“He had a work thing. He left about an hour ago.” I reach for the electric grinder, pry open the plastic top. I can’t quite make myself look Micah in the eye.

“How?”

I frown, my fingers freezing on the cord. “How what?”

“How did he get to his work thing?” Micah clarifies. “I thought his car was in the shop.”

Shit. It’s a point Paul and I didn’t think through, how we’d explain his transportation. I can’t say he went bobbing up the driveway with a thirty-pound backpack on his shoulders. Micah knows Paul too well, and he’ll know if there’s something I’m not telling him.

Out on that hill, Paul and I made a decision, a silent pact. Our lie tipped over that first domino, setting off an avalanche that now there’s no stopping. The only way forward is to spout off another one, cloak it in an occasional truth to serve as a decoy, pile on the details to build a believable story. My pulse flickers under my skin, turning it hot and sticky—or maybe that’s the heat of Micah’s stare.

I clear my throat. “He didn’t say. I just assumed somebody was picking him up. There’s a replacement car waiting for him at the office.”

I busy myself with the coffee while Chet finishes up his omelet, sliding it onto a plate he carries in a wide arc around Micah, now tapping away at his cell phone screen. He presses the phone to his ear and I know who he’s calling. I also know there’s no way in hell Paul is going to pick up. Not after he made me swear not to tell Micah where he was going. Better to ignore the call and make up some excuse when he gets back.

Micah hangs up without leaving a voice mail, and I feel him in the room, taking up space, sucking up all the air. This is a man who knows how to dig up the truth, and from dangerous and watery depths. If he thought I was keeping something from him, he would poke poke poke at me until he cracked me like one of Chet’s eggs. That’s why he’s so good at finding things people want to stay hidden, he’s relentless, and why I clamp down on my expression.

Micah slips the phone back into his pocket. “When you see Paul, tell him to give me a call, will you? I need to talk to him about something. It’s pretty urgent.”

I smile. “Sure thing.”

He fetches his boots from the mudroom, puts them on by the back door. “I’ll check in before heading home tonight, see how y’all are doing.”