Apple of My Eye (Tiger's Eye Mystery #7) - Alyssa Day Page 0,49

up the drive, happy to see that Uncle Mike's truck was already there. I couldn't wait to see Shelley.

Jack, on his motorcycle, roared up behind me when I was getting out of the car.

"Just in time," I told him after he dismounted the bike and took his helmet off. "You can help me carry all this pizza inside. And thanks, by the way, but you don't have to pay for the food every single time we eat together."

He shrugged, and I got distracted by the muscles in his broad shoulders.

"Um, what?"

"I said, you paid for lunch yesterday." He grinned at me. "I missed you today."

"I missed you too." I stepped closer with a vague idea of kissing him hello, but then my front door slammed open and Shelley came running out.

"Jack!" She leapt off the porch, bypassing the steps altogether, and raced over to us, hurling her little body through the air into Jack's arms. He caught her and gave her a big hug.

"Now this is a welcome," he told me. "You could always try saying hello like this."

"Maybe later, if you're lucky," I said, enjoying the way his eyes widened. "Come on, you two. We have pizza to carry inside."

Shelley wore jeans and a T-shirt with a picture of the St. Augustine lighthouse on it. She'd been a thin, nervous child when we'd gotten her away from her dangerous cousins, and the transformation since then had been almost miraculous. Her light brown hair was thick and glossy, pulled back in two braids, and she'd gained some weight from Aunt Ruby's home cooking, so she was a healthy, sturdy, little girl now, with the same bright blue eyes she'd always had.

When Jack put her down, she ran over to me and hugged me like it had been weeks since she'd seen me instead of just a few days.

"Tess! I might get to live in Europe! For a year! With my uncle!" She was jumping up and down so fast that I could barely understand her. "In London! Do you know how much history they have in London? I'll be surrounded by history! Isn't it great?"

"I—what? How?" I didn't know what was happening, and I definitely didn't think the idea of Shelley leaving town was great.

Uncle Mike walked out on my front porch. "Shelley, why don't we bring the pizza inside and let Tess sit down before we tell her the story, okay?"

"Sure!" She took two of the pizza boxes out of the car and raced up the steps. "Come on, Tess and Jack!"

"I wish I had her energy," I said, shaking my head. "I'd have a pawnshop empire."

"Yeah, but you'd have to bounce a lot. That seems like it would get to be exhausting," Jack said, grinning. He took the rest of the pizza boxes and closed my car door, and we followed Shelley into my house.

Uncle Mike gave me a quick hug. "I fixed your outdoor faucet."

"Oh, the leak? Thanks. But I could have done that." I put my bag down on the couch and gave Lou a hello head scratch.

"I just had to replace the washer assembly, no big deal. And I have more time on my hands these days than you do, what with your pawnshop empire and your new role as the official Swamp Cabbage Festival mascot and all." He tried and failed to keep from laughing. "You can bet I'm going to get video of this, after my video camera malfunctioned during the—"

"Don't say it," I warned him.

Jack, who'd taken the pizzas into the kitchen, walked back into the living room. "During the what?"

"Never mind," I told him. "We will never speak of this. Ever."

Uncle Mike's eyes twinkled but to my great relief he said nothing.

"So, what's this about Shelley going to London? For a year?" I followed the sound of humming into the kitchen and gave Aunt Ruby a hug. Then I washed my hands and got out paper plates for the pizza, because I might have good manners, but I was not about to wash real plates just for pizza.

"Wash your hands, Shelley," Aunt Ruby said.

"I did! I did, I did!" Shelley held up her hands for inspection. "Just before Tess got home. I had to go to the loo."

She beamed at all of us, clearly proud of her first attempt to speak British.

"Okay. Everybody get some pizza, and then let's sit down and explain this to Tess," Aunt Ruby said. She was smiling, but I'd known her all my life. I could