LXV

The next morning, Rudi must have been waiting for me at the front door. I could smell her as soon as I made my way down the stairs. I had just rolled out of bed and was half a sip through my first cup of coffee when she knocked. I looked up to Isaac, silently imploring him to send her away, but he only shrugged and made his way over to let her in.

“Hi!” I heard her chirp. “Is Maise ready to go?”

I glared back at Isaac over my mug of coffee when he glanced back at me over his shoulder.

“No,” he said confidently. “How about I just walk her over?”

At least he was learning I was not a morning person.

I heard Rudi laugh lightly. “That’s okay, I can wait. I’m a little early, anyway.”

Early, she was. The clock on the microwave claimed she was a good half hour early. Which was forty five minutes early in Maise time.

“Your funeral,” Isaac mumbled under his breath, but Rudi must have missed it, because she waltzed right in.

“Good morning,” she sang, but I just shook my head. “You’r