Macaron Massacre, page 12
part #10 of Murder in the Mix Series
“Why would he be unhappy with you?” My heart gives a few palpable wallops as if it were readying for a confession.
Claret gives Noah and Everett a wary look. “My father and I weren’t exactly on the best of terms lately. In fact, just before he died, the last thing I said to him was ‘I hope you eat it soon.’”
“Eat it?” Everett lifts a brow. “As in death?”
She makes a face. “It was a play on something he said about his birthday cake. Anyway, the anger stemmed back to the fact he cut off my credit cards about nine months ago and left me with a mountain of debt to figure out on my own. He stopped paying Michelle’s, too, but her career has taken off so she didn’t complain.”
Noah tips his head to the side. “Your mother said he cut her off, too.”
“Oh, he did, way back when.” She blinks up at him. “He cut us all off. And after all the sacrifices we made for that man. He didn’t give a lick about us in the end. We all wanted him to eat it.” She shakes her head. “And isn’t it just like him to complicate things even in death? He could’ve had a nice little heart attack or gotten hit by a bus. But no—he had to go and get murdered and leave us behind as suspects.”
I don’t quite know what to say to that. I’ve heard a lot of varying things from people who are grieving in the last few months, but I think Claret—what’s left of the Dallas clan, takes the cake.
She checks her watch. “I have to run. I’m meeting my boyfriend and his girlfriend for dinner.” She shakes her head, clearly disgruntled as she looks my way. “Be thankful your love life isn’t nearly as complicated. I’ll see you at the funeral.” She waves as she takes off.
A part of me wanted to correct her. My love life is exactly that complicated. Maybe good old Claret and I should have a coffee klatch one day and exchange horror stories from the front lines. My stories would trump hers because for one, my “boyfriend” has a girlfriend and a wife.
I take a deep breath as I thread an arm through Noah and Everett’s. “We’re off to see the wizard, and the wizard’s name is Meg Lemon.”
Chapter 13
The Jungle Room is the nexus of all things kinky here in Leeds and perhaps in all of the Western Hemisphere as well. A rainbow of lights bears down on us as we enter a rather large area outfitted with rock walls with metal latches protruding from them. Normally, I’d wonder what they were for, but half the men and women here are secured to the jagged surface by way of those rubber handcuffs I saw Meg carting around.
I groan at the sight of this place. “I refuse to be bolted to a wall. And I’m sure as heck not tying up either of you. This was all a big mistake. How about we leave and grab a pizza at Mangias?” That option, though delicious, is just as daring, considering the heartburn one can derive from a single slice of pie. Although, with Noah and me, back in the day, it seemed to have an aphrodisiac effect.
Meg scuttles over and grabs me by the elbow. “Oh no, you don’t. This is just a warm-up. We haven’t even begun to fight.” She lets out an ear-piercing whistle and calls the room to order.
A familiar couple bounds in through the back, and I feel a touch of relief at the sight of them. Keelie, with her hair in a ponytail, and Bear in a ratty old pair of sweats and—is that a pillow tucked under the crook of his arm?
Keelie bounds over. “Did we miss the good part?”
“Nope,” I’m quick to assure her. “Meg was just about to handcuff us all to one another and turn the lights out to see what happens.”
But, apparently, Meg has far more vanilla plans as she has us go around the room and introduce ourselves. As fate or my sister’s perverse need for drama would have it, Noah, Everett, and I go last.
“Hello.” I give a nervous wave to the sea of faces smiling back at me. “My name is Lottie Lemon—and I’m Meg’s sister.” I tip my head my beautiful sibling’s way—whom I will most likely kill later for putting me through this ripe humiliation.
“Noah Fox.” He lifts a hand to the crowd.
“Everett.” He nods to the crowd as well.
A woman in a tight red sweater—Judith from lower Hollyhock as she introduced herself—offers a spontaneous applause. “We’ve got two men!” she squeals, looking our way. “Finally! We’re so progressive tonight. How long have the two of you been together?”
I glance back, but there’s not a soul behind us, and then like a thunderbolt, it hits me.
“As a couple?” Red Sweater Judith is relentless with her inquisition.
Noah taps his chest. “Are you talking to me?”
