Anything for Her(70)

“Eric says he skis, but Coach doesn’t like it ’cause he’s sure he’ll break a leg and be out midseason. But, man, I’d really like to learn. He says I could ride up with his family...” Or, “Aidan’s got a twin sister. Did I tell you that? He’s kind of doofus looking, but she’s sort of hot. I mean, you know.” His hands shaped a pair of stupendous breasts. “He said she wanted to know who I was.”

Today, he hopped in the truck, fastened the seat belt and planted his feet on the dashboard. “So, I made this awesome pass to Jared and then went for the key. He totally faked out Dylan, spun like he was going to shoot and then zapped the ball to me. I laid it up so sweet.” He pumped his fist. “After practice Coach said he thinks we’re going to have a fabulous season.”

Nolan grinned at him. “That’s great. All that time you’ve been putting in on the hoop at home is paying off, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “I’m going to kick Allie’s butt the next time we play, too.”

“She was pretty amazing for someone who probably hadn’t shot a basket in years.”

Sean grunted his agreement. “It’s like...her body is totally centered. You know? There’s the way she moves, and she has this sense of where she is in relation to everything else. I bet she could have done something like gymnastics.”

“I’ve had the same thought. She did say she took dance lessons when she was a kid.”

Sean started grumbling about a paper he had due, and Nolan was just as glad not to talk about Allie anymore. He was too troubled by his thoughts. He knew she was lying to him, damn it! He only wished he could tell which things that came out of her mouth were lies, and which were truth.

That evening after dinner he went online and verified that, indeed, Tulsa had a suburb named Fairfield. And she was right, there were a lot of other towns named Fairfield around the country, starting with one in California.

So now what? he asked himself. Call the high school and ask for verification that Allie Wright had indeed attended? What excuse could he give? Did schools give out that kind of information?

He frowned. Why wouldn’t they?

Try.

Come morning, he stood there with the phone in his hand, and conducted a serious argument with himself. How would he feel, if he found out Allie was doing a background check on him because she doubted what he’d told her about himself? Trust was part of a relationship, wasn’t it?

But I know she’s lying.

Did that excuse him? He wasn’t sure. Was he exhibiting signs of major paranoia? Probably.

But he hated lies with a passion. And he faced the fact that he had to know, one way or another. Please God, may she never find out he’d made this call, he thought, dialing the number for information.

A couple of minutes later, he was talking to a school secretary at Fairfield High School. He claimed to be a potential employer wanting to verify attendance and graduation.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” the woman said cheerily.

He heard a keyboard clicking, some mumbles.

“I’m sorry,” the secretary finally told him. “I’m unable to find any student named Allie Wright. I tried Allison and some other variations. What years do you believe she attended?”

He told her. More tapping.

The answer was “no.” There had been students with a last name of Wright, of course. Perhaps Allie was a middle name or nickname? He said he’d find out and ended the call.

He swore aloud, resisting the urge to throw the phone.

Now what? Call her on her lie? But what if Allie was her middle name? Did he admit what he’d done?

“Goddamn it,” he growled.

His doubt hung heavy on him all day, disrupting his concentration. He got careless and broke a saw blade, the piece flying away barely missing his arm. He swore some more and managed to pay more attention until the time came to pick up Sean again after practice.

He’d vowed not to say anything to Sean about his fear that Allie was lying to him. “I don’t seem to have it together today,” he admitted, once Sean got in and slammed the door. “You okay with stopping for a pizza on the way home?”

“Is Scarlett Johansson hot?” the teenager said.

Nolan had to blink. Well, yeah. He’d take that as a yes.

At his favorite pizza parlor, they ordered, then settled at their table with glasses of soda. He wasn’t much of a drinker; he had an occasional beer at home, but he wanted to be sure he set a no-drinking-and-driving example for a kid Sean’s age.