Apple of My Eye (Tiger's Eye Mystery #7) - Alyssa Day Page 0,3

has that effect on people. And, knowing Aunt Ruby, he'll be invited to Thanksgiving dinner."

"That, at least, you don't have to worry about. I shipped him back off to Michigan, where the authorities have a ten-year spot in a very nice jail cell waiting for him. He was breaking his parole. I emailed them the videotaped confession, and the police chief up in Lansing asked me if she could borrow Mayor Callahan for a few months to clean up crime in their city."

"She'd probably do it too, but don't let her go until after Thanksgiving," I told Susan, only half joking.

"No worries. Our new mayor is my secret weapon," she said, laughing.

"Okay. Well, you and Lucky and Yorick, there, should head on out now and do whatever you need to do, while I get the Lysol out and spray it all over the place, in case any residual death cooties have shed themselves in my shop," I said, making shooing motions with my hands. "And, Lucky? Please, please, don’t bring any body parts into my life or shop, ever again, okay? Just… no."

He grinned and held out his arms as if to hug me, but I wagged my finger at him and made aanh, aanh, aanh sounds. "Not a chance, buddy, until you sterilize yourself. Now, out! And tell Molly to call me. I miss her."

"She left to go play a few gigs in New England, but she should be home by Thanksgiving," Lucky said, an enormous smile lighting up his face so much that he looked like a model in a toothpaste commercial. He had it bad for my best friend, and I was happy for both of them.

I just wished she could be around more.

I waved them off and went back to work, not really in the mood to watch the Great Skeleton Handoff of 2020, but not really in the mood to do anything that required focus, either, like payroll or taxes.

I was feeling uncharacteristically low and kind of lonely, to be honest.

Aunt Ruby was so busy with her new job that I hadn't seen her much, and Uncle Mike had been occupied with some secret project he wouldn't tell me about. Jack was… well, forget Jack. And Molly had been gone a lot, touring with her increasingly famous band, and even when she was home, she spent a lot of time with Lucky. They were still in the new-relationship-excitement phase.

Even my new sister Shelley was busy as president of both the newly formed robotics club and the newly formed history club at school that she didn’t have a lot of time to hang out with her big sister.

I stared unseeingly at the new, professionally printed sign taped to the customer-facing side of my cash register:

WE DO NOT DEAL IN VAMPIRE TEETH, EVER

Then I spent a minute or two wallowing in a big, fat bout of self-pity.

But, finally, I gave myself a mental smack on the forehead, because I am just not a wallower.

I'm more of a 'get your butt in gear and bake something or clean something' person when I feel low or stressed. Since I was at work, baking was out, at least until this evening, but I could always clean.

Glancing around, however, reminded me that my little shop was already shining. Business had been slow for a few days, but I knew the Swamp Cabbage Festival shoppers would be coming in soon, so I'd spent my spare time getting Dead End Pawn into tiptop shape.

Being bored and lonely equaled shiny, shiny floors, evidently.

Ack. Now I was even boring myself.

Wait. Swamp Cabbage Festival shoppers… I hadn't put up my decorations yet! I usually jumped on that the first of September, but why not do it a little early?

"Mood, shmood," I sang out to Fluffy, who, as usual, didn't answer. "It's time to put out the autumn decorations!"

In the course of the next ten minutes, I pulled the boxes of decorations out from the back, cranked the music up to high, and climbed my not-lonely-at-all self up on the stepladder, hanging pinecone wreaths, putting out pumpkin spice candles, and getting in the Swamp Cabbage Festival mood. I was singing loudly along to Kesha We R Who We R when the bells over the door chimed, signaling a customer.

"I'll be right with you," I called out, concentrating on trying to thread a bit of glittery gold ribbon through a rather plain-looking wreath.

"No rush," a very familiar voice drawled. "I'm just glad to discover that the noise was