Judith’s plus one, a hipster with a beard and skinny jeans, nods. “Yes, you. You and your boyfriend.”
Everett lifts a hand. “I’m actually here with Lottie. He’s just a straggler who wandered in the door.”
The room breaks out into rumbles as a collective consensus quickly builds that Noah should be ousted.
Meg laughs so hard I think I actually see her spouting tears. “Wait a minute! He’s welcome to stay. You see, my sister has two boyfriends.”
“No!” I shout as the crowd quickly turns on me. “I don’t. I’m actually good with just the one.” I point to Everett rather unconvincingly as the bodies in the room seem to edge in closer to me.
Keelie clicks her tongue as she waves the room to attention. “Lottie and Meg are both right. Lottie was dating Noah first, and then it turned out he had a wife and—”
The room breaks out into gasps and boos.
And who the heck is booing, anyway?
I’m suddenly fearing for my life. What exactly has Meg dragged me into again?
“I was separated,” Noah shouts over the increasing din of voices. “And Lottie and I got serious fast.” His eyes sweep my way, an apology buried in each one. “And—I may have hesitated in telling her about my separation. I’m at the tail end of my divorce. Lottie left me, but I’m hoping to win her back one day.”
A choir of voices coos over Noah’s perfectly romantic proclamation.
Judith bounces our way on her knuckles, and her legs remain perfectly crossed as she does her best primate impression.
“So, you’re the rebound?” She bites over her lip as she grins at Everett. A common response among women everywhere.
Keelie nods. “Yup. Mr. Sexy here was in the picture all along, though. Lottie and Everett have a friends-to-lovers romance. And from what I hear, the lover part is pretty steamy.”
Noah’s chest bucks, and I’d swear I just heard him gag.
Kellie proceeds to tell them all about how Noah went from frosting my cookies to persona non grata while I dove under the covers with Vermont’s premier playboy—her words, not mine. My God, never mine.
The room fills with whispers as one by one the women in the group close in around us.
A blonde with her hair in a chignon shakes her head at me. “You can’t let this go on this way. You’re toying with their hearts. Sure, your heart was broken, but they have feelings, too.”
Noah points to Everett. “He doesn’t have feelings.”
“Me?” Everett sounds affronted and rightly so. “Why don’t you tell them about the time we were stepbrothers for a season and you decided you wanted my girlfriend for yourself? I was the one with feelings. You were stone cold, heartless.”
Gasps of disapproval break out all over the room as various people make their thoughts known on the matter declaring that’s so cold, lame, and even a what were you thinking?
“All right.” Noah pats the air with his hands, trying to calm the crowd, which is quickly turning on him. “I was a kid. I had issues.” He glowers at Everett. “But the fact you’re a grown man didn’t stop you from exacting your revenge years later by snatching up Lottie.”
The crowd gasps again.
“Technically, I was single.” I raise a hand, but no one seems too interested in that little tidbit at the moment.
“It wasn’t revenge.” Everett picks up my hand. “It was organic.”
“More like orchestrated,” Noah quips. “You positioned yourself just right, and as soon as Lottie and I hit a rough patch, you—”
“I caught her when she fell out of your turnip truck,” Everett slips it in without missing a beat. “Yes, I was there—but only because Lemon wanted me there. I would never force myself on a woman. Lemon and I have an open and honest relationship built on trust—something you gave away when you left out the details of your life.” Everett glances to the group as they sit rapt at attention. “Do you know how we came to learn of his marital status? His wife.”
The room breaks out into an all-out riot of disapproval.
“It’s true,” Keelie shouts above the rumbling. “She stormed right into Lottie’s bakery and demanded to have her husband back.”
Bear nods. “They’re in couples’ counseling now trying to make it work.”
Noah wags his finger in the air. “The divorce is still on. It’s strictly procedural. As far as Lottie and I go—we’re simply on a break.”
The hippie winces at Everett. “Dude, you’re the break guy?”
Everett growls as if he might toss Judith’s boy toy to the wall. “I’m not the break guy. I’m the comforter.”
Judith clutches at her chest as she leans my way. “You poor thing! Nobody should go through something so traumatic. So, is that why the three of you are here? You’re looking to make it work together? As a threesome?”
