“You won’t get away with this. You have to know that. Hurting me will only make things worse.” I manage to grab ahold of her wrist just below the handle of the knife and we wrestle for it, our limbs locked above our heads in a struggle for power, for survival.
Patricia lunges at me with her body and knocks me off balance. Her arm falls hard over me as the knife slices through the sleeve of my sweater. Without hesitating, I knock her to the wall, pinning her to it with my body, and I pluck the knife right out of her hand.
The sound of footsteps thundering in this direction comes closer by the second.
“Lottie!” A familiar deep voice resonates from the other side of the wall.
“In here!” I cry as I glance to the door, and Noah bursts in with his hand across his waist.
In an instant the roles are reversed, and my back is pressed to the wall, the blade of the knife to my neck as Patricia Rutherford holds me down as efficiently as a wrestler. A move I’m sure my sister, Meg, would approve of.
“Freeze!” Noah holds the barrel of a gun our way, his legs parted, straddling the weapon he’s holding erect before him.
The tip of the blade pinches my flesh. That horrifying barrel only seems to grow larger. Never in my life have I been so afraid. Never in my life have I been so utterly helpless. Can’t breathe. Can’t feel a thing. The ground feels as if it’s rising to meet me.
My knees give out, and Patricia jerks the knife away. I roll my body into hers and she topples to the floor, hitting her head with a hard thud. Without putting too much thought into it, I flick the knife out of her hand and send it spinning across the room.
“Lottie!” I look up to find Everett bursting in behind Noah, along with a couple of deputies with their weapons drawn.
“It’s safe,” Noah barks, and every weapon in that room slowly disappears.
A flock of deputies are on Patricia at once. Noah pulls me to the side and wraps his arms around my body in a hard embrace, his lips running a line of kisses up and down my cheek. He pulls me back and inspects me, his eyes pausing on the gash in my sweater.
“You’re hurt.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Lemon.” Everett steps in close, and Noah loosens his hold on me. “What the hell happened?”
“She confessed,” I say it loud enough so the arresting deputies can hear. “She was trying to kill her husband, and he gave the pills to Collette. The poison was never meant for her. It was meant for Brad Rutherford. Everett, you’re clear. You can get back on that bench come Monday,” I pant through a smile. “I saw him again. He helped me.” My chest heaves as I breathe the words below a whisper.
Noah gives my arms a gentle squeeze. “Who did you see? Was it Mr. Rutherford?”
My mouth opens as I look to Everett and shake my head. “I guess, it might have been. I don’t really know who it was.”
Everett pulls me into a partial embrace. “I’m glad you’re safe, Lemon. I owe you.” He takes off, and Noah reels me back in.
“Lottie.” Noah inches his head back so he can get a better look at me. “I’m sorry we had a disagreement.”
I shake my head and press a finger to his lips. “I’m sorry. I know that you want to keep me safe.”
His eyes close for a moment, and it feels as if he takes the light from the room. “I was terrified when I found you with a knife to your neck. I’m glad you’re safe, but if I didn’t get here in time…” His Adam’s apple rises and falls.
“I’m sorry I put you through that. But I’m safe and Collette’s killer has been caught and is officially off the streets.”
“You did it.” A sly smile creeps up his cheek.
“But I’m sure you and Ivy were about to close in.” I can’t help but tease him.
A dull laugh rattles through his chest. “Actually, we just closed in on the perpetrator who vandalized Everett’s place.” He averts his eyes as if his find embarrassed him on some level.
“Don’t keep me in suspense. Who was it?” My heart starts to drum once again, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the perpetrator—it’s one hundred percent this gorgeous man who’s holding me in his arms.
“Steven Jenner.”
“Her brother!”
“The funeral left him feeling helpless, and he confessed to his mother. She called this morning and apologized on his behalf. There will be a fine, and it’s up to Everett if he wants to file charges.”
“I doubt he will. He’s pretty forgiving.”
“Are you?” He winces.
“Always. The only thing I won’t forgive is if you don’t kiss me right this second.”
A lascivious grin blooms on his lips. Noah takes my mouth as if he owned it, hot and reckless, and he does very much own it. He can have his way with my mouth, and in less than a month, he can have his way with the rest of me, too.
We make our way back to the competition just in time to see Crystal Mandrake holding the keys to her brand new cargo van, and I’m okay with it.
She can have the van.
Everett can take his rightful place on the bench, and I can have the first good night’s sleep in a very long time.
Chapter 52
There are so many things that I am thankful for, my family, my friends, the special man who stole my heart. But this time of year has me thankful for even the smallest of pleasures, a smile from a stranger, seeing the joy a cookie can bring a child, a cozy fire, a slice of pie, a mug filled with pumpkin spice everything. I am so very thankful for the town I call home, for the people who reside in it, and the fact that now we can all sleep a little bit sounder at night.
If I’ve found anything to be true, it’s that love conquers all. Noah and I leaped over this latest hurdle. We are still trying to find our parameters, file down the rough edges of who we are. But we’re okay with that as long as we are on our way to becoming who we’re destined to be—together.
