"Hurry up," Sally urged. "I haven't had any breakfast. Maybe it's chocolate, or a bunch of cookies or something."

**Why food?" Jenny used her thumbnail to slit the tape that held the hd on.

"Because of your dog," Sally explained. "She's sitting there drooling like it's got a steak in it. Maybe it is a steak."

*That's not very romantic," Jenny said. She slit the last piece of tape and fumbled with the lid. "But I guess it would be original. There!"

The lid was finally off. Jenny let it drop to the floor and pulled out several wads of white tissue paper. One last piece. She lifted it off. And froze.

At the bottom of the box, nestled on a bed of more white tissue paper, was a rattlesnake. A dead rattlesnake. Jenny knew it was dead, because its severed head had been placed carefully on top of its limp, lifeless body.

Chapter 7

Jenny felt her stomach chum; she screamed, a short, high-pitched scream, and jfiung the box across the room. It hit one of the tall windows and dropped to the floor with a soft thunk. She didn't wait to see what happened to the snake. Whirling around, she ran into the kitchen and gulped down some water, holding the glass with both shaking hands.

Sally was right behind her. The two of them stared at each other for a second, both of them looking shghtly sick. Sally recovered first. She took a big breath and then let it out in a whoosh. "Talk about your unusual gifts," she said. "That has to be the grossest thing I've ever seen. Some admirer youVe got."

Jenny shook her head. "It couldn't be from him. Yesterday he left me flowers." She went back into the living room and pointed at the vase on the mantel. Some of the flowers were drooping badly, but most had made it through the night. "See?" she said. "And he called, too, and he sounded just as nice as

he did the first time. Nobody sends flowers and then follows it up with a dead snake. It's someone else."

"I guess you're right. Somebody must be playing a joke." Sally agreed. "But whoever it is sure has a weird sense of humor."

"Sick, you mean." Jenny shivered in disgust and risked a glance at the box. Peaches was nosing around it, sniffing loudly. "Peaches, stop it!" She said it roughly, and the dog slunk away.

"Hey, you didn't tell me he called again," Sally said, obviously trying to change the subject. **What'd he say? I take it he hasn't revealed his identity yet."

"Not yet." Jenny was still eyeing the box. Had Brad come back and left it?

Sally was looking at the box, too, and suddenly a grin broke out. "Now that I think about it, that's a great way to let somebody know how you feel about them."

"It's not! It's disgusting!" Jenny cried. "How can you laugh about it?"

"Sorry," Sally said. She stopped smiling, but her eyes were still twinkling. "I can't help it. I always laugh at the wrong time."