Page 50 of Where It All Began
Elvira’s smile was warm. “I can’t imagine living anyplace else. I may not have blood here, but I do have family.”
“Do you want to get married? Have a family of your own?” Phoebe pressed.
“God no! Not after the shit show my parents put on,” she grinned wickedly. “I like being exactly who I am without worrying about fitting someone else into my life.”
“That’s very Blue Moon of you,” Phoebe winked.
“What if staying here was an option?” Elvira mused.
“You mean what if $20,000 fell into my lap, and I could go wherever I wanted?”
“Dream big,” Elvira advised.
Phoebe lifted her shoulder. “I don’t know. I’ve been on this path so long. I was going to go into research, you know, help identify new technologies, new biochemistry applications.”
“Stop it with your farm geek speak,” Elvira laughed, pretending to fan herself.
Phoebe grinned and bit her lip. “I don’t know. There’s something so hands-off about that side of things. You know? I’ve spent the last few weeks hands-on. Up to my elbows in dirt and produce and weed spray and… I love it.”
“Ladies,” the smooth baritone of a world class flirt interrupted their conversation. Michael Cardona grabbed a chair from the other table and pulled it up to their table, slinging a leg over the seat. He helped himself to a piece of Phoebe’s fritter.
“Help yourself,” Elvira snorted.
“Is that Cardona out there?” Dixie, her cloud of white hair framing an unlined face like a halo, yelled from the door of the Airstream.
“It is, Ms. Dixie,” Michael said fixing his most flirtatious smile in place.
She rolled her eyes. “Save it for someone ten years younger. I suppose you’ll be wanting a coffee?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he called. Dixie disappeared back into the trailer.
“What brings you out today?” Phoebe asked Michael.
“Sheer boredom. Four days without a call. No fires, no accidents, not even a damn ferret stuck in a tree.”
“That’s because you made Alfie promise to keep his pets on a leash after the last time,” Elvira pointed out.
“I didn’t realize that would lead to a life of boredom,” Michael sighed heavily. Dixie returned, shoving a mug of steaming black coffee into his hands.
“Thanks, Ms. Dixie.”
“Save it, Romeo.” She bustled back into her cocoon, and Phoebe could hear a newspaper crinkle.
“How did your dance with Hazel go last night?” Phoebe demanded.
The tips of his ears turned pink. “Are you blushing?” Elvira gasped, pushing her sunglasses down her nose. “Well, as I live and breathe, Michael Cardona is speechless and turning pink!”
“I am not!” Michael rubbed the tip of one ear. “It’s the sun. Shut up.”
“You liiiiiike her,” Phoebe teased.
No one missed the upturn of his mouth. “Shit. Okay. Yeah. I like her, and the dance was… nice.”
“Which one?” Elvira grinned wickedly, twirling a curl around her finger.
“You danced with her more than once?” Phoebe gasped.
Elvira held up three fingers.
