Page 109 of The Sebastian Guarantee
“I don’t understand.”
Madelyn folded her hands in her lap. “When I came to Denver many years ago to make four nanny matches, there was a reason your uncle was the first to be matched in the group.”
“I’ll bite. Why did you match Uncle Row first?”
“You, Phoebe. You were the reason.”
Phoebe cocked her head to the side. “Was it because I was such a giant pain in the ass and my uncle needed the most help?”
That remark cracked the matchmaker’s demeanor, and the woman chuckled. “You liked dominoes when you were a girl.”
Another pivot.
“Yes, I like them because of my uncle. We played them all the time when I was growing up.”
“You started the domino effect, dear—well, more like the nanny love-match effect. I believe it was you who told your uncle you wanted Penny to be your nanny.”
“I did,” Phoebe answered, meeting her aunt’s eye. “I still remember when my uncle came to pick me up at school and you were with him. You were meant to be with us. I felt it here,” she said and pressed her hand to her heart.
“I did, too,” Penny replied, then brushed a tear from her cheek.
“And do you remember meeting with me before you met Penny?” Madelyn continued.
Phoebe nodded. “Yes, you came to the house with a box of cookies. We played dominoes, too. Wow, I forgot about that.”
“The moment I met you, Phoebe, I knew you’d decide the trajectory of the four Denver matches. You were the spark. When you chose Penny, that led me to Charlotte, then to Libby, and finally to Harper. It set off a series of actions and reactions that have gotten us to this place, right here, in a disco party bus with a stripper pole,” the woman finished with a ghost of a grin.
Phoebe stared at the matchmaker. Her mouth opened and closed like a flounder before she could form words. “But I was only six, Madelyn. How could you know I’d make the right choice?”
“Even then, dear, you were adept at something many people never master.”
“What is that?”
The matchmaker held her gaze. “Trusting your heart.”
“And that’s what we want you to do now,” her aunt Penny added, her eyes shining with tears. “Trust that part of you that brought this group together. Trust the wise, loving heart you inherited from your mom and your dad.”
Phoebe wiped the tears from her cheeks, so grateful to have her aunt and these women in her life. Then, for a beat, maybe two, it was as if her parents were with them in this traveling party palace. What a place to commune with the dead! She chuckle-sobbed, which she hadn’t even known was a thing until now.
“Do you feel that energy, Phoebe?” Libby asked softly. “It’s all around you.”
“I do.”
“And do you know what it is?” the woman pressed.
Phoebe nodded. “It’s them. It’s my mom and dad, or maybe it’s not them exactly. It’s their love.”
For a moment, no one said a word.
“Are we supposed to cry?” Harper sobbed, breaking the silence. “Because I’m crying. I feel like we should be crying. This is our Phoebe. Our first nanny love match kid. And we didn’t mess her up. Do you hear that, ghosts of Phoebe’s parents? We didn’t screw her up. Yay us!”
The women broke into teary laughter as Aria’s aunt’s comment lowered the pulling-at-the-heartstrings temperature and the party bus slowed to a stop.
Phoebe glanced out the window and saw the sign for the Denver Amphitheater, then noticed something else. There were people everywhere—and lots of kids. Droves of girls in pink T-shirts milled around. Was something in addition to LETIS Live going on? Perhaps an event in the open space next to the venue?
“Before you go, Phoebe, I insist you have a drink with us,” Madelyn said, then nodded to the bartender.
Phoebe studied the man. “Do I know you?” She cocked her head to the side. “I do. You’re the waiter from the bistro.”
