Her gaze was pleading, leaving him no room to refuse.
"Since it's a secret, I won't press you about it. I'm not going to leave you, Nora. As long as I can see you, I feel like my life has meaning. Even as a friend, I wouldn't abandon you to a flood and run off to save myself. That's not who I am."
"Okay. Can you tell me a joke? I want to hear one. Even if it's not one you wrote, I know it'll be funny coming from you."
Leon Lynch took out his phone. "I'll find one online for you. How about I read it out loud?"
She pursed her lips into a smile. "Okay."
She lay down, and his voice, clear and pleasant, drifted to her ears.
"'A guy goes to a pet store and says, 'I want to buy a parrot.' The owner shows him one and says, 'This parrot is special. If you pull its left leg, it sings 'Jingle Bells.' If you pull its right leg, it sings 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'' The guy asks, 'What happens if I pull both legs?' The parrot glares at him and squawks, 'I fall on my butt, you idiot!''"
