Really Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick

Author:Heather Vogel Frederick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2020-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

HELP! I texted Aunt True later that day, when dinner was over and Sirena finally relented and gave us our “shell phones” back. GOT TIME TO TALK?

I’d barely pressed SEND before my phone rang in response.

“What’s up?” my aunt asked.

“Carson Dawson, that’s what!” I paced the back lawn, fuming as I filled her in on our morning at the beach. What I’d thought would simply be a funny story to share had exploded into a looming disaster.

“Don’t worry,” she said when I was done. “I’ve got your six.”

That was military speak for “I’ve got your back.” If anyone could fix this, it was Aunt True. I had no idea how, or if it were even possible, but I felt better just hearing this.

“So what else did you do today?”

I gave her the rundown. Aunt True was particularly interested in Zadie and Lenore.

“Wow, they’re helping Sirena and her daughter choreograph your routine?”

“Uh-huh,” I replied. “The stuff they have us doing is actually pretty sweet. Not that I want to perform in public,” I hastened to add. “Especially not on TV. Oh, and we’ve been watching some of their old Esther Williams movies, too, like Million Dollar Mermaid.”

“Is that the one where she wears a gold swimsuit and crown and dives off a really high platform?” Aunt True is a “cinephile,” as she puts it—which is a fancy word for someone who is a big fan of movies.

“Yeah.”

“I love that one!”

“I liked it too. And Easy to Love. They’re kind of corny, but all the water ballet scenes were amazing, and Zadie gave us the behind-the-scenes scoop. Did you know that Esther Williams was pregnant when she did most of those water-skiing stunts?”

I could practically hear Aunt True’s eyebrows shoot up. “That’s amazing! Wait until I tell Rusty!”

“He likes Esther Williams?”

“Rusty is a man of surprising depths. So what’s on the schedule for tonight?”

“A book signing.”

“Really? At Sirena’s?”

I explained about the Brewster Store, and Saga of a Ship.

“That new book I sent you?”

“Yeah.” I was just about to tell her my theory about Nathaniel Daniel and Cherry Island, when she interrupted.

“Oops, gotta go. Hair ball.”

Memphis, my aunt’s cat, was a feline conveyor belt for hair balls. Everyone in my family was used to Aunt True dropping everything when one appeared, which they did with alarming regularity.

“Okay. Bye!” I replied, but she’d already hung up.

I made a detour to Whelk to grab my copy of Saga of a Ship, then headed back to Mermaid HQ to meet up with the group that was heading to the Brewster Store. Zadie and Lenore had decided to join Mackenzie and Cha Cha and Jasmine and me, as had the ladies from Sand Dollar. Meanwhile, the four high school girls plus Hayden and her mother had opted for Sea Siren Night. Somehow Hayden had gotten it into her head that she might be able to sing on TV during the revue and get discovered by some big Hollywood talent agent. If you asked me, though, which nobody ever did, the only thing that was going to be discovered was the fact that she was a pain.

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