After a breakneck pie-baking marathon, after all three hundred sixty-five pies were picked up—more or less on time—I closed down the shop last night and spent my first full day off from the bakery cooking up a storm in my new kitchen. Noah and Everett helped with the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. My mother brought the mashed potatoes and candied yams, and Lainey brought the green bean casserole—sans Tanner who didn’t bother to show even after he said he would. It’s probably for the best. The less Lainey sees of him the better. And, of course, I baked a couple of pies—two pumpkin, two pecan.
Noah moans through a bite. “Best pie I’ve had in my life.”
Everett lifts his fork as he savors a bite. “I agree.” He looks my way. “You should really consider opening a bakery.”
The room breaks out into a warm laugh.
Keelie and Nell stopped by for dessert, and Nell laughs the longest at Everett’s little quip.
Nell lifts her cup of cider, and the rest of us follow suit.
“To the formidable Lottie Lemon.” Her face breaks out into a series of comma-like wrinkles as she smiles with all she’s got. “You are a wonder, and you have been ever since the beginning. Truly the one who steals your heart will have a treasure to behold, as we all do.” She gives Noah a hint of a wink.
“I second that.” Mom lifts her mug even higher. “Lottie, dinner was fantastic, dessert is divine—and no more stumbling upon dead bodies, missy!”
The room erupts into another round of joyful laughter.
“I’ll drink to that.” Noah touches his glass to mine, and we give a cheer as we sip cider next to a cozy fire, the scent of turkey and pumpkin pie still clinging thick in the air.
Everett clears his throat. “I’ve got something I’d like to say.”
The room gifts him our full attention, and even Pancake wags his tail from the sofa, that perennially bored expression of his pinned right on Everett.
“Lottie, we’ve been through a lot this last month alone. You believed in my innocence even when others brought it into question.” He pauses to glower at Noah. �
�You not only helped me work through some personal matters”—his quiet gaze says thank you all on its own—“but you helped clear my name by catching a killer. I am indebted to you more than you will ever know, and as a small token of my appreciation, I hope you accept the gift I have for you.”
“A gift.” I touch my hand to my chest. “Everett, no. You didn’t have to do that. I’m fiercely loyal to my friends. Helping you was something that I felt I needed to do. Really, no gift is necessary.”
“It’s too late.” He rises and steps away from the table. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go and get it.” Everett takes off, letting in a brutally cold breeze in his wake.
Keelie presses out a nervous laugh. “Wow, Lot—you get the man, you bake a pie to die for, and you get prizes?” Her eyes tear up in an instant. “I couldn’t think of a nicer person to receive all of the above and more. I love you.”
“I love you, too. In fact, I love the entire lot of you and—”
The sound of a horn going off out front stops me cold. It toots three times fast once again, and our attention switches to the windows.
Lainey runs over and peels back the curtain. “Oh my word. Lottie Kenzie Lemon, get over here like yesterday.”
The horn toots into the night, and I open the door to see something that I will never forget as long as I live. Parked in the street with the motor idling is a beautiful white cargo van. On the side of the pristine door are the words Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery. Fine confections, coffee, and more!
“Essex Everett Baxter!” I shout his name like a reprimand as I race down the stairs.
Everett comes around and stands next to this mammoth display, and an entire jumble of words gets locked in my throat.
“It’s my fault you didn’t win that contest last week, Lemon. It’s the least I could do to make it up to you.”
“No!” My hands cover my mouth as a flood of emotions overtake me. I don’t like to cry in front of anyone, but tears seem to be flowing without my permission. “You have to take this back. It’s too much.”
My mother comes alongside of me and presses a sweet kiss to my cheek. “Just say thank you, Lottie. It’s a beautiful gesture.”
My lips part as I glance to Noah, and he gives a hint of a nod.
“Thank you, Everett.” I dive over him with a solid embrace. “As much as you don’t want the world to know it, you are a very sweet man.”
“Let’s keep that as our little secret. Among other things,” he whispers.
“You bet.”
I take Nell and Keelie, my mother and Lainey for a ride around the block. And when we get back, Noah and Everett haven’t killed one another, so that’s another thing to be thankful for.
One by one I say goodnight to them all with the exception of my two favorite gentlemen.
Everett looks to Noah and glances to the house. “You mind if I have a quick word with Lemon?”
“Not at all.” Noah looks pained but willing to go along with it. “I’ll go stoke the fire.”
Everett waits until the front door shuts before taking a breath. “I wanted to thank you one more time for helping me out with my dad. You know, I never knew what a weight I was carrying around until I absolved it. He was a special man, and now I realize how lucky I was to have him in my life.”
“That’s beautiful.” A light flickers behind him, and slowly a familiar form begins to take shape.
“Just wish I had one more chance to tell him myself. In fact, I’d like to tell him a lot of things. Catch him up on life.”
I look past Everett at his glowing blue lookalike. It’s as if a blue flame were lit up from within him.
“You can,” I say. “He’s right there.” I point over at him, and the old man nods toward Everett’s home and begins walking that way. “I think he’s headed to your place. I’m not sure how long he’s allowed to stay now that you’re out of the woods, but I’m betting it will be long enough to hear whatever it is you have to say.”
