"See how easy it is?"
Our eyes meet and my stomach does something weird. I'm not sure how to reply because she's licking her lips and it's distracting.
"Yeah," I say finally. "Easy."
Maggie holds my gaze a fraction longer and if I'm not mistaken, she looks a little flustered too. Then she clears her throat, reaches past me for the bowl of eggs, and pours the egg mixture into the pan. She picks up the pan, tilts it, swirls, and slides it into the oven. "There. Now let's make a quick salad. Also easy, I promise."
The salad is, in fact, very easy. She tells me to tear the lettuce while she slices half a cucumber and two tomatoes. She tips everything into a wooden bowl, squeezes a lemon over it, pours olive oil, and adds a pinch of salt. "Done."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
The oven timer goes. Maggie pulls the pan out with a dish towel and tips the tortilla onto a plate with a single confident flip. There it is, sitting on the plate, gold and round and perfect.
I gasp. "That looks amazing."
"You made it." Maggie laughs at my astonishment. "How about we take this outside?"
32
MAGGIE
Sloane cuts off a corner of the tortilla with her fork, puts it in her mouth, and her eyes close. She makes a sound — low, in the back of her throat — and her shoulders drop a fraction as she chews.
"Oh my god, Maggie."
"Good?"
"It's so good." She opens her eyes. "The potato is soft but it's not mushy. And there's the chili but it doesn't take over. And the egg is delicious."
"You've probably never eaten eggs this fresh before."
"Right." She takes another forkful. "Of course."
I sip my beer, needing distraction from the way she eats. It's so sensual to look at it's becoming an issue.
"Mmm…" Sloane tries a forkful of salad. "This is Michelin compared to the diner."
"Yeah, we can agree on that. I don't actually eat at the diner, ever. Mostly because I'm a vegetarian, but even if I weren't — I'm not really into beige food."
"You're a vegetarian." She squints at me. "Of course you're a vegetarian. You run an animal sanctuary. I should have realizedbut it didn't click, even with those delicious vegetarian lunches you make."
"I'm no chef," I say. "I just make simple food with fresh ingredients. Mom is much better."
She pushes some salad around her plate. "I don't think I'll be in a hurry to eat pork ever again after working here. Dolly is so sweet and Gerald has started letting me scratch under his chin. I've been having fried fish at the diner lately. The chicken reminds me of… well… the chickens."
"Gerald lets you scratch his chin?"
"This morning. I was kneeling next to him filling up the water and he leaned in and pushed his head against my hand."
"Gerald isn't too keen on people, you should be honored."
Sloane smiles and she looks gorgeous in the light of the low sun. "You're doing really good work here," she says.
"Thank you."
"No. I mean really. I didn't understand it when I got here. Assumed it was some weird hobby." She winces. "That was stupid. If it weren't for you, those animals wouldn't be alive or they would have never seen daylight."
