Page 139 of Again, In Autumn

Francesca looks at him seriously and says, “A lot of people like strawberry ice cream. I like strawberry ice cream! So do you. Adam is not in love with your Auntie Vee, Sherlock.”

He presses his hands into the table and snaps, “He said he carved a rock, in his song, and he actually did do that.” He gets up from the table.

David calls to him, “Grayson, sit down, you were not excused.”

My nephew returns, holding the little stone he found on the bookshelf beside the television, and hands it to his mother. She raises a brow, turning it over in her palm. Her mouth presses into a pacifying smile, her eyes drifting to the rest of the table for help.

Adam stares at his plate. David looks away, drinking his wine. Heddy inspects her mood rings. Kate and Caroline eat with unconcerned expressions. Diego whistles to himself – actually whistles – and Maggie scratches at a spot on her sweater. Even my father, for the first time in a long time, doesn’t remove his beady eyes from mine.

Oh God, they all know. How do they all know?

A sound escapes from Francesca. She circles her eyes back around the evasive table and scoffs, “What is this rock, Vienna?”

I nod, slowly. “It’s a rock.”

“What. Is. It?” She holds the carved heart with a straight arm. Diego leans out of the way.

We’re not going to make it to the pie.

“Adam made it,” I answer.

Her eyes rival my dad’s for attention. She growls, “Why did he make you a rock with a heart in it?”

“Because he wanted to.”

Adam finally looks up. He fights back an amused smile, shaking his head. He can’t believe I’m going to tell her. Right now.

She demands, “Are you two hooking up?”

Initially, I answer, “No.” Then I fix, “Well, actually, yes.”

Metal falls against a plate and Caroline covers a gasp with her mouth.

Francesca looks like she might be having a medical event. Her jaw hangs. She smooths the stone in her hand and pauses on Grayson.

“That song is years old,” she realizes. “That can’t be about Vienna.”

My dad exhales and raises his eyebrows, dropping his napkin on the table. He throws his hands up to Heddy, saying, “For the record, I didn’t bring this up. She did.”

“Bring what up?” Francesca’s eyes go wide. “Adam?” She holds the rock out for him to see.

He furrows his brow. “I did make that. And I did write those songs about her.”

She screeches, gobsmacked, “When?”

“Fourteen years ago.”

She’s a robot malfunctioning. She’s completely on the fritz, blinking and twitching, until she finally sputters with a short, creepy laugh, “The fuck?”

David pushes out of his chair. “Okay, kiddos, let’s go get some dessert.”

Maggie says, “Yes, we will, too.”

She and Diego hurry from the table. Caroline pops a roll in her mouth and takes her plate, while Kate picks up her wine and Alice’s hand. They’re all nearly gone from the room when Francesca finds the words.

“When did this –” she points angry fingers at us both “– happen and how long have you been keeping it a secret from me?!”

I exhale. I feel Adam’s shoe bump against mine for support.

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