I smiled. This kid tickled me. “It was actually stellar.”
“Really? How come?” Tyler asked.
Beside me, Seraphina shifted slightly to get a better look at me.
“I wrote a song this morning. Just came out of nowhere,” I said. “Which hasn’t happened in a long time.”
“How did it come to you?” Seraphina asked.
“A phrase popped into my head. Then more came during a run. And more in the shower. I grabbed Georgia and started playing around and it just came out.”
“Georgia?” Seraphina asked.
“My guitar.” I felt the back of my neck grow warm. “Musicians often name our instruments.”
“Georgia was my mother’s name,” Seraphina said. “Weird, right?”
I didn’t know what to say. Goosebumps traveled up my arms. What were the odds? “Thatisweird.”
“Kind of like the number sixty-one,” Tyler said.
Tyler was watching us like a ping pong match, with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Mom named her keyboard. She has this weird outer space looking ergonomic one.”
Seraphina dropped her face into her hands. “Don’t tell him about that.” But she was laughing.
“I saw it yesterday in your office. C’mon, you have to tell me what you named her.” I held up a hand. “Wait, let me guess.”
“Fine.” Seraphina took her cap off, leaving it on the table. A crease had indented her forehead. If only I could smooth it out with my thumb. “What you got?”
“Okay, I’m thinking it’s a she,” I said. “Objects are always women.”
“That’s correct,” Seraphina said.
“And it might be something sentimental. Or someone you admired?”
“Nope, not it,” Seraphina said.
“Is it ironic?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Seraphina said. “Actually, I don’t even know when I started calling her that.”
“Okay, let me take a guess about Madam Keyboard. Tippy? Like Typey?” I made a typing motion with my fingers.
They both laughed.
“No. Think less on the nose,” Seraphina said.
“I need a hint,” I said.
“Think about what you might name a cow,” Tyler blurted out, clearly loving this game.
“A cow? Hmmm, let me see.” I thought for a moment. “Daisy? Petunia? Oreo?”
“Definitely not Oreo. Or the flower names,” Seraphina said.
“Bertha?” I asked.
Seraphina turned all the way toward me. “How in the world did you just guess that?”
