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Yep. Agatha wanted to know everything. She burned to know every last scintillating detail. It had to be good. His first lie just had to be.
“The thing is…” His voice trailed off. “I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it.”
“What?” she finally blurted. Her voice was sharp and a few octaves above what she normally used. “You can’t just come confess to me about lying and expect me to be okay with not knowing the truth. You lost that privilege the second you chose to be dishonest.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be okay with it. I don’t even know why I called. It was a bad idea.”
Before she could say anything to his statement, he hung up the phone. She gaped at her own device in her hand, willing it to light up with another call and another apology.
What had gotten into her son?
Zeke gently pried the phone out of her hand, and in the process, she nearly shoved him aside to retrieve it. “I have to call him back.”
“Why?” He put it on the counter behind him and blocked her ability to retrieve it.
Agatha lunged for it anyway. “That was Thomas. He was calling to tell me he lied about last night.”
Zeke didn’t react in the way she expected. She’d hoped he would be just as flustered or upset about this situation as she was. Instead, his flat expression showed nothing. Not one emotion she could read.
She tried again to get her phone. “You’re not going to believe this, but not only did he tell me he didn’t tell the truth, he said he wasn’t ready to tell me where he really was. I don’t get it. What was the point in confessing then? So he could torture me?”
“Obviously not.”
Agatha shot him a death glare. “Oh yeah? When did you become an expert on young men?”
He lifted a brow and crossed his arms. “I don’t think you really want me to answer that question.”
Her eyes swept over his form, and the reality of this conversation sunk in. He had been a young man once upon a time. Fighting back the embarrassment, she crossed her arms and glared at him. “Okay, if you’re so smart, then why did he lie? Hmm? Can you tell me why he would lie, then confess to lying but not tell me the truth?”
It was small—like the flickering of a star burning out in the distant night. But she saw it. There was some hesitancy or guilt or something he hid behind that mask he wore. Granted, she was full of hot, wired emotion and she might just be seeing things, but if she was right, Zeke knew something and he wasn’t willing to clue her in.
Was this some kind of boys’ club? They all wanted to keep their secrets from her now?
Agatha tapped her foot. “Well? Tell me, what good reason did he have to do any of that?”
“I can’t say.”
Her brows shot up and she let out a sharp bark of laughter. “He told you?”
Zeke stiffened. “What? Of course not. I only meant that men lie for different reasons. They do it to keep people safe. They do it out of love. They do it because… well, frankly, Agatha, we’re a pretty stupid lot.”
Her hands dropped to her sides.
“I really don’t believe he lied with any malicious intent. It’s more likely that he wanted to keep something from you to either protect you or himself from something you wouldn’t approve of.”
“Well, that’s exactly what I’m worried about,” she said.
“I know this isn’t going to help… but don’t be.”
She snorted. “Don’t be worried? Have you met me?”
He chuckled and moved closer to her. “Thomas is an adult. He’s gotta make his own decisions and do them for reasons he believes in. He’s going to come to crossroads in his life where he’s going to have to decide which path he needs to take in order to make certain people happy.”
Agatha peeked up at Zeke. As much as she wanted to argue with him and tell him he was wrong, she knew better. Thomas was a grown man and would need to follow his own path. Moving to Copper Creek to be close to him wasn’t supposed to be her maintaining control over her son.
She just wanted to make sure they didn’t grow apart.
And that was exactly what this felt like. There was a thread that had tied her son to her when he was born. At some point it had been severed, and now she was stuck wondering if and how he would find his way back to her.
