Page 130 of The Nanny and the Nerd
He sat up straight. “Yes?”
“Were you a”—she tapped her foot twice—“to Penny?”
“Phoebe,” he sighed, running his hands down his face. But the kid was right. He had been a realtap-tapto the woman.
“I know she’s sad, Uncle Row. She smiles at me, but it’s not the same smile she has when you’re with us.” Phoebe walked up to his desk and picked up the empty wooden domino box he couldn’t quite put away. “Is it me? Are you still mad about the dominoes and the Game Boy?”
He stared up at the ceiling. How do kids do it? With one word, one frown, they completely tear you to shreds.
“No, it’s not you. I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself,” he confessed.
“You could always ask Penny for a do-over, Uncle Row,” the child suggested, and damn if that didn’t crack his iceman exterior.
“Phoebe, it’s not that easy. I have a lot of work to do. I have to prioritize my time. Do you understand?”
The child walked around his desk and handed him the box. “You’re sad too, Uncle Row. You remind me of this box.”
He stared at it. “How so?”
“It’s hard on the outside, but there’s nothing inside of it.”
This kid didn’t miss a thing!
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do feel a little empty,” he agreed.
“Because you miss Penny?” Phoebe supplied.
He tried to muster a smile. “Yes.”
He couldn’t lie. He didn’t have the energy. And the kid deserved the truth.
Phoebe perked up. “Then you need to ask Penny for a do-over!”
“Phoebe,” he began. How does one explain to a six-year-old it wasn’t that easy? He ran his hands through his hair, wracking his brain when Jerome returned.
“Sorry to bother you again,” his assistant said, peering down at his phone. “Your mother called my line looking for you along with Regina Sullivan, Madelyn Malone, and some guy who barked out a line of expletives. He didn’t leave a name.”
Jesus! There weren’t enough hours in the day!
“I’ll take care of it, Jerome.” He didn’t know who would call just to curse, but he’d been ducking his mother and Mrs. Sullivan all week.
“Nana Cece called?” Phoebe chimed. “I saw Nana Cece yesterday.”
“You did?” Rowen asked as the child beamed.
“Yeah, Penny and I went to her house and had ice cream after school.”
Double shit!
He hoped the work excuse would keep the fawning women in his life at bay until he could get the AI-77 situation under control. But he needed to know what kind of damage control to employ. He turned to Phoebe, going for casual. “What did you talk about with Nana Cece?”
Phoebe scratched her chin. “The boat trip, the swimming pool.” The child’s light dimmed a fraction. “I told Nana Cece about the sink or float experiment. And then I told her that you had to leave super-fast and couldn’t stay for the nighttime cookie party.”
“Anything else?” he pressed.
Phoebe gasped and slapped the desk with her hand. “Oh! And that you live here now, and me and Penny live at the house.”
Triple shit!
