Page 44 of Who Pissed Off Ivy Dell?

“They look better on you, anyway.”

Ivy

No Illusions

Jensen makes us cheesyscrambled eggs for breakfast. It looks too early outside to be eating breakfast, but he says he has to be at the gate before people start showing up.

“Is this the only way you know how to cook eggs?”

“No. I can make them without cheese, too.”

“Oh, good. If the winery doesn’t work out, you can always open a restaurant.”

“I bet a restaurant that served nothing but scrambled eggs would be a hit.”

“Maybe a food truck. You could offer all sorts of toppings. Serve it on a folded waffle like a taco.”

“Your brain really does just take an idea and run with it. It’s impressive.”

“Not everyone is impressed by it.”

“They should be.”

We finish our breakfast, and he drives me home to Sparrow’s Song.

It’s not quite sunrise, and I could use a few more hours of sleep, but if I crawl into my bed, I’ll sleep half the day away. I take a shower instead, make some coffee, and sit on my back patio to watch the sun finish coming up.

A roadrunner zips toward me to snap up a scorpion that I hadn’t seen. It was several feet away, so no threat, but I didn’t know it was there until the roadrunner got it. Those birds are fearless. If they want it, they take it. Even rattlesnakes and horned toads. “Where were you when I was trying to get my laundry done?”

The roadrunner cocks its head at me with the scorpion still in its bill. Then it zooms off to a rock to finish disabling its prey. Nature is brutal.

I hear footsteps at the side of my casita. “Hello,” I call out, hoping I’m talking to a human.

Zara laughs. “Aw, I didn’t know you were outside. I was trying to sneak up to your back door and scare you.”

“Did you have a good night with Dice?”

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“No. Of course not.”

She sits next to me. “He’s fun.”

“If you say so.”

“What is that bird doing?”

“Beating a scorpion to death.”

“Cool. Glad I asked. How is your tattoo?”

“Uncomfortable.”

“It’ll heal soon. And then you’ll have a beautiful reminder of this place.”

“I’m going to have a lot of those.” The wind kicks up and causes my screen door to slap against the frame.

“You are still coming back home, right?”

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