Page 32 of More Than Meets the Eye

I bared my teeth at him. “Wrong. No singing clowns. No ukuleles.”

“Jack’s right!” Lucky said.

“Finally,” I said. “The voice of reason.”

“We get a ribbon and tie the ring around the old man’s neck. Then Jack wrestles the gator, and the winner gets Tess!”

I stared at him in disbelief, but it wasn’t until his face turned red that I realized I’d actually grabbed him by the throat. I lessened the pressure, but I didn’t let go.

“The winner gets Tess?So, if by some horrible circumstance I lose to the gator, then I’m dead and she’s lunch?”

Lucky made a choking noise.

I scowled at him, but let go.

He grinned. “Yeah, so I didn’t think that all the way through.”

“How about I tieyouaround the old man’s neck?” When I stood, Lucky ducked away from me, laughing so hard he almost fell over.

“How about something simple, like you put the ring in a pinata? When she cracks it open, she gets the ring, and you get candy,” suggested Austin, noted sugar addict.

I sighed. “Look, you boneheads?—”

But they were laughing so hard they didn’t hear me.

When they finally caught their breath, Lucky thumped me on the back. “Tess is an amazing woman. You’d be lucky to have her. Good luck.”

“Yeah, sure, but tell her I’m free if she says no,” Mateo said, grinning.

Ahugetractor.

“Enjoy the sandwiches and beer,” I said. “I have to go talk to a jeweler.”

I was halfway to my truck when I had an idea, so I turned around and went back.

“Hey, Dallas, Austin, do you know a way to modify the town text loop so everybody in townexceptTess gets a single text chain?”

They both raised eyebrows at me at the same time. The twin thing was a little creepy sometimes. “Can a gator eat a tourist?”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that means you can do it?”

They shrugged. “No problem. What text?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out. How much lead time would you need to set it up?”

They looked mystified. “Lead time?”

“Yeah. Advance warning for all the tech stuff?”

Austin looked at his brother. “Five?”

Dallas nodded. “Ten would be better.”

“Hours?”

They cracked up. “Seconds, Jack. Give us ten seconds. We’ll get set up, so we’re ready to go when you give us the word.”

“Thanks. I mean it.”

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