Page 61 of Again, In Autumn

“I do not respond to that nickname,” she snaps. “The only nickname I’ve ever endured was when they called me Franchestca in the seventh grade.” She pops her shoulders back proudly.

Kate claps a hand over her mouth and snorts a laugh behind it.

David stands. “How about some fresh air instead?”

“I developed early,” she slurs to the table.

“No one needed the explanation.” David grabs her elbow and takes her outside.

Kate stands up with her phone. “Well, I need blackmail, don’t judge me.” She follows them out of the door.

Maggie chuckles into her chair. She holds her glass to her face. “I like you people.”

Adam smirks and responds, “I think you like all people right now, Mags.”

“I think you like some people, too,” she says with a matching smile. Her cheeks flood pink. She hiccups and giggles.

He taps the side of his water glass. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“No, no, brother,” Maggie says. She points a finger at his face. “That’s not what I mean. You know what I mean. You know.”

His jaw clenches. He tries to work out her meaning, as do I, while Diego people watches and hums quietly to himself. Adam hikes up the roll of his sleeve. His fingers dance through his hair. Muscles ripple on his forearm. His movements are loud, his voice silent.

Maggie explains, “She’s a sweet girl, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know if she’s your type. Right, Vienna?”

I sink into my shoulders. “Young, beautiful and smart? Hell, I might marry her.”

“That’s not what Adam wants in a girl,” she argues.

Adam shifts froward. His white shirt spreads audibly along his back. “Good thing I don’t need my sister’s approval. But I do need this conversation to end.”

“Oh, you want my approval.” She licks her lips and waves him away. “More than dad’s even. And I know you Adsy Bear, that little girl is a sweetie pie, but she’s not your sweetie pie.”

“How about pie?” Adam shoots air from his nose. His chest heaves. “Let’s get some pie.”

Maggie continues. Her drink sloshes as she waves her glass in the air. She says, “You want a girl who doesn’t chase after you or change herself. Someone you like to be around, who is herself. Who you can laugh with and feel proud of.”

He grabs a dessert menu and wonders, “Do they have pie?”

“A girl who’s weird and funny and practical.”

“I’ll find some bakery within the state limits and buy us pie,” he says, raising his voice.

“What do you think, Vienna?” Maggie asks.

My jaw unhinges. “Me?”

Adam pretends to still look at the menu, but I’ve noticed he has stopped flipping the heavy, narrow pages.

“I don’t really have an opinion on the matter,” I reply.

He closes his eyes.

Maggie leans over her drink. Her eyes glisten. “Oh, I think you might…”

“Okay, Maggie!” Adam slams the menu shut and announces, “I think it’s time to go home.”

She raises her lip in disgust. “But I’m not done with my drink.”

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