Page 85 of Plum

Adam flashes me a sad smile, like he knows whatever he’s got ain’t gonna be enough. “Jo-Beth, if you give me another chance, I will finish fixing the living room floor.”

Shirl and Deb hoot from the doorway to the kitchen. “Home improvements for the win! Give ‘em another chance, Jo-Beth!”

He keeps going, and I can hear how he’s serious, and how he knows it’s useless, too. “I’ll take you to London and Paris and Venice and Athens.”

“Finish that living room floor, first!” Deb shouts.

“We’ll make a home together, and I am never going to leave, and you’re never going to regret it.”

That promise is a punch to the gut, so painfully sweet. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. The words burn inside me. He’s dangling my heart’s desire, and he’s a liar. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…well, I ain’t ever been in that situation.

Adam stands and holds out his hand. “I’ve decided on you, Jo-Beth Connolly. You’re going to have to get used to it.”

The whole place holds its breath.

“No.” I force myself to shake my head. “No. I don’t believe you.” I don’t have the strength for any more, so I duck past him and run out the front. The club explodes, their excited chatter following me as I bowl out the door and slide to a halt.

There’s a flatbed truck parked right in front of the building, and it’s stacked with cages and cages of birds. A bald man with a thick, gray mustache is leaning against it, chewing a piece of brown grass.

Cooing fills the crisp air.

I hear the door open behind me, and then heavy footsteps crunch on the gravel. It’s Adam. I don’t have to look to know it’s him. I’ve memorized all his sounds and smells. He comes to a halt beside me.

“What is this?”

“I wanted to get you a hundred doves, but there were logistical issues. And some ethical concerns.”

I catch a glimpse of gray and white between the slats. “You got me pigeons?”

“American Racing Pigeons.” Adam speaks in a measured way, as if he’s afraid I’m gonna bolt. That was my plan, but my car is blocked in by a truck full of birds. “My new friend John agreed to release them here on a little training run.”

“You ready?” the man with the mustache asks.

Adam looks down at me, but I stare straight ahead. “Jo-Beth?”

“You do what you want.”

“Not any more. We decide together. I’m for you, and you’re for me, and we aren’t from different sides anymore. We’re one side.”

My lips wobble, but fuck that. I ain’t cryin’ out in the cold. Mama always said the tears will freeze to your face.

“Talk to me, Jo-Beth. Please.”

It’s like ‘cause I won’t cry, my mouth opens instead and words fall out.

“You know why I like birds so much?”

“Tell me.” Adam shuffles closer to my side, but he don’t touch me.

I sniffle and swipe at my nose. “I guess most people like birds ‘cause they make them think of freedom, you know? Flying away from your troubles. Not me.”

I shiver. Adam peels off his sweater and drapes it around my shoulder. Part of me wants to shrug it onto the ground for spite, but it’s cold as balls out here.

“Go on,” Adam says.

“Mama and I moved around a lot coming up. I don’t think we were ever in the same place for more than a year. You lose a lot of stuff moving around. Especially if it’s a rush.”

My heart twinges, remembering a stuffed elephant, but it’s an old, faint loss. “One spring, we were camping out on a friend of Mama’s screened-in porch. There was a maple tree nearby, and a robin red breast made a nest in it. I watched her build it from scratch. The next year, we were livin’ in a motel off Gracy Avenue. I was sittin’ out on the balcony, and I saw one. A robin red breast.”

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