Page 143 of The Nanny and the Nerd
“Penelope! We’re here!” her mother cooed, then greeted Libby, H, and Charlotte. “And look who I’ve got with me!”
Penny hugged her sisters. “It’s great to see you both. But what are you doing here?”
Claudia leaned in. “We’re here for you.”
“You flew in for my competition?” Penny asked, still in a state of shock.
“Yeah, we got in a few hours ago,” Diana answered.
Fresh-faced, the women looked fantastic.
“Aren’t you exhausted?” she pressed.
“We each flew in on a private jet,” Di answered with a twinkle in her eyes. “I slept like a baby for the entire flight.”
Harper whistled. “Private jets?”
“They were sent for us,” Claudia answered.
Sent for them?
Diana and Claudia shared a look, and Penny gasped.
“I know that face! That’s your twin-speak face. What’s going on?”
“Penelope!” her mother chided. “Can’t your sisters support you? Think of how many events you’ve attended for them.”
Penny studied her mother. “Did you recently suffer a head trauma, Mom?” She turned to her sisters. “Did Mom have an accident while she was visiting you guys?”
“I’m perfectly fine,” her mother replied, answering for the twins.
“No, you’re not. You haven’t mentioned Thomas Edison or accounting once,” Penny tossed back.
Her mother’s flowery, flippant demeanor grew serious. “I think we’re through with the motivational quotes.”
Penny scanned the woman from head to toe. “Seriously, Mom, are you okay?”
“Let’s just say I’ve learned a thing or two in the last couple of days.”
“About?” Penny asked, not sure she wanted the answer.
“About you,” her mother began. “About the qualities your father saw in you that I was too blind to acknowledge. You’ve always chosen your own path, honey. I’m sorry it took me this long to honor it.”
Penny cocked her head to the side. If she hadn’t heard her mother’s words with her own ears, she wouldn’t have believed them!
“So, you’re not here to give me a pamphlet on becoming an accountant?” she asked warily.
Beatrice Fennimore smoothed her already perma-smooth hair. “I’m here by invitation, as are your sisters,” she answered.
“Invitation?” Penny echoed.
“Yes,” her mother replied with a coy grin.
Penny studied her BFFs, who looked just as baffled.
“Ah, Penny! This must be your mother, Beatrice, and your sisters, Diana and Claudia,” came Madelyn Malone’s rich accent as the stunning woman in a scarlet red scarf sailed through the room.
“The nanny match lady is here, too?” Harper whisper-shouted, wide-eyed, as Madelyn joined them.
