Apple of My Eye (Tiger's Eye Mystery #7) - Alyssa Day Page 0,20

me' walked up out of the blue and started hitting on me."

That woke Jack up. "He did, did he? Where does this Brig live now?"

"I turned him down flat, and it seemed like he wasn't used to rejection, because he started sending me unwanted gifts. Flowers, candy, a bracelet—"

"Those were actual diamonds, Tess," Aunt Ruby interrupted. "I still think you should have kept it or sold it. You could have bought Lou a lot of cat food with that money."

I laughed. "Right. But no, in spite of my aunt's materialistic tendencies, I didn't keep any of it. I gave the flowers and candy to the Dead End Senior Center, because I wasn't going to spend my money to return them to him, and I mailed the bracelet back certified mail with extra insurance, signature required. After that, I didn't hear from him again."

Jack gave me a steady look. "Do you think he might be reminiscing about old times, with the festival coming up again?"

I threw my hands in the air. "No. Maybe? No. it just doesn't make sense. For one, it's been years. Two, it's a long way from flowers and candy—"

"And jewelry," he said, his voice low and calm.

"Yes, okay, and jewelry, to amputated fingers."

"Tess." Uncle Mike reached over and took my hand. "Wounded pride makes men dangerous."

"Not only that," Jack said, pushing his chair back and standing. "There was, after all, jewelry in that box. Maybe this is escalation."

I stood too. "I don't think—"

"You're probably right. But you also just so happen to know a private detective," Jack said. "I'm going to spend the afternoon doing some detecting."

"But… Okay." He was right. He was the detective, and if he could find out something that ruled Brig out of the suspect pool, that would at least be something. "I'll wait to tell Susan about this until you find something out. No use adding to her work if he's out in Fiji on his yacht or something."

"He has a yacht?" Aunt Ruby looked wistful as she started gathering plates. "I always wanted to go somewhere on a yacht."

Uncle Mike took the plates out of her hands, put them on the counter, and then pulled her close for a hug. "Well, my love. I happen to know a handsome fellow who's crazy about you and has a canoe. How about we go out on the water this week?"

"As soon as we're sure Tess is safe," she said, but she smiled at him. "Now help me get this cleaned up, since Jack has detecting to do."

I hugged them both, and then Jack and I took our leave. When we walked outside, I glanced over at the barn.

"I'm just going to go give Bonnie Jo another apple or two. Are we still on for our date? In spite of all this craziness?"

Jack touched my cheek. "It will take more than dangerous stalkers and Brigham Hammermill the Fourth to drive me away. I'll see you at six?"

I grinned. "I'm almost afraid to say this, but… it's a date!"

All the way over to the paddock, I kept waiting for the meteorite to hit me on the head.

6

I was slightly nervous when I went home. I parked as close to my porch as I could without running over my hydrangeas, and craned my neck to try to see if anybody had left anything on my porch. It didn't look like it, but the present the night before had been on the back porch, after all.

I locked my car—also a new development, locking cars; nobody would have stolen my previous car if I'd paid them to do it—and ran up the stairs, unlocked my door, and hurried inside.

"I hate this," I told Lou, who blinked sleepily at me from her perch on the back of the couch. "I hate that this stalker person made me feel unsafe in my own home."

I hung up my church clothes, poured a glass of iced tea, and then spent some time cleaning and checking my rifle. I tried to practice with it once every couple of weeks these days, and I'd gotten to be a better and better shot. Jack would be surprised when he saw how much I'd improved, and Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruby would be proud.

"A woman on her own needs to be able to protect herself," my aunt and uncle liked to say, and they'd done their best to raise me to be strong and independent. I was lucky to have them, even if they still did