“I know what you can use his muscles for.” She gives a sly wink. “You want to get the holidays started off on the right thrust, and I can’t say I blame you.” She takes off before I can correct her.
“Please”—I mutter as I carry a stack of pies out the back door and into the icy fall air—“I can have Everett anytime I want. I certainly don’t need to pull him away from a conversation he’s enjoying just to have my way with him.” It’s true. He’s been talking to Hook and Alex all night about the investment company they’re looking to start up.
“Good to hear,” a deep voice rumbles from my right. I nearly chuck all of the pies out of my arms and into the starry night.
“Whoa!” Noah flies right through me in an effort to stabilize them.
“It’s you.” I sigh with relief. “You’re not only a sight for sore eyes, you’re a sight for sore muscles. Would you mind?”
“Not at all. Hand ’em over.”
I slide the heft of them into his arms.
Noah blows out a breath he doesn’t need. “I’d do anything to take a bite out of one. These smell fantastic.”
“Sorry about that. So, have you been to paradise? The others are very elusive about it, but I’m dying to know what it’s like.” I wrinkle my nose at him. “Not the wording I was looking for. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m as dead as can be, and I haven’t seen it yet.”
“That’s because you’re not dead—enough.”
I open the van and help Noah shove the pies inside.
A shuffling sound emits from the left and we both hold our breath a moment—not that Noah needs his next breath at all.
A blonde in a rose gold gown giggles as she heads for the woods with a man by her side.
I suck in a quick breath, “Noah, I think that’s Cormack.”
“What?” He squints over at them. “Who’s that guy?”
“I don’t know. Maybe head over and spy on them. If she’s in trouble, come back and tell me. I’ll get help.”
His dimples dig in deep. “We make a great team whether or not I’m in the land of the living.” He lands a light kiss to my lips, and I shiver at the strange sensation.
Noah takes off just as Everett comes down the walk with his arms laden with pies.
“Rumor has it, we have a very hot date in the icy woods.” His brows bounce with the innuendo.
“I’d say yes, but Cormack beat us to it. How about we build a fire at my place afterwards and we can—” A full-blown argument erupts to our right and throws off my train of thought. “My God, that’s pretty heated.”
The sound of a woman pleading or screaming eats up the night, followed by a distinct pop.
“Oh my God.” I grip Everett and he’s quick to pull me in.
“That was a gunshot.”
“I’ll say.”
We head toward the building, carefully making our way around the corner to see if we can spot anything—like a madman with a gun.
Out in the parking lot, in between a dense population of cars, a piece of fabric shimmers on the ground.
I glance back at Everett. “See that?” I point over to it. “It looks like a scarf or a purse.” I start to head out and Everett pulls me in close to him.
“Not without me,” he whispers.
We edge our way over and a breath gets caught in my throat.
“That’s no scarf,” I whimper as we crest the row of parked cars to see it for what it really is. “That’s human hair.”
Red hair.
Everett and I take a step closer and my heart sinks once I see that all too familiar face.
Naomi doesn’t have to worry about being fired tonight.
Trisha Maples can’t fire another soul ever again.
Trisha Maples is dead.
Chapter 3
A shrill scream drills from my throat.
Lying prone in the street with a slice of my pumpkin pie spilled over her chest is poor Trisha Maples with her auburn hair splayed out, a trickle of blood around the glossy wound blooming over her heart.
“Lottie!” Noah swoops our way, panting as if he needed to, but I suspect it’s more out of habit than anything else. “Text Ivy. I’ll scan the periphery.” He zooms off, zipping around the dark parking lot like a pale blue flash of lightning. “Keep Everett with you,” his voice echoes unnaturally loud.
“Come on, Lemon”—Everett tries to pull me along—“we need to get help. And I’m not leaving you out here.”
“Noah said to text Ivy, but my fingers can’t seem to behave,” I pant the words out at my phone in a fit of frustration.
