Page 18 of A Dead End Fourth of July (Tiger’s Eye Mysteries #14)

Tess

"Is this my Aunt Ruby calling, or is it the mayor?"

"Definitely the mayor," she said, chuckling. "Good morning, honey."

"Good morning. You're on speaker."

"Happy Fourth, Ruby," Jack said. "What do you need?"

It took us a while to get him to call Aunt Ruby and Uncle Mike by their first names, instead of Mr. and Mrs. Callahan or, as Uncle Mike once suggested, "that guy who's going to kick your butt if you hurt my niece."

Yes, my nearly seventy-year-old uncle had said that with a straight face to my tiger shifter then-boyfriend. And he'd meant it.

The memory made me smile.

Watching Jack's respectful response to that, and how wonderful he was with my family and friends, had been a big part of why I fell in love with him.

"Why do you think I need anything? Can't I just call to say hello to my favorite niece and nephew-in-law?"

"No," I said. "Not on a festival day."

"You should run and hide," Uncle Mike called out, probably hiding in their kitchen. "She's got a to-do list a mile long, and she already dragged me into it."

"You hush," she told my uncle. "Okay, now that you mention it, I have a few small things you could help me out with."

I groaned, but not too loudly.

"Yes, ma'am," Jack said, grinning at me. "We'll be there whenever you need us."

"I kind of need you now."

"We'll be there in half an hour," I said. "But I reserve the right to come home for lunch to escape the heat and crowds."

"Whatever you need, dear," Aunt Ruby said sweetly, which meant "fat chance," and we all knew it.

We hung up, and Jack filled our water bottles while I got dressed in a purple tank top and denim shorts and hunted up a bandanna and my work gloves. Aunt Ruby's "few small things" could be anything from helping Mrs. Frost set out baked goods to building the actual stalls.

I'd done all of that and more at past festivals.

Jack, no stranger to Aunt Ruby and her requests, put on an old Led Zeppelin T-shirt, hauled his toolbox out of the garage to his truck, and we headed off toward town.

"Do you really think the McKees are going to cause trouble at the fireworks?" I asked. "I mean, there are a lot of kids in that family. Kids love fireworks. If Lily and Bug find out their relatives ruined the fireworks, they won't be happy."

The new generation of McKees didn't show too many signs of following in their rowdy relatives' footsteps, and everybody in Dead End was grateful.

Jack shrugged. "You tell me. How serious were they about beating the sh…stuffing out of Cletus at your shop?"

"It was pretty serious. There were bloody noses and bruises and … oh, boy."

"Bloody noses and bruises and oh, boy sounds serious," he said.

I pointed. "No. Oh, boy, that."

It wasn't even eleven o'clock, but vehicles filled every available legal parking space and even some that weren't legal.

"We're going to have to park a mile away and walk," Jack grumbled.

"No, we won't. Eleanor said to come to her house. It's only two streets from town hall."

Oscar saw our truck pull up, so we had to go inside for a glass of lemonade. Eleanor was pretty as a picture in a yellow dress and a straw sunhat with a yellow ribbon. Bill wore a blue-and-white shirt with khakis, and Oscar was decked out in a red, white, and blue T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers.

Jack thanked Eleanor for the lemonade and listened carefully while Oscar told him all about how he'd been researching motorcycle repair at the library and online.

"I got him a book, too," Bill said proudly.

The change in Oscar was so significant I waited until the guys went out on the porch and drew Eleanor aside. "What happened?"

She knew immediately what I was talking about.

"Jack happened. Well, once Bill found out the truth, he had a serious talk with his daughter and son-in-law.

They're still getting divorced, but they had a long video call with Oscar and apologized to him for trying to hide things from him by sending him here.

They're going to let him spend the rest of the summer with us—"

"Are you okay with that?" A twelve-year-old took a lot of energy.

She smiled. "I am, actually. He and Zane are getting along so much better now. I really hope Jack meant it about letting Oscar help with the motorbike, because he'll be so disappointed if it falls through."

"Jack always means what he says. Believe me, he'll be in touch with Oscar after today to set something up."

She hugged me. Because I'd known her forever, and hugged her long before my talent kicked in, it was okay. As far as I could figure, people I'd hugged before that first vision were grandfathered into being safe from my gift.

"Should we go?"

"Why are you going so early? Most of the stuff isn't even set up yet."

She sighed. "Ruby called and asked if I could help with a 'few small things.'"

"And you're wearing a dress?" I glanced down at my work clothes, and Eleanor laughed.

"Oh, grasshopper. You must learn from the experts. If I'm dressed like this, she can't ask me to crawl around beneath the bleachers setting up extension cords."

Jack opened the door for us, his eyebrows raised. "She did that to you?"

"And much worse, over the years. Even long before she was mayor, she was president of this or chair of that, and I got 'voluntold' to do a lot."

Bill grinned. "I think part of why Ruby was so happy at our wedding was she knew she'd gained another person to commandeer."

"Okay, troops," I said, saluting. "Let's go see what few small things await."

"Me too?" Oscar said, all but jumping up and down with excitement.

Jack walked over to the truck and pulled out his toolbox. Then he reached back in for a smaller version and held it out to Oscar.

"Seems to me that a fellow who's going to help rebuild a motorcycle needs his own tools."

Oscar's mouth fell open, and he froze.

"For … for me?"

Jack made a show of looking around. "Do you see anybody else who's going to help me with that bike? Or the work that we need to do today?"

"No! It's me, it's me!" Oscar raced over and took the toolbox from Jack with such awe and reverence it made me tear up a little.

"He's going to be a great dad," Eleanor whispered.

This just made me choke.

In fact, I choked and coughed so hard I had to pound myself on the chest to stop.

"Don't start!" I hissed at Eleanor, but she was laughing so hard I doubt she heard me.

There was nothing else for it.

I had to fire her.