feel worse about it. The only thing that I can do to help ease the pain that I'm about to inflict on him is by taking his hands in mine. "Levi, I need to tell you something very difficult."
The muscles in his jaw are working. He says nothing and waits patiently.
"Please don't think that I'm nuts for doing this, but I did a little digging when we first met and you told me you had a girlfriend."
I pause.
He's just blinking, waiting for the punchline.
"I crept on your social media and found a picture of Shelly."
His eyebrows wrinkle. "Okay."
"So, therefore, I know what she looks like, even though I've never met her before."
He nods, but I can tell by his eyes, that he's confused.
I lick my lips, still holding his hands. "When I was at the Hoedown today, I went over to the food truck and sat by the water. I saw Shelly with a friend sit down and start chatting."
"Uh huh."
Another swallow. "I was there, eavesdropping, when you came by and offered to get her something to eat."
He's still so discombobulated. "Okay."
"When you gestured to your belly and left, I saw her tell her friend that she's not pregnant."
His face drops. He sits back and his hands naturally release from mine.
"It's all part of some scheme to get at your money. I saw her say that she's done this already to some guy named Gary that she was married to. That's why she had those rings. She cashed them in for money."
He makes a fist and touches his lips with it. It's like he's trying to find the words but can't.
“I’m so sorry, Levi.“
