Indy spent the rest of his day in a haze.

He hardly noticed the odd looks of his fellow waiters. And he managed to avoid the steamy stares of the female wait staff too.

At last the dinner shift was over and he walked out into the evening air.

The Earth’s solitary moon drifted above its reflection in the lake, as if it had been fooled into thinking that it was dancing with its mate.

The night birds cried and sounds of quiet talk drifted toward him from the pavilion. He turned back to see the warm glow of electric lights in every window in the stone lodge. It was so peaceful. A part of him longed to lie down in the misty grass and gaze up at the faraway stars.

But his human side ached for company.

He knew his brothers would be at the women’s cabin, so he headed up the hillside to join them.

The women would be there too. His thoughts went straight to Nikki and the secret they kept. And the taste of her sweet lips this afternoon.

Would she be as glad to see him?

But when he reached the cabin, his hopes were dampened.

“Hey, Indiana,” Honey said, opening the door. “Nikki’s got a rehearsal.”

He couldn’t help wondering if she really did have a rehearsal. It was odd to feel so distrustful of mundane things.

“Oh,” he said.

“Come on in,” Honey laughed. “We’re playing cards.”

“The game is called Bullshit,” Remington said happily. “It’s great fun.”

“Wow,” Indy said.

“Wait until you try it,” Kitt said. “You’ll be good at this.”

Indiana allowed himself to be led over to the little sectional sofa where the other four were gathered around a stack of cards at the center of the coffee table.

“Watch us first,” Addy said. “Then you can join in.”

“Two threes,” Honey said, seating herself and placing two cards on the stack in the middle of the table.

“One four,” Kitt said next, placing one card down.

“Three fives,” Addy said.

“Bullshit,” Remington yelled.

“Are you sure?” Addy asked.

“Very sure,” Remington said.

“Damn it,” Addy said, taking the whole pile of cards from the table and adding it to the cards in her hands.

“What happened?” Indiana asked.

“We go around in a circle and put down cards in order, two through King,” Honey explained. “The goal is to get rid of all your cards.”

“Then why has she taken them all?”

“You’re allowed to bluff,” Addy explained.

“What does this mean?”

“It means that you can pretend you are putting down the proper cards, but they are really not those cards,” Remington crowed.

“Oh, cheating,” Indiana said, surprised that such a thing would be allowed.

“No, it’s not cheating,” Kitt said. “It’s allowed in this game.”

“Bluffing is pretending,” Honey said. “And if you are good enough at pretending, then no one will suspect.”

“So it’s like lying,” Indiana ventured.

Honey’s smile turned into a slight frown.

“I suppose so, but in the game it’s expected.”

“I see,” Indiana said. Though he didn’t quite see. It was a funny idea that behaviors like cheating and lying were good in this game. Humans were strange creatures.

“Two fours,” Remington said, placing two cards down.

“Did you hear about the Bergstroms today?” Addy asked, sounding like she had a piece of juicy gossip.

The Bergstroms were a fashionable couple who had come down from Manhattan to stay at Maxwell’s for the week.

“One five,” Honey said. “No, what happened?”

“Three sixes,” Kitt said.

“Bullshit,” Addy said.

Kitt lifted his cards. There were indeed three sixes.

“Shit,” Addy said, taking the whole pile.

“One two,” Remington said, placing down a card.

“They left this afternoon,” Addy said.

“No. They were having a blast. Why leave?” Honey asked, putting down a card. “One three.”

“Two fours,” Kitt said, placing down two cards.

“Their house account was overdrawn,” Addy said.

“Oh my gosh,” Honey said.

“What does that mean?” Kitt asked.

“It means that one of them spent all the money they had on their tab at the resort, without telling the other one,” Honey said.

“What will they do without money?” Indiana knew the Bergstroms. And he knew it was impossible to live on this planet without money.

“They aren’t out of money in general,” Addy explained. “They’re just out of the money they had put in the account to spend at Maxwell’s. They have more money in their bank accounts at home. They’ll be fine.”

“Oh,” Remington said. “That’s good.”

“Then why are they leaving?” Indiana wanted to know.

“They’re both angry,” Addy said. “They don’t want to stay.”

“I don’t understand,” Indiana said.

“It’s not really about the money,” Honey explained. “It’s a matter of trust.”

“One of them spent all that money without the other one knowing,” Honey said. “It makes them feel like they can’t believe in each other if one of them is keeping secrets like that.”

“I’m glad I never have to worry about that with my brothers,” Remington said. “Or their mates,” he smiled at Honey and Addy.

Addy shoved him in the shoulder, but in a benevolent way.

Indiana felt an icicle in his heart. He already had a secret from his brothers, a big one.

“Speaking of mates,” Remington said. “How’s it going with Nikki?”

“I saw you guys walking this morning,” Addy said. “What were you talking about?”

Addy was waggling her eyebrows and all four of them were leaning intently toward him.

It would be very difficult to betray Nikki’s secret, but now was his chance to tell the people he loved the truth.

“We played a game of tennis,” he said with a shrug.

The others nodded slowly, leaning back.

There it was. He’d had a chance to tell the truth.

Instead he had covered her.

His stomach twisted with guilt and he felt achingly, wholly human for the very first time.

It was ironic that he had longed for true humanity and he found it only in his shame. This doing a wrong thing for a right reason, and being proud and guilt-stricken about it all at once - it was the stuff of art for his adopted culture. He understood it now, to his bones. It was like the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet or the comedy of Tootsie - epic in its glory and deception.

“Are you okay?” Honey asked him.

“Oh,” he said. “Yeah, sure.” He gave her a wink, to let her know he was fine.

“Where were we?” Honey wondered, looking around at the players.

“Hey, does anyone know how to play poker?” Indiana asked. “I would like to learn.”