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The connection, however, was one-sided.
Aria’s scowl deepened. “Put that hot dog girl back on.”
Yikes.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she sang, switching back to opera mode as Phoebe turned the phone around.
“That’s the aunt?” Aria asked—no, growled.
“Yeah,” Phoebe answered. “That’s what happens when your uncle marries your nanny. You’re like me, Aria. My uncle hasn’t married my nanny yet, but he’s going to. I helped him propose. Honestly, if it wasn’t for me, my uncle would be a mopey, nerdy, working machine.”
Rowen shrugged. “She’s not wrong.”
“So, Aria,” Phoebe continued. “Do you like fairies? Do you like cameras? Want to learn how to ride a donkey? How many cookies can you eat in sixty seconds without puking?”
A heavy silence descended.
Maybe Aria needed a little time to warm up to the changes in her life.
She shared a look with Landon. His skin tone had reverted to seasick green.
Did he know something she didn’t?
She gave him a weak grin. There was no reason to expect the worst. This video call might have been a good thing. She remembered how hard it was to start at a new school after learning she’d never be going home and would live permanently in Denver with her grandparents.
“Hey, Phoebe?” Aria said, piercing the bubble of silence.
“Yeah?”
“Can you give my uncle Landy a message?” the child asked sweetly.
“Um…duh, he’s right here, silly. Of course I can.”
“Tell him he can…eat worms, sucker!” the child cried at the top of her lungs.
She had a decent vocal range.
“Okay,” Phoebe replied with a shrug.
“And tell him I’m not going to school ever, ever, ever. And he can’t make me. And I don’t want a smelly nanny aunt either.”
Hello, Miss Hot Temper USA.
The video call ended, and you could hear a pin drop.
“Wow,” Phoebe whispered, wonder coating the word as she handed Landon his phone.
“Yeah, wow,” Landon replied and scrubbed his hands down his face.
“You’re supposed to eat worms,” Oscar said, relaying the message everyone within a thirty-mile radius had heard, loud and clear.
“I got it,” Landon replied with a weak grin.
“You know what, Landon?” Phoebe said, eyeing the man.
“What?”
A wide grin stretched across Phoebe’s face. “I like Aria,” the child gushed.
