“I’ll call you. Text you. Every day, I promise.” He kissed me and then, before I could ask questions or make any objections, he was out the door and gone. I took a long, steadying breath and followed him to the door to watch him drive away, but I was too late.
His truck was still there, but Jack was gone.
7
Tess
The rest of the day was normal. I sold things, bought things, took a couple more things in pawn. I also gave away at least two dozen zucchinis from the plant Ollie left on my counter. The perfectly ordinary-looking zucchini plant that somehow grew new full-size fruit every single time I turned my back on it. Since I’d had far more dangerous magical objects in my store, I shrugged and just went with it. There were going to be an awful lot of Dead Enders eating zucchini bread over the next few days.
Around five o’clock, Aunt Ruby called. I smiled at my customer and handed her the package I’d carefully wrapped for her—a faux-Tiffany lamp with gorgeous colored glass—and answered my phone.
“Tess, hi, honey. Can you come for dinner? We’re going to have meatloaf. I know you love my meatloaf,” Aunt Ruby said, speaking just a little too quickly.
Something was wrong.
“What’s up, Aunt Ruby? Don’t bother to tell me everything’s fine.”
She sighed. “I never could hide anything from you or your uncle. It’s not a huge thing. It’s just … we got a large donation—”
“We?”
“The town council, well, really, Dead End itself. A large donation—”
“How large?”
“Will you let me tell you this?”
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“Large enough that it’s absolutely going to cover the purpose it’s earmarked for, according to the lawyer who delivered it.”
She paused, and I counted to three before asking.
“What purpose? You seem freaked out. Is it something weird? The McKees don’t want to grow marijuana in the town square again, do they?”
She laughed. “Probably, but this isn’t that. The donor wants to fund a new, full-time deputy position. The donation is enough to cover a salary plus benefits for at least twenty years or, if we’re careful about investing it, maybe in perpetuity.”
I blinked. “I must admit, if I’d tried to guess, I’d never have come up with that. Really?”
“Really. The town council is thrilled. Susan is practically doing cartwheels, or at least she would be if she wasn’t so distracted by her awful family. I’m the only one with doubts.”
It only took me a few moments. “Because you’re worried that whoever donated the money may want some sort of concession. Or maybe for our law enforcement to look the other way when they break the law?”
“Exactly! Everybody else thinks I’m being too suspicious, but I take this mayor job seriously, Tess. I don’t want to make a big mistake.”
“You said lawyer. Can’t you work something out that it’s clear in a signed agreement that everything about the donation and your acceptance has to be completely aboveboard?”
“Hmm. Maybe? You know … that might be perfect. Come to dinner! We’ll figure this all out. I told your uncle that I needed to run it past you. Your business mind is excellent, honey.”
A wave of warmth swept through me. It had taken Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruby a long time to see me as an actual adult, and I wasn’t entirely sure they always did, even now, so this was a genuine compliment.
“Thanks, Aunt Ruby. I’m not sure I can tonight, though. I’m pretty tired. Also, we went to the beach this weekend to walk around, so I have chores and laundry to do. Maybe a raincheck?”
“Sure, honey. Hey, have you heard from your grandmother since Christmas? It just occurred to me that maybe this is from her? She’s the only person I can think of who has lots of money to do something like this.”
“No,” I said slowly, thinking. “I heard from both her and Dad then, but not since. She’s so busy organizing the banshees, and Dad is doing some top-secret undercover work with the feds, I think.”
“At least he’s on the right side of the law this time,” she said tartly. She was not a huge fan of my dad—my Uncle Mike’s younger brother—who’d abandoned me after my mom died. I’d only been three years old.
