Apple of My Eye (Tiger's Eye Mystery #7) - Alyssa Day Page 0,45

lot, so I hurried inside. I pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and drained half of it, and then I started the coffee. I put the donuts out on the counter by the cash register with plenty of napkins, and by the time I'd done that, the first tourists were heading into the shop.

"Welcome to Dead End Pawn!" I pasted a smile on my face and cursed whoever'd invented margaritas. Eleanor was nowhere to be seen, but I hadn't really expected her after last night's double whammies of the hussy and drunkenness.

A tiny little baked apple of a man wearing screamingly loud plaid shorts and a pink polo shirt walked up to the counter, peered in the donut box, picked one up, took a bite, put it down on my freshly-Windexed counter, and then picked out a different donut.

I stared at him. Even my nine-year-old sister knew better.

He had the audacity to wink at me before he turned around and walked away.

I picked up the discarded donut with a napkin, tossed it, and then went into full-on "helpful pawnshop owner" mode.

"I don't think you'd really want that, unless you have a problem with basilisks," I told the elderly sisters who were fighting over who got to buy the bottle of potion that could transform someone from a stone statue back to a person. Yasmine, the garden witch who'd sold it to me, had said it would lose its efficacy after five days, but the cut-crystal bottle was so pretty I'd been unable to resist.

It had only been three days since I'd bought it, and I wasn't completely sure what the potion would do if taken or applied to the skin for no reason. I really needed to make a special locked case for anything supernatural and only allow Dead End residents access. The plain vanilla humans who wanted to buy magical items always left me in a quandary of how much responsibility I would have if something went wrong.

I talked the sisters into each buying lovely pink bottles of rose-scented perfume that the same garden witch had created. It was absolutely lovely and completely free of any magic. And then I chatted, listened to vacation stories, admired pictures of grandchildren, and rang up sales for the next forty-five minutes or so until it was time for them to move on.

"We're trying out the Commando Swamp Boat rides today," Mr. Holby told me. "I worked out a deal with those boys."

I smiled and handed him an envelope that contained his two hundred dollars for the month. He brought the bus to my shop each week, and I tipped him fifty bucks per time for doing it. Since he set the itinerary, he could take the tour anywhere he wanted.

I was glad to help him want to bring it here.

"Thanks, Tess. See you next week! We'll be in on Monday again."

I waved and thanked everyone and then, after the last of them was out the door, I cleaned up the mess. Donut crumbs and a few sticky fingerprints this time, not bad at all. My headache was gradually going away, thanks to two bottles of water, three cups of coffee, and the Tylenol, and I was starting to feel almost human.

Then my Aunt Ruby walked in and ruined everything.

"Good morning, honey. So, here's the deal."

I groaned. "No. There are no deals. I know better. The last time you started off with 'here's the deal,' I wound up standing on a parade float in a prom dress with MISS DEAD END written in sequins on a sash across my chest."

"Tess—"

"No! Do you know how long it took for me to live that down? God forbid Jack ever gets wind of it. He'd tease me forever."

She looked thoughtful. "I must have pictures somewhere."

I narrowed my eyes. "Is mayorcide a word? Aunticide?"

She smiled, and I realized she'd been teasing me. Today, she wore black pants, low heels, and a peach-colored blouse. She looked lovely and very mayoral. Not at all like someone who wanted to ruin my life. I walked over and hugged her before she told me anything more about the deal, because I undoubtedly would not want to hug her afterward.

"Coffee? A donut?"

"No, thanks, honey. So. Before we get into things, how was your date?"

"This is uncharacteristic reserve for you, Aunt Ruby. We went on that date more than twenty-four hours ago. I expected you to be at my house waiting for us Sunday night when we got back." I