I stared at it for a long time. The tablet showed the date. It was the Friday she'd supposedly spent making donation baskets. I put it on the kitchen table and called her at the practice. She said she was finishing up and would be home in 20 minutes.
She came in carrying a paper bag with bread rolls and asked if I'd eaten. I turned the tablet toward her. Why were you going through my pictures? I was looking for the kitchen before we painted it. She looked at the image again.
It's not what you're thinking. What am I thinking? that there's something going on is there. She pulled out a chair but didn't sit. She said Saurin had kissed her that night and she'd pushed him away. Then she said the photograph had been taken earlier before the kiss as a joke.
I asked why she had lied about where she was because I knew you'd react like this. She sat. She cried. She said she was sorry about the kiss. Then I asked whether it had happened only once.
She didn't answer. I said her name. She covered her face and told me she'd been sleeping with Saurin for about four months. I asked whether he'd been in our house when I wasn't there. She said yes.
How many times? Twice. Did he stay overnight? She nodded. I had been in Harrisburg for a supplier meeting that night.
I'd called her from the hotel and told her I was tired of conference food. She told me she'd already gone to bed. After a long silence, she said she'd end it, that she had already been trying to end it, that she loved me. I told her I needed the truth before I could listen to anything about love. I asked who else knew?
She looked down at her hands. Belle, I said. Who else knows? My dad knows, she said. I thought I'd misheard her.
Your father knows you're sleeping with Saurin. He found out a few weeks ago. How many weeks? 6 weeks, maybe. I wasn't counting.
I asked whether Lenora knew. No, Belle said. Did your father tell you not to tell her? He told us to stop. He didn't want anybody hurt.
I asked her to leave me alone for the night. She wanted to talk more. I said I couldn't hear any more promises that evening. Eventually, she went upstairs. I slept on the couch with the television off.
I wanted to tear the pantry door off its hinges when it stuck that morning. I left it alone, made coffee, and went to work. That afternoon, I called my cousin Tamson. She was 41, lived in York, and had known me since we were kids. She worked in commercial property management and had a way of listening without deciding what you should do before you'd finish speaking.
I told her the essentials. She said, "Do you want me to come over?" "Not yet." "Okay, eat something then, and don't make a decision about the house while you're this upset." I was glad she hadn't told me what to do. Belle came downstairs that evening with swollen eyes. She said she'd spoken to Saurin and told him it was over. She offered to show me the message.
I said I wasn't interested in watching her perform a breakup on command. She asked if we could go to counseling. I said I didn't know. I told her I would sleep in the guest room and wanted us to keep our conversations practical for a few days. She agreed, then asked me not to call her father while he was dealing with some medical appointments.
What appointments? Just routine stuff. The next morning, I went back to the shared tablet to save the renovation photograph I had originally needed. Belle had left her messaging account signed in. A notification from Gideon appeared across the top of the screen while I was using it.
His previous messages had been about family plans. Not this one. It said, "Please don't let him call Lenora before we talk." I opened the conversation. I read the messages and photographed the screen. The messages went back about 6 weeks.
On Monday, September 28th, Gideon had found Belle and Saurin together at a small inn outside Lititz. Belle had called him saying her car wouldn't start. When he pulled into the lot, he saw Saurin's truck. The messages referred to what they admitted when he confronted them. I knew this much from their own words.
I did not know what happened inside the inn. Then the messages changed. On Tuesday, September 29th, Belle wrote that she couldn't have me finding out before the fundraiser weekend because everyone would be together. Gideon answered that she needed to stop seeing Saurin. 2 days later on Thursday, Belle asked Gideon to back up the story that she had eaten dinner at his house on Tuesday.
He answered that he had already told me that on Wednesday and did not want to do it again. I remembered his call. He had asked about a ladder I had borrowed, then casually said Belle had stayed for supper the night before. I had thanked him for feeding her. It had sounded so ordinary that I had never thought to ask Belle about it.
Another message said, "If he asks about Thursday, tell him you help me sort the old files." Gideon followed it with, "I can confirm that, but please stop putting me in this position." It wasn't the last time. I found two more exchanges where Gideon supplied explanations before I had asked a question. One was about a Saturday afternoon when Belle claimed she had helped him clear storage shelves. The other concerned the restaurant charge. The messages didn't account for every meeting. he'd asked, "Was Saurin with you at that place near the shop?" She answered, "Yes, please don't say anything." Gideon replied, "I am trying to save what can still be saved." I sat at the table reading that sentence until the screen went dim.
He had known I was being lied to. He had watched me eat at his table and talk about work and asked whether he needed help with his gutters. He had looked me in the eye and provided details that made his daughter's stories sound true. Lenora used to set extra places at dinner because she liked having everyone together. She had no idea why three people at her table had been lying.
I called Gideon and asked if we could talk. He offered to come to our house. I said I'd rather meet at his place when Lenora was at work. He didn't ask why. I arrived just after 10:00.
He was in the garage putting a battery charger away. When he saw me, he set it down and wiped his hands on a rag. I assume Belle told you. He said, "She told me about the affair." He nodded slowly. "I'm sorry.
You called me about the ladder I borrowed and said Belle had eaten here that Tuesday. Was she with Saurin that night?" His expression changed. He looked toward the house. "Alden, this has gotten out of hand." "That's not what I asked." "Yes," he said. "I said she was here." "Why?" "Because she told me it was over.