Everett shoots off a text for me, and within a moment Detective Ivy Fairbanks, Noah’s homicide investigation partner down at the Ashford County Sheriff’s Department, strides out in a long brown coat and a pair of pointed black stilettos. Ivy is a leggy redheaded stunner, and I’ve always suspected she had a crush on Noah. And how I hate framing that in the past tense.
“Get back,” Ivy barks at the two of us as she heads over to check for vitals. “The killer could still be at large.” She fiddles with her phone, and soon every deputy and fireman inside the Evergreen Manor drains into the parking lot.
Soon enough, the area is cordoned off and several more patrol cars are screaming their way through the night.
Noah zooms back, and I take up Everett’s hand.
“What did you see, Noah?”
“A shoe.” His glowing green eyes glance to the scene of the crime. “Tell Ivy there’s a high heel near the exit on the left side of the building. That’s all I found. A shoe.”
I bolt over and shout for Ivy, flagging her down before the owner of that shoe comes back and ruins Noah’s big find.
“Ivy!” I call out and she hooks those angry eyes of hers on mine.
“What?” she hisses as she stalks my way. “I’m in the middle of an investigation. This had better be important.”
“It is, I swear. Noah said he found a shoe outside on the rear exit.”
She takes a breath and softens a notch. “You mean Everett. You said Noah.” She gives a long blink. “I’ll have one of the deputies check it out as soon as they can.”
“Oh, they need to do it now. What if it’s gone? What if the shoe belongs to the killer? I mean, if it does, it’s obviously a woman, right? And Everett and I heard arguing and then a scream and a gunshot.”
Her pointed brows pinch together. “Did you see anything?”
“No, not a thing. We just came out to see what was happening and there she was.” My hand claps over my mouth. “Just lying there on the ground all alone.”
Ivy averts her eyes as if she’s not buying the emotion I’m dishing out.
“Very good, Lottie. I’ll consider that your official statement. I have good news and I have bad news for you.”
Everett steps over, panting as if he just jogged a long way.
“What is it? I want it all,” I ask, breathless myself.
Ivy curls her lips at both Everett and me. “The good news is, I’m able to release your gun back into your custody from last month’s debacle. Now that the investigation is over, we no longer need to hold it in evidence.”
“Yes,” I cheer quietly as I shoot Everett a brief look of glee. “I can’t wait to have Ethel back. That’s what I named her,” I tell Ivy. “She’s special. It’s the gun Noah and Everett bought me to protect myself.”
She closes her eyes and nods once again. “I understand.”
“And the bad news?” I’m almost afraid to ask.
“The bad news is, you don’t get to putz around in my investigation.”
Noah crops up behind her looking less than pleased—although I’ve lost track of how many times he’s said the same thing to me.
A plume of fog expels from Ivy’s nostrils and gives her a fire breathing dragon appeal.
“Now that Noah isn’t here, I think we need some firm ground rules.” Her jaw stiffens. “Please bear in mind they are strictly for your benefit
. You are a civilian, Lottie. On occasion, I feared that Detective Fox had lost sight of that fact.”
“Hardly,” Noah grunts.
“Nevertheless”—she continues—“you’re to abstain from every aspect of this case. And if I find you tampering with my evidence or my suspects, I won’t hesitate to have you arrested.” She shoots a sharp look to Everett. “That goes for you, too, Judge Baxter. I’m guessing it wouldn’t be the first time the two of you have been in handcuffs together. Have a good rest of the night. If I need either one of you, I know where to find you.” She struts back to the scene of the crime just as the coroner’s van rolls into the parking lot.
“She’s a battleax,” I say.
“She’s right,” both Noah and Everett chime in unison.
Everett tips his head at the airspace Noah is currently occupying, but he can’t see him so it’s just a pretty good guess on his part.
Everett’s chest thumps. “I don’t think it’s any coincidence that we can finally agree on things now that you’re all but gone.”
“Everett,” I’m quick to scold. “Behave.”
“I’m telling the truth. I meant no offense.”
Noah gives a wistful shake of the head. “And I take no offense to it. Everett specializes in the truth, Lottie. And I not only appreciate it, I happen to agree with him.”