“No!” Everett, Noah, and I say it in unison—loud and determined to make our position clear.
Noah lifts a hand in the air as if asking permission. “Once my divorce goes through, I’m hoping Lottie will give me another shot.”
A dark-haired woman in the back scoffs, and I can’t tell, but it might be Meg. “Get over it, detective. She’s moved on! Buy a clue.”
I crane my neck, and sure enough it was my sister. I’m going to kick her on the way out for this public ridicule.
“She’s technically right.” Judith shakes her head. “But the truth is, you’re on the rebound, Lottie. Everett—mmm, he is nice, and I’m sure he’s wonderful boyfriend material, but your heart is still tugging in Noah’s direction.”
Her hippie boyfriend shakes his head. “She can’t see it.” He rolls his eyes to Everett. “Dude, you need to give her a breather. Her head’s not clear. She just had her heart put in the shredder. Of course, she took you up on the offer to make her feel better.”
Everett flits his eyes to me then Noah. “I would have supported her whether or not she landed in my arms.”
Another round of coos breaks out, and I’m swooning right along with them.
The blonde with the chignon lets out an exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to step in and play the role of your best friend. I’m pulling the ripcord. No more Mr. Sexy. It’s not fair to him, and it’s not fair to the Fox. But most of all, it’s not fair to you, Lottie.”
Keelie grunts, and I recognize that wild look in her eyes. She’s about to pounce.
“I’m the bestie around here, and if my BFF needs a man to help sleep off her louse of a married boyfriend, then I’m her biggest cheerleader. Sorry, Noah.”
“No problem, Keelie.” Noah scratches the back of his neck, probably wondering how I talked him into this minefield of armchair psychologists.
Meg meanders over and lands next to Judith. “So, what’s the consensus? How does my poor sister proceed without breaking her own heart all over again and the hearts of these two men?”
Nell appears in the room, settling herself between Meg and Judith, but I don’t dare pick up Noah or Everett’s hands in the event she decides to throw in her otherworldly two cents. I’ve got a feeling I’m not going to care too much for the consensus.
Judith takes a surveying look around the room as if she could read the minds of her fellow conspirators in relationship arms.
“It’s agreed, Lottie. You need to move slowly. You’ve jumped the gun with Mr. Sexy, and now you’re in a tighter knot than you were to begin with.”
Her plus one shrugs as he lifts a hand. “Or you commit to Everett and say goodbye to Noah forever. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I don’t want it both ways.” My stomach lurches as if maybe I do.
Judith’s mouth falls open. “So, you’re ready to say goodbye to Noah forever?”
I glance his way, and his eyes are pinned to mine. He looks vulnerable, and yet ready for whatever I might throw at him.
“Why does she have to choose?” a voice calls from the left.
“Because”—the blonde straightens her spine—“there comes a point when you have to commit.”
“I don’t know”—Meg squints over at the three of us—“Lottie was blindsided by Noah’s wife. They never had closure. Noah is right in a way. They’re acting as if they’ve just hit a road bump in their relationship. Everett’s a good fit for Lot, though. It’s a timing thing with the two of them.”
Keelie raises a hand. “I think the problem here is that Noah and Lottie never had an official breakup. The wife came into town and bam, it was like turning off a light switch.” Keelie leans over and picks up my hand. “But relationships—feelings don’t work that way. You don’t just turn them off because someone is suddenly unavailable.”
“She’s right.” Judith slaps her thigh. “You need to say goodbye to Noah—if for anything else, to be fair to Mr. Sexy—and to be fair to your own heart, too.”
Kill me. And personally? I think Judith has a thing for Everett.
I look to Noah then to Everett, praying that I’ll spontaneously pass out or dislocate my shoulder or anything at all that might detract from the moment at hand.
“Sorry you have to go through this.” Noah gives my hand a squeeze.
“You should be”—Everett steps in—“it’s your fault.”
Noah scoffs. “It might have been my fault, but you sure made certain it was to your benefit.”
This is probably the moment when I should say something profound. Something wonderful that puts both their hearts at ease, or I tell the world off and hide under the covers for the next thirty years with my cats. That’s always an option. But words seem to fail me at the moment.
