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“The early spring is really helping, Jessie Yes, I think the grounds willthumbs, coht purple sweatpants

Mr Touided life coach, had finally gotten tired of buying bleach and changed the color of our house sweats frooyle form, and also a color that didn’t show bloodstains as well Why Edgar needed sweats at all was beyond ed form, and even when he did, he becaed with hiic of the original Ivy House teaive you brain bubbles

I surveyed the colorful bloo flowers from my position at the back corner of the yard They were everywhere—crowding the side of the house, pushing up to the edges of the vivid green grass, lining the hedgeI wander into for a few hours of “fun,” and now popping up between the trees at the edge of the woods I knew there were just as many flowers on the other side of the house and scores of the the front Even if he hadn’t insisted I take a tour with hirounds, the sheer volume was hard to miss

“Yes, they are really co” I nodded dutifully, then chose ar didn’t take criticiserous person onto the grounds unwittingly, and now he kept suggesting that I retire him every time he uy kept trying to get me to kill him “Did you buy out the flower store, or…”

“Oh no, Jessie, don’t be silly I don’t buy flowers—I grow theh I wanted to h”

I nearly -winded, hairy creature who’d helped ar’s precious flowerbeds He’d wiped thear had not taken it well Clearly he worried the situation wouldn’t be a one-time deal

“Ah I think you do Have enough, that is,” I said

“Yes, that’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about” He pulled his thumbs out from the band of his sweats and clasped them behind his back “I wanted to work on oldfish situation” He hung his head a little

“The goldfish was depressed anyway, Edgar…probably, and no one bla it Granted, yes, when you were changing the water, you probably should’ve known to take the fish out of the sink before pulling up the drain stopper, but et me the fish in the first place” So

“Well, be that as itacross the ly planted with no rhyn “I’ers, and I auilty, but I wonder…” He ran a fang across his bottoether We had no idea why, but I’d had to forbid hiht see him and freak out If they didn’t believe in vae their tune “I’ve noticed a few…discrepancies in n”

Ah So he had been thinking about design, he was just bad at it

“What kind of discrepancies?” I asked as I felt a fa to Ivy House’s front door

It was Austin, the enormous, vicious polar bear shifter who’d recently accepted the number one position on the Ivy House council He’d also finally staked his clai us, a job he’d been doing without the credit for years He’d only held the new post for a matter of months, and already crime was down by seventy-five percent in the nens he had a presence in No one wanted to mess with him, which made me that much happier he was on my side

“Well…” Edgar bent a little at the waist, clearly uncomfortable

Austin’s path changed; he was now co to feel people’s positions on Ivy House’s property, soic could do

Butterflies danced in uilt Ivy House had given Austin the ability to draw iven his natural talent for coaxing out the best in people, andin leaps and bounds So the little joke I’d pulled on hi my new ability for explosions to create a small blast next to hi hiush of it, and poor Austin had paid the price