“Noah, what about Cormack? Is she okay?”
He averts his eyes. “She’s with some guy.”
“What guy?”
“I’m afraid to tell you.”
“Tell me, now.”
Everett’s chest bounces. “You’d better tell her, Noah, or she just might kill you.”
“Funny.” Noah leans in and presses those glowing green eyes my way. “She was with Topper Blakley.”
“What?” I squawk so loud, half the deputies turn my way. “Cormack was with Grandpa Jones? What in the heck was she doing with him?”
Noah’s brows bounce. “What wasn’t she doing with him?”
“Oh.” I suck in a never-ending breath. “Eww!”
The deputies ask us to clear the area, and I’m about to tell them I’m related to the man who wears the shiny badge. Keelie’s father, Jack, is the sheriff himself. But Everett navigates me toward the building before I can get to it.
“Oh dear!” a woman’s voice emits from the side and we pause a moment as the sound of hoof beats prance in this direction. “I’ve missed it, haven’t I?” That luscious llama bounds over, batting her long lashes so fast I’d swear I could feel the breeze of a hurricane.
“Gemma.” Noah motions the magnificent beast over with a tick of his head. “Come meet Lottie.” He looks to me, suddenly filled with concern. “Is Toby okay?”
Toby is Noah’s Golden Retriever that he shares custody of with his ex-wife.
“Britney’s staying at your place with him.” I offer a guilty shrug.
“And?” Noah senses something is up, I can tell.
“And my new brother, Finn, is staying there with her.”
Noah gives an audible groan as if someone just kicked him below the belt.
Everett’s lips twitch. “If it means anything to you, Finn complains that he hates the shower. He says there’s not enough room for two.”
Noah offers him a disparaging look.
Finn is wrong, by the way. There is plenty of room for two. You just need to know how to work it. Noah and I have managed it on quite a few occasions, thank you very much.
Everett could fit half the bakery in his amply spacious shower. Just saying.
Gemma trots up, panting as if she just circled all of Honey Hollow.
“I just ran a lap around the entire building.” She elongates the last word until it sounds as if she’s braying. “My apologies. I’m afraid I’m not used to being earthbound anymore. And I haven’t figured out how to come and go around here. What’s happened? Who died?”
Everett glances in her general vicinity. “Trisha Maples. Someone shot her in the parking lot.”
The panting poltergeist seems to stagger on all four feet. “Oh goodness! Not Trisha. This is terrible! Somebody do something! Someone call the police!”
I comb my fingers through her fur and marvel at how soft she feels. “The sheriff’s department is already here, Gemma. Don’t worry. They’re doing everything they can.” Gemma is so sweet with that puff of frayed white hair sitting on top of her head, those adorable—albeit severely bucked teeth—I just want to land a kiss on her velvet nose.
Everett holds his phone between us and pulls up a picture. “Noah found a shoe.”
“Everett, I can’t believe you took a picture of that shoe! Good work.”
“I figured I’d better do it while you and Ivy were speaking. I had a feeling we’d head in this direction.”
I pull his phone forward and inspect it. “Were you ever right. Hey? It’s a picture of a dark navy stiletto with a gold band over the toe. Not a shoe you’d see every day. I bet if we go back inside, we might find someone holding her other shoe.”
Noah looks back to the rear of the building as Ivy heads that way with a couple of deputies.
“Come with me, Gemma,” he says. “I’ll teach you a few tricks.” They zoom off together, and Everett and I head back inside. We make our way into the grand ballroom once again and are immediately accosted by my mother.
“Lottie!” Her face is bright red, her eyes filled with rage. “Meg says she saw Topper leaving the building with some blonde tart. Say it’s not so. Did you see him out there?”
The music is so boisterously loud, the bodies only seem to have multiplied, and it’s thick with humidity in here compared to the icy air outdoors.
“Actually”—I shoot Everett a nervous glance—“I didn’t see anything.” There. In no way do I want to open a can of Cormack Featherby worms.
