Page 40 of Never Lie
I consider protesting again, but there’s something firm in Luke’s voice. I appreciate that he doesn’t want to go out to dinner with me unless I want to do it. He’s not going to bulldoze me into anything. “Fine then.”
“So…” He rubs his hands together. “When do you want to do this?”
“As soon as possible.”
He arches an eyebrow. “I’m free tonight…”
Somehow I knew he would be.
_____
Luke parks his blue Toyota right behind my Lexus, in front of the house. He had my address plugged into his GPS, but I told him that the signal would likely give out after we turned off the main road, so he was better off following me. I usually give my patients specific directions on getting to my house.
“Jesus, Adrienne.” Luke is tugging on his tie to loosen it as he gets out of the Toyota. “You’re really isolated out here. This is the only house for miles.”
It’s actually 1.9 miles from the last house we passed. But I decide not to point that out. “Yes.”
He glances around at the trees surrounding the narrow, unpaved road to my house. “What do you do when it snows hard? You must get trapped here.”
“I have an arrangement with a plowing company. They plow the entire road for me.”
I brace myself for more questions, but they don’t come. Instead, he pops open his trunk and pulls out a box of tools, then follows me to the front door. When I open the door and Luke steps onto the threshold, he lets out a low whistle.
“Wow,” he comments.
“I know.”
“This place ishuge.”
“Yes, Iknow.”
Luke flashes me a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I’ve just never known anyone who lived in a castle before.”
I ignore his comment comparing my home to a castle. “So I’ve got the kit I bought to set up the security system over there.” I nod at the cardboard box pushed against the wall. It arrived yesterday, and I spent twenty minutes looking through the instructions and verifying that there was no way on earth that I could set it up on my own.
He chews at the corner of his lip. “You sure you want me doing this? A professional would—”
“Luke.”
He lets out a long sigh. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
He crouches down to rummage through the cardboard box. I shuffle between my feet, concerned that this job could be too big for him. From my perspective, he’s a genius with electronics. But my standards aren’t exactly high. The vast majority of employees at the Apple store fall into that category. Still, I’m heartened that he carries around a toolbox in his trunk.
“Do you think you’ll be able to do it?” I ask.
“I can’t see why not.”
My shoulders relax slightly. “And can you install the camera to overlook the front door? So I could see who’s there from my phone?”
“Sure.”
“Great. Perfect.”
He pulls out a small plastic bag of screws and squints at them through his glasses. “Do you have any objections to me putting a couple of tiny holes in your wall?”
“Do what you need to do.”
He glances up at me. “Don’t feel like you have to stand there watching me. This won’t be quick. Why don’t you do some work or something and I’ll let you know when I’m done?”
