Page 28 of Eye on the Ball

“I had to stop at home and get that.” He pointed to a large box on my couch. “A little gift for you.”

“This is the surprise?”

“Yep. Well, not really. It’s the new softball uniforms we ordered.”

“Oh, great!” The team’s uniforms were pretty ragged, having not been replaced in years. I’d asked everyone to pitch in by leaving a jar at Beau’s Diner, and we’d raised enough for new uniforms, although they were pretty basic. Jack had pitched in enough to make up the difference, and so Tiger’s Eye Investigations was the team sponsor.

The jerseys should look pretty cool with the tiger logo on them.

I ripped into the box, pulled out the top jersey, and gasped.

That wasn’t a tiger on the jersey—it was Fluffy!

And Dead End Pawn was written in bright blue on the red and white jersey.

“What did you do?” I kept pulling jerseys out and then got to a second layer. “Pants, too!”

And socks. And ball caps. And even brand new cleats for everyone in shiny red.

“Jack! What is this?” I dropped a pair of shoes on the top of the pile and jumped into his arms. “You did this for me? You’re wonderful!”

I kissed him.

“Nah. I’d just feel weird wearing a tiger on my shirt. Like, the tiger wears a tiger. Bit much, don’t you think?” He grinned at me and then kissed me back.

I felt guilty for being so delighted when Ace was missing but pushed the feeling away. Sometimes, even when horrible things are happening, you have to find time to appreciate life’s wonderful moments. Jack had learned that lesson in his soldier days and made me see the truth in it during the tougher moments of the past year.

“You’re amazing.” I sent a quick text to the team chat group and loaded everything back into the box to carry to the ball field.

Jack dropped into a chair and put his hands behind his head. “So. If I’m amazing, does that mean you’re going to let me pitch?”

“Not a chance, kitten. Want something to eat before we go?”

“You even have to ask? And you can tell me all about this robbery.”

Crap. I’d hoped he’d forgotten about that.

12

Tess

Fortified by soup and sandwiches (one for me, five for Jack), we headed out to practice. My phone was blowing up with excited texts from everybody on the team about the new uniforms, except for Lorraine, who only wanted to know if her cleats were orthopedic.

Lorraine was a former Dead End mayor and the long-time hostess/chief server/woman in charge at Beau’s Diner, the only sit-down, full-service restaurant in town. We had Judd’s Pizza now, which had added a few tables, and soon we’d have Connor’s Pub, but I didn’t know what the menu there would be. I was a sucker for bar cheeseburgers, so I hoped there would be actual food and not just peanuts and chips.

Brenda called me. “That’s wonderful, Tess! Thanks so much!”

“You’re welcome, but really, Jack did this. I could only afford the basics. We’re going to look awesome!”

“Riverton will gnash their teeth,” I could hear dark satisfaction in her voice.

“Any news about Ace?”

She sighed. “No. Not that anybody told me. Every Truckman in the family tree has popped out of the woodwork to call me and accuse me of nefarious doings, though. I had to hang up on Probie.”

“I really hope Ace shows up soon. Maybe he just ran off with some woman or one of his bros.” I didn’t have a lot of hope, though.

“Yeah,” she said bitterly. “I know just which woman he would have run off with, too. I tried to call her, but she isn’t answering her phone, either.”