Greer nodded with a smile. “Yep, go. I’m good.”
“Knock, knock,” Monroe said.
“Who’s there?” replied Greer.
“Ahab!”
“Um, Ahab who?” Greer asked, looking confused.
“Ahab to pee! Open the door!” Monroe said before she started giggling. “That’s so good, right? I read it online. I thought I could start making up my own knock-knock jokes. I have one I made up. Do you want to hear it?”
“Sure,” Greer said with a smile.
At least she wasn’t telling Monroe how bad the jokes were. That was a plus.
In fact, she seemed to be really nice.
“Knock, knock,” Monroe said.
“Who’s there?” Greer replied.
“Martin.”
“Martin who?” Greer asked.
“It’s martini time.”
That was so bad.
Greer looked surprised, and Addie couldn’t blame her. Then, to her shock, a giggle came from Greer. She put her hand over her mouth as she started to giggle again.
Addie didn’t get it. The joke wasn’t funny. It didn’t even work. ‘Martin who? It’s martini time?’ Like, how was that a proper knock-knock joke?
But even though she and Dotty had tried to explain this to Monroe, their sister just didn’t seem to get it. They’d given up, just accepting the fact that she was terrible at jokes.
But they also didn’t want anyone else making fun of her for it.
Cash leaned into her. “I don’t get it.”
“I don’t either,” she whispered back.
“That was really good,” Greer told her. “I think you might have a talent for making up knock-knock jokes.”
Monroe’s eyes widened, and she smiled big. “Why, thank you. You’re one of the few people that appreciates a good knock-knock joke. I feel like it could be a dying art.”
Well, it probably would be if Monroe kept at it, but Addie didn’t say that.
“Right. So, Addie, do you want to write down everything that you saw for me, and then I’ll see if I can sketch it. Once I have, you can tell me if it looks correct or if anything needs changing.”
Addie nodded. “I can try and talk.”
“All right, let’s get started. Tell me what you saw.”
Ten minutes later, Addie couldn’t talk anymore. Her throat was completely dry. She wasn’t used to talking this much, although she didn’t have to do heaps of talking for Greer to pick up what she was saying and draw it out.
She rubbed at her throat, and Monroe gave her a worried look. “You need something to drink.”
Addie nodded, even though it hadn’t been a question. Monroe stood, but Cash waved her away. “I’ll get it for her. Is water best?”