A quiet laugh bounces from him. “Wait up, Pops!” he calls out. “I guess I’d better go.” He lands a chaste kiss to my cheek before heading down the street. “Thank you, Lemon. You really are the best.”
I head back inside, and Noah and I warm one another by the fire while Pancake watches with a disapproving scowl from a pillow on the sofa.
I steal a bite out of Noah’s lower lip and linger, running my fingers over the five o’clock shadow on his cheeks. “Guess what’s coming right up?”
“Black Friday. I already know. I’m about to pounce hard on the electronics section of the internet. I’ve already gotten my eye on four different flat screens.”
“Just four?” I laugh as I wrap my arms around the back of his neck. “I was thinking of something a little more exciting than a television. Like say, something very, very exciting about to take place at the beginning of December?”
“Ah, yes—the Parks and Recs Tri-City Community Christmas Party. Lainey mentioned that Tanner put in a good word for you and you got the gig.”
I growl at the sound of his name. “I’d like to think I would have gotten it despite his efforts. But regardless, yes, that is just a hop and a skip away. But I was thinking of what might be happening later that night, after all of my cookies and pies have been delivered.” My fingers walk up his neck, and I trace the outline of his lips. Noah Corbin Fox has full, beautiful, soft lips—exciting, dangerous lips, and I can’t wait to see what he can do with them once they’re taken off their leash.
“You ready for this, Lottie?” His lids hood low, and there’s a naughty connotation in his voice.
“Ready and willing,” I say.
“It looks like we have a lot to look forward to.”
“We do.”
Noah crashes his lips to mine, and we sit by the fire, showing just how thankful we are to have one another in our lives.
Yes, it is a season of thanks—but with Noah by my side, it will be a lifetime of thanksgiving.
Now if only I can stop the ghosts, the dead bodies, from cropping up in my life, I really will have it all. The last thing I want is a few secrets of the dearly departed variety threatening to stop us before we ever really get the chance to begin. But this kiss right here suggests that Noah and I can never be torn apart.
The fire growls out with an earsplitting crackle as if it heard, and Noah and I pull apart for a moment. My stomach cinches with the seemingly insignificant action. It’s unnerving, debilitating to think it might have been supernatural.
I bring his lips back over mine where they belong, and we let the fire in our hearts warm us for the brilliant future that lies ahead.
Another explosive crackle emits, this time ten times louder than the last, and we pull away again, nervous laughter filling our mouths.
A part of me believes that Noah and I will have a brilliant future.
But another part of me says we won’t.
***Need more Honey Hollow? Read Gingerbread & Deadly Dread (Murder in the Mix 4) NOW!
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Mystery
Little Girl Lost
A Sublime Casualty
The First Wife’s Secret
Cozy Mystery
Cutie Pies and Deadly Lies (Murder in the Mix 1)
Bobbing for Bodies (Murder in the Mix 2)
Pumpkin Spice Sacrifice (Murder in the Mix 3)
Gingerbread & Deadly Dread (Murder in the Mix 4)
Seven-Layer Slayer (Murder in the Mix 5)
Red Velvet Vengeance (M
urder in the Mix 6)
Bloodbaths and Banana Cake (Murder in the Mix 7)
New York Cheesecake Chaos (Murder in the Mix 8)
Lethal Lemon Bars (Murder in the Mix 9)
Macaron Massacre (Murder in the Mix 10)
Wedding Cake Carnage (Murder in the Mix 11)
Donut Disaster (Murder in the Mix 12)
Toxic Apple Turnovers (Murder in the Mix 13)
Killer Cupcakes (Murder in the Mix 14)
Pumpkin Pie Parting (Murder in the Mix 15)
Yule Log Eulogy (Murder in the Mix 16)
Pancake Panic (Murder in the Mix 17)
Romance
Just Add Mistletoe
3:AM Kisses (3:AM Kisses 1)
Winter Kisses (3:AM Kisses 2)
Sugar Kisses (3:AM Kisses 3)
Whiskey Kisses (3:AM Kisses 4)
Rock Candy Kisses (3:AM Kisses 5)
Velvet Kisses (3:AM Kisses 6)
Wild Kisses (3:AM Kisses 7)
Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses 8)
Forbidden Kisses (3:AM Kisses 9)
Dirty Kisses (3:AM Kisses 10)
Stolen Kisses (3:AM Kisses 11)
Lucky Kisses (3:AM Kisses 12)
Tender Kisses (3:AM Kisses 13)
Revenge Kisses (3:AM Kisses 14)
Red Hot Kisses (3:AM Kisses 15)
Reckless Kisses (3:AM Kisses 16)
Hot Honey Kisses (3:AM Kisses 17)
Shameless Kisses (3:AM Kisses 18)
Value 3:AM Kisses Boxed Sets
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 1-3
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 4-6
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 7-9
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 10-12
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 13-15
3:AM Kisses Boxed Set 16-18
The Social Experiment (The Social Experiment 1)
Murder in the Mix (Books 1-3) Page 40