Lainey and Meg run up, wild-eyed, with Hook Redwood tagging along behind them. Hook is Meg’s official plus one. He’s tall, has a head full of wavy brown hair, and prior to moving back to Honey Hollow, he made Wall Street his stomping grounds. He’s as sharp as they come.
Lainey grabs me by the shoulders. “Forest just let me know there’s been another murder. Tell me you had nothing to do with it.”
“Of course, I had nothing to do with it.”
Meg snorts. “Did you find the body?”
My mouth opens, but not a word comes out.
Lainey stomps her heel. “Oh, Lottie. That’s it! I’m going to find somebody who is qualified to take this curse off you.”
“I’m not cursed, far from it.”
Lily trots up with Alex in tow.
“What were they eating, Lottie?” Lily leans in with such intensity I’m half-afraid she’ll fall onto me.
I let out a hard sigh. “Pumpkin pie.”
Lily pulls out her phone. “I’ll get right on it.”
Mom snaps her fingers. “Good thinking! And I’ll make sure to tell all my Haunted Honey Hollow tourists what to expect. Ooh, that pumpkin pie was so delicious. I think it’s that extra dash of nutmeg.” She gives a little wink.
“It’s the extra splash of vanilla,” I counter.
And it’s true. My mother has no qualms about profiting from the dead and the living alike. Now that her B&B is fully infested with poltergeists, she’s charging eighty dollars a pop for tourists to come and ogle the bevy of floating objects and the books that suspiciously knock themselves from the shelves. And once they’re good and spooked, she ships them off my way for what she’s dubbed The Last Thing They Ate Tour. Sadly, it’s a financial gain for both of us.
Lainey shakes her head. “I’ll fix this for you, Lottie. I don’t know how, but I will.”
I bite down hard on my lip. I don’t know why I’ve never confided in my sisters about my supersensual standing, but I haven’t.
“Oh!” Lainey lifts a finger. “Before I forget, could you drop by one night this week? Forest’s family is having Thanksgiving early because one of his sisters has to go to her in
-laws’ house on the big day, and they asked me to bake the pies. Could you teach me?”
“Are you kidding? I would love to. Meg, you should come to. We’ll do a little sister bonding. And you, too, Mom.” Now that she’s down a man in her life, I’m afraid of what she’ll do if left to her own devices.
Naomi runs up, her face as pale as the linen tablecloths set out all around us.
“Lottie, is it true? You killed Trisha Maples?”
“What? No. I don’t know who killed her. Someone shot her. I’m so sorry, Naomi.”
“Are you kidding? It’s the best news I’ve had all night. Ding-dong! The witch is dead. I’d better contact the higher-ups. It looks as if I’m about to get my old position back.” She takes off before I can scold her from emitting too much glee.
Hook offers to take Meg, Lainey, and Mom home and we indulge in one big group hug before they take off.
Everett and I quickly busy ourselves by looking for the navy high heel with a gold tip but to no avail. Whoever wore those shoes here tonight has long taken off. And we can’t even be sure she was the killer.
The music switches to something softer, something sad, and Everett pulls me into his arms.
“What are you doing?” I ask sweetly as I cross my wrists behind his neck.
Everett begins to sway our bodies to the rhythm, and soon enough we’re doing the unthinkable—dancing.
“I just think you need to catch a break, Lemon, and I want to be the one who gives it to you.”
“You just melted my heart,” I say as he bows in and lands a tender kiss to my forehead. Everett spins me slowly and I delight in the dizzy feeling that makes me want to close my eyes forever. And when I blink back to life, my heart gives a sharp wallop once I spot Noah watching from across the room. His glowing green eyes are feasted right over us, and before I can move or blink, he disappears to nothing.
It doesn’t feel fair.
It doesn’t feel right.
Not only did we stumble upon a murder, it feels as if Everett and I just killed Noah.
Everett is right.
I need to catch a break. We all do.
But first, I think I’ll defy Detective Fairbanks’ wishes and catch a killer.
Pumpkin Pie Parting Page 3