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“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” she said, but neither her heartthrob husband nor his hellion niece heard her over their arguing.
She plucked two bonbons from the tray and threw one at the red-faced pop star, then lobbed the other at his firecracker of a niece.
“What the hell?” Landon barked.
“Yeah, why are you being a bonbon-wasting douche nozzle?” Aria exclaimed.
“Because I have the answer,” she tossed back, ignoring the kid’s excellent use of the naughty words.
“And what’s that?” Landon asked, skepticism coating his question.
She straightened her posture, feeling like a damned genius. “We’ll live in my house.”
For a good ten seconds, neither Landon nor Aria made a peep.
“You want us to move in with you?” Landon asked.
She shrugged. “Why not? There’s plenty of room.”
“You live with your grandma, Harper,” Aria shot back, but she wasn’t clinging to the beam for dear life anymore.
“My grandmother is out of town for the next several weeks playing her harp with her old lady music friends in New Mexico.”
Aria’s scowl smoothed into a smirk. “Your grandma plays the harp?”
“She does, and she’s really, really good. She used to play with the Denver Symphony Orchestra.”
“Did she really?” Landon replied, losing the grouch in his tone.
“Yes, really.”
“Wait a second,” Aria said, swinging her legs. “Your name is Harper, and your grandma plays the harp.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
The little girl laughed, and the sparkling sound filled the room. “But you play the piano,” she answered, barely able to contain her giggles.
What was so funny about that?
“I don’t get it, kid. Why are you laughing?”
“You’re named after your grandma’s harp, and you play the piano,” the girl crooned, holding her belly. “Your name should bePiano-er, notHarp-er.”
That didn’t make sense, but she’d rather see the child smile than scowl. The kid continued cracking up, and her laughter was contagious. The heaviness that had swallowed the garage lifted, and she met her dare-match husband’s gaze.
“Piano-er?” she repeated, unable to hold back a chuckle.
Landon shook his head, laughing as he ran his hands down his face. “It is kind of hilarious.”
“You’re my Nanny-Aunt, and your name should be Piano-er,” Aria trilled, rocking with laughter.
“I’ve been called a lot of things, Aria. But you are the first to throw that at me.” She turned to the keys and made up a little melody for her new moniker. “I’m Harper, the nanny-aunt piano-er, and I…”
“Have a big hole in my sock,” Aria finished, giggling as she added to the silly song.
She stopped playing and looked down at her big toe peeking out from beneath a sea of electric orange. “You noticed that?”
The girl flashed a hardcoreduhexpression. “It’s hard not to see it.”
