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My nieces, Petra and Ashlie’s faces filled the screen, half of each s as they both said, “Uncle Will!”

I grinned atlife?”

Even though I’d just spoken with thele day and told me about their adventures Sometimes it lasted a couple oftoday was one of those ‘couple of minutes’ times

“We caught a snake, and took it into Granny’s RV, and she told us we had to sleep outside in a tent froetting slop for breakfast What’s slop?”

Mythat she used to threaten h with”

“I heard that, Willhelh-pitched voice said “And let ht in a venoht I was going to have a heart attack And your father al in the RV We would’ve had to trade it in, and I literally just found this one”

Myaway “Holy crap Girls Y’all knohich snakes are venomous!”

“Actually, we only know the ones that are in Texas,” Petra pointed out “We don’t know the ones that are dangerous in Nevada So really quickly Hey, e get home…” Petra trailed off “Ohhh, are you Cannel?”

Cannel, who’d been trying to stay out of the frame, froze with a bite of food in her mouth, and looked at me worriedly

I rolled ot that invite to the Grand Canyon?”

She shrugged, then turned to look at Petra

“Hello I a to? Petra or Ashlie?” Cannel asked sweetly

Petra pointed at her eyes “Petra I have the brown eyes Ashlie has gray And, if you could see us both standing, I’m taller”

Cannel nodded as if she were co it to memory

“That’s good to kno I’ll always be able to tell y’all apart At least until I learn your personalities a little better, anyway You look so ht be best, while you’re with your grandmother, to just not pick up snakes at all That way she doesn’t have to cut y’all’s vacation short You know you probably wouldn’t like that veryas going on a ca trip around the United States would be”