Bear leans in. “You should probably say something, Lot.”
With everything in me, I steal a moment to glower at him. I clear my throat as I glance to the nosy crowd.
“Thank you all for your sage advice. I will mull it over, think, talk, and pray about the situation at hand, and I’m sure it will all work out just the way it should. In the meantime, I will be extra mindful of Noah and Everett’s feelings. While nursing my broken heart, I might have been a touch selfish in the process, and I apologize for that.” I take in a deep breath.
Everett shakes his head. “Don’t apologize to me, Lemon.”
“Me either.” Noah taps his hand over my knee. “I’m the one that owes everyone in this room an apology. I’m sorry my lack of dating decorum led this entire group astray.”
“Actually”—I clear my throat—“there is something I want to say. I think someone said it best. It all boils down to timing. Noah, your timing was off. Had you explained things to me from the get-go we would be in a different place. I panicked. I wasn’t able to stand by your side and hope your wife would let you go. I’m sorry. I believe too strongly in the institute to take someone’s marriage out from under them. And, Everett, we were sort of on a collision course. I would hardly call you a rebound. We’re far more complicated than that. This is who we are.” I pump my shoulders. “You’re married, Noah, and I’m”—I glance down at my ring finger—“sort of pretend engaged.”
“The facts speak for themselves.” Everett tips his head toward the crowd. “I say this meeting of the minds is adjourned.”
Noah closes his eyes. “Please, Meg, do your thing.”
And Meg does exactly that. After about a half an hour of stretching while looking into one another’s eyes and verbalizing positive affirmations, we’re free to go. I’ll admit, it was a bit odd having Noah look deep into my eyes and tell me he loves me while Everett massaged my feet. I’ve had strange and twisted dreams before, but tonight’s reality took the outlandish cake.
Afterwards, Noah, Everett, and I drive home in our separate cars, only to congregate in my driveway.
Everett put in an order for Chinese, and it’s delivered just as we arrive. The three of us head into my place and eat our fill of Kung Pao chicken and beef with broccoli. Noah and Everett each take one of my sweet cats in their lap, and we discuss Rich Dallas’ murder investigation from every angle we know how. It feels right, so blissfully normal. It almost makes me forget all about the trauma we just endured.
Almost.
It’s easy like this with Noah and Everett—and if I’m not mistaken, it feels like bliss.
I don’t want to analyze my complicated love life for one more minute. There’s a killer on the loose, and I’m about to unleash all of my attention on bringing him or her to justice.
Look out.
Here I come.
Chapter 14
While I was growing up in Honey Hollow, June was blissfully met with the end of another brutal school year—and along with that, the promise of a blissful summer cresting on the horizon. Although I no longer get three full months off of life to spend my days as I wish, June still thrills me in a way like no other month. If a month from the calendar were able to come to life and bestow a kiss to my lips each year, that month would be June.
I’ve been in and out of my mother’s B&B all morning preparing the dessert table for Lainey’s bridal shower. Meg and my mother have decorated the conservatory with a rustic theme per Lainey’s rather hostile request. It seems my sweet sister has transformed into a mini bridezilla before our very eyes, barking out orders, making an extensive wish list that, come heck or high financial water, my mother is determined to foot the bill for. Of course, Lainey and Forest aren’t letting my mother pay for everything, but my mother’s persistence has a way of winning out, and winning out she is.
Felicity Gilbert, down at the Enchanted Flower Shop, furnished the conservatory with millions of peonies and lavender roses, all free of charge. Her gift to our family for helping bring her mother’s killer to justice a few months back. I’ll have to repay her somehow. I know these flowers cost a fortune regardless if she is getting them at cost.
Claret gives Noah and Everett a wary look. “My father and I weren’t exactly on the best of terms lately. In fact, just before he died, the last thing I said to him was ‘I hope you eat it soon.’”
“Eat it?” Everett lifts a brow. “As in death?”
She makes a face. “It was a play on something he said about his birthday cake. Anyway, the anger stemmed back to the fact he cut off my credit cards about nine months ago and left me with a mountain of debt to figure out on my own. He stopped paying Michelle’s, too, but her career has taken off so she didn’t complain.”
Noah tips his head to the side. “Your mother said he cut her off, too.”
“Oh, he did, way back when.” She blinks up at him. “He cut us all off. And after all the sacrifices we made for that man. He didn’t give a lick about us in the end. We all wanted him to eat it.” She shakes her head. “And isn’t it just like him to complicate things even in death? He could’ve had a nice little heart attack or gotten hit by a bus. But no—he had to go and get murdered and leave us behind as suspects.”
I don’t quite know what to say to that. I’ve heard a lot of varying things from people who are grieving in the last few months, but I think Claret—what’s left of the Dallas clan, takes the cake.
She checks her watch. “I have to run. I’m meeting my boyfriend and his girlfriend for dinner.” She shakes her head, clearly disgruntled as she looks my way. “Be thankful your love life isn’t nearly as complicated. I’ll see you at the funeral.” She waves as she takes off.
A part of me wanted to correct her. My love life is exactly that complicated. Maybe good old Claret and I should have a coffee klatch one day and exchange horror stories from the front lines. My stories would trump hers because for one, my “boyfriend” has a girlfriend and a wife.
I take a deep breath as I thread an arm through Noah and Everett’s. “We’re off to see the wizard, and the wizard’s name is Meg Lemon.”
Chapter 13
The Jungle Room is the nexus of all things kinky here in Leeds and perhaps in all of the Western Hemisphere as well. A rainbow of lights bears down on us as we enter a rather large area outfitted with rock walls with metal latches protruding from them. Normally, I’d wonder what they were for, but half the men and women here are secured to the jagged surface by way of those rubber handcuffs I saw Meg carting around.
I groan at the sight of this place. “I refuse to be bolted to a wall. And I’m sure as heck not tying up either of you. This was all a big mistake. How about we leave and grab a pizza at Mangias?” That option, though delicious, is just as daring, considering the heartburn one can derive from a single slice of pie. Although, with Noah and me, back in the day, it seemed to have an aphrodisiac effect.
Meg scuttles over and grabs me by the elbow. “Oh no, you don’t. This is just a warm-up. We haven’t even begun to fight.” She lets out an ear-piercing whistle and calls the room to order.
A familiar couple bounds in through the back, and I feel a touch of relief at the sight of them. Keelie, with her hair in a ponytail, and Bear in a ratty old pair of sweats and—is that a pillow tucked under the crook of his arm?
Keelie bounds over. “Did we miss the good part?”
“Nope,” I’m quick to assure her. “Meg was just about to handcuff us all to one another and turn the lights out to see what happens.”
But, apparently, Meg has far more vanilla plans as she has us go around the room and introduce ourselves. As fate or my sister’s perverse need for drama would have it, Noah, Everett, and I go last.
“Hello.” I give a nervous wave to the sea of faces smiling back at me. “My name is Lottie Lemon—and I’m Meg’s sister.” I tip my head my beautiful sibling’s way—whom I will most likely kill later for putting me through this ripe humiliation.
“Noah Fox.” He lifts a hand to the crowd.
“Everett.” He nods to the crowd as well.
A woman in a tight red sweater—Judith from lower Hollyhock as she introduced herself—offers a spontaneous applause. “We’ve got two men!” she squeals, looking our way. “Finally! We’re so progressive tonight. How long have the two of you been together?”
I glance back, but there’s not a soul behind us, and then like a thunderbolt, it hits me.
“As a couple?” Red Sweater Judith is relentless with her inquisition.
Noah taps his chest. “Are you talking to me?”
Judith’s plus one, a hipster with a beard and skinny jeans, nods. “Yes, you. You and your boyfriend.”
Everett lifts a hand. “I’m actually here with Lottie. He’s just a straggler who wandered in the door.”
The room breaks out into rumbles as a collective consensus quickly builds that Noah should be ousted.
Meg laughs so hard I think I actually see her spouting tears. “Wait a minute! He’s welcome to stay. You see, my sister has two boyfriends.”
“No!” I shout as the crowd quickly turns on me. “I don’t. I’m actually good with just the one.” I point to Everett rather unconvincingly as the bodies in the room seem to edge in closer to me.
Keelie clicks her tongue as she waves the room to attention. “Lottie and Meg are both right. Lottie was dating Noah first, and then it turned out he had a wife and—”
The room breaks out into gasps and boos.
And who the heck is booing, anyway?
I’m suddenly fearing for my life. What exactly has Meg dragged me into again?
“I was separated,” Noah shouts over the increasing din of voices. “And Lottie and I got serious fast.” His eyes sweep my way, an apology buried in each one. “And—I may have hesitated in telling her about my separation. I’m at the tail end of my divorce. Lottie left me, but I’m hoping to win her back one day.”
A choir of voices coos over Noah’s perfectly romantic proclamation.
Judith bounces our way on her knuckles, and her legs remain perfectly crossed as she does her best primate impression.
“So, you’re the rebound?” She bites over her lip as she grins at Everett. A common response among women everywhere.
Keelie nods. “Yup. Mr. Sexy here was in the picture all along, though. Lottie and Everett have a friends-to-lovers romance. And from what I hear, the lover part is pretty steamy.”
Noah’s chest bucks, and I’d swear I just heard him gag.
Kellie proceeds to tell them all about how Noah went from frosting my cookies to persona non grata while I dove under the covers with Vermont’s premier playboy—her words, not mine. My God, never mine.
The room fills with whispers as one by one the women in the group close in around us.
A blonde with her hair in a chignon shakes her head at me. “You can’t let this go on this way. You’re toying with their hearts. Sure, your heart was broken, but they have feelings, too.”
Noah points to Everett. “He doesn’t have feelings.”
“Me?” Everett sounds affronted and rightly so. “Why don’t you tell them about the time we were stepbrothers for a season and you decided you wanted my girlfriend for yourself? I was the one with feelings. You were stone cold, heartless.”
Gasps of disapproval break out all over the room as various people make their thoughts known on the matter declaring that’s so cold, lame, and even a what were you thinking?
“All right.” Noah pats the air with his hands, trying to calm the crowd, which is quickly turning on him. “I was a kid. I had issues.” He glowers at Everett. “But the fact you’re a grown man didn’t stop you from exacting your revenge years later by snatching up Lottie.”
The crowd gasps again.
“Technically, I was single.” I raise a hand, but no one seems too interested in that little tidbit at the moment.
“It wasn’t revenge.” Everett picks up my hand. “It was organic.”
“More like orchestrated,” Noah quips. “You positioned yourself just right, and as soon as Lottie and I hit a rough patch, you—”
“I caught her when she fell out of your turnip truck,” Everett slips it in without missing a beat. “Yes, I was there—but only because Lemon wanted me there. I would never force myself on a woman. Lemon and I have an open and honest relationship built on trust—something you gave away when you left out the details of your life.” Everett glances to the group as they sit rapt at attention. “Do you know how we came to learn of his marital status? His wife.”
The room breaks out into an all-out riot of disapproval.
“It’s true,” Keelie shouts above the rumbling. “She stormed right into Lottie’s bakery and demanded to have her husband back.”
Bear nods. “They’re in couples’ counseling now trying to make it work.”
Noah wags his finger in the air. “The divorce is still on. It’s strictly procedural. As far as Lottie and I go—we’re simply on a break.”
The hippie winces at Everett. “Dude, you’re the break guy?”
Everett growls as if he might toss Judith’s boy toy to the wall. “I’m not the break guy. I’m the comforter.”
Judith clutches at her chest as she leans my way. “You poor thing! Nobody should go through something so traumatic. So, is that why the three of you are here? You’re looking to make it work together? As a threesome?”
“No!” Everett, Noah, and I say it in unison—loud and determined to make our position clear.
Noah lifts a hand in the air as if asking permission. “Once my divorce goes through, I’m hoping Lottie will give me another shot.”
A dark-haired woman in the back scoffs, and I can’t tell, but it might be Meg. “Get over it, detective. She’s moved on! Buy a clue.”
I crane my neck, and sure enough it was my sister. I’m going to kick her on the way out for this public ridicule.
“She’s technically right.” Judith shakes her head. “But the truth is, you’re on the rebound, Lottie. Everett—mmm, he is nice, and I’m sure he’s wonderful boyfriend material, but your heart is still tugging in Noah’s direction.”
Her hippie boyfriend shakes his head. “She can’t see it.” He rolls his eyes to Everett. “Dude, you need to give her a breather. Her head’s not clear. She just had her heart put in the shredder. Of course, she took you up on the offer to make her feel better.”
Everett flits his eyes to me then Noah. “I would have supported her whether or not she landed in my arms.”
Another round of coos breaks out, and I’m swooning right along with them.
The blonde with the chignon lets out an exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to step in and play the role of your best friend. I’m pulling the ripcord. No more Mr. Sexy. It’s not fair to him, and it’s not fair to the Fox. But most of all, it’s not fair to you, Lottie.”
Keelie grunts, and I recognize that wild look in her eyes. She’s about to pounce.
“I’m the bestie around here, and if my BFF needs a man to help sleep off her louse of a married boyfriend, then I’m her biggest cheerleader. Sorry, Noah.”
“No problem, Keelie.” Noah scratches the back of his neck, probably wondering how I talked him into this minefield of armchair psychologists.
Meg meanders over and lands next to Judith. “So, what’s the consensus? How does my poor sister proceed without breaking her own heart all over again and the hearts of these two men?”
Nell appears in the room, settling herself between Meg and Judith, but I don’t dare pick up Noah or Everett’s hands in the event she decides to throw in her otherworldly two cents. I’ve got a feeling I’m not going to care too much for the consensus.
Judith takes a surveying look around the room as if she could read the minds of her fellow conspirators in relationship arms.
“It’s agreed, Lottie. You need to move slowly. You’ve jumped the gun with Mr. Sexy, and now you’re in a tighter knot than you were to begin with.”
Her plus one shrugs as he lifts a hand. “Or you commit to Everett and say goodbye to Noah forever. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I don’t want it both ways.” My stomach lurches as if maybe I do.
Judith’s mouth falls open. “So, you’re ready to say goodbye to Noah forever?”
I glance his way, and his eyes are pinned to mine. He looks vulnerable, and yet ready for whatever I might throw at him.
“Why does she have to choose?” a voice calls from the left.
“Because”—the blonde straightens her spine—“there comes a point when you have to commit.”
“I don’t know”—Meg squints over at the three of us—“Lottie was blindsided by Noah’s wife. They never had closure. Noah is right in a way. They’re acting as if they’ve just hit a road bump in their relationship. Everett’s a good fit for Lot, though. It’s a timing thing with the two of them.”
Keelie raises a hand. “I think the problem here is that Noah and Lottie never had an official breakup. The wife came into town and bam, it was like turning off a light switch.” Keelie leans over and picks up my hand. “But relationships—feelings don’t work that way. You don’t just turn them off because someone is suddenly unavailable.”
“She’s right.” Judith slaps her thigh. “You need to say goodbye to Noah—if for anything else, to be fair to Mr. Sexy—and to be fair to your own heart, too.”
Kill me. And personally? I think Judith has a thing for Everett.
I look to Noah then to Everett, praying that I’ll spontaneously pass out or dislocate my shoulder or anything at all that might detract from the moment at hand.
“Sorry you have to go through this.” Noah gives my hand a squeeze.
“You should be”—Everett steps in—“it’s your fault.”
Noah scoffs. “It might have been my fault, but you sure made certain it was to your benefit.”
This is probably the moment when I should say something profound. Something wonderful that puts both their hearts at ease, or I tell the world off and hide under the covers for the next thirty years with my cats. That’s always an option. But words seem to fail me at the moment.
Bear leans in. “You should probably say something, Lot.”
With everything in me, I steal a moment to glower at him. I clear my throat as I glance to the nosy crowd.
“Thank you all for your sage advice. I will mull it over, think, talk, and pray about the situation at hand, and I’m sure it will all work out just the way it should. In the meantime, I will be extra mindful of Noah and Everett’s feelings. While nursing my broken heart, I might have been a touch selfish in the process, and I apologize for that.” I take in a deep breath.
Everett shakes his head. “Don’t apologize to me, Lemon.”
“Me either.” Noah taps his hand over my knee. “I’m the one that owes everyone in this room an apology. I’m sorