The Liar's Wife (Adam Levine Dark Romance)

Chapter 18: I Heard It Through the Grapevine

“Godammit, would you give it a rest already?”

Jane slipped the headphones over her ears and turned up the volume on the stereo, doing her best to drown out the sound of Adam yelling in the next room. Whatever they were arguing about, it was none of her business. She was trying to work on this problem she had with nosiness. It only seemed to bring her grief.

The other night in the library, spying on him and then watching the DVD of his old television interview – that had been the last straw. She’d felt so sick afterward she’d run to the bathroom and spent ten minutes retching over the toilet. She felt the queasiness return again even now, just thinking about it. But what was she so upset about really? What did she expect? Of course he was in love with his wife. That shouldn’t have come as a shock. Honestly, it was sweet, seeing him like that. It would speak worse of him if he hadn’t been in love with her, right?

Jane still wasn’t sure how long ago his wife had passed away, but clearly it was going to take him some time to get over something like that. It was perfectly understandable. Sure, she would rather know that her feelings for him were fully reciprocated, but their relationship was still new. She just needed to give him time, that’s all. She needed to be there for him when he wanted her – and keep her nose out of his private affairs when he needed space.

She’d woken up the next morning feeling full of renewed purpose. No more spying. No more pushing him to talk about things he wasn’t yet ready to discuss. Instead, she would rededicate herself to being all the things he wanted her to be: a loving maternal presence for his daughter by day, and his musical protégée by night.

He wanted her to listen to Motown, and she’d decided to surprise him by choosing some songs on her own that might work for a demo. She’d found his Marvin Gaye albums and one title on the track list had jumped out at her right away. I Heard It Through the Grapevine. What better song for her to cover, out here in the middle of an overgrown vineyard? She thought he would get a kick out of it – a little inside joke between the two of them. She even wondered if she might convince him to record it with her as a duet.

Jane listened to the song again now, turning up the volume in an effort to drown out the sound of the argument in the kitchen. He and that woman, Marcy, had been at each other’s throats ever since she’d shown up at the house yesterday evening.

It had been late – nearly 10 PM – and Jane had already been dressed for bed in a t-shirt and a borrowed pair of Adam’s boxer shorts. They’d been sitting together at the piano, and she’d been trying unsuccessfully to concentrate on the melody she was playing while he ran one arm around her shoulder and gently pressed his mouth to the sensitive spot behind her ear. They’d both been startled by the sound of someone tapping at the window. The piano must have drowned out the sound of the doorbell ringing. Jane had looked up to see a woman’s face pressed against the glass, peering in at them. “Shit,” was all Adam had said, as he went to open the front door.

Jane had come up to the door behind him and saw a woman with short, curly brown hair and bad eye makeup, dressed in a purple velour track suit.

“Marcy, this is—uh, Adele’s nanny,” Adam had said by way of introduction.

“I’m Jane,” she’d added, holding out her hand to shake.

The woman had raised her eyebrows and shot Adam a funny look before responding. “Jane,” she said slowly, ignoring the hand that Jane had extended. “Well, isn’t this cozy?”

Whatever she’d been insinuating, Adam had ignored it. “Come in,” he’d said. “I’ll take your bag.” He’d led her to one of the guest rooms, and Jane had gone up to her own room and shut the door to block out the sound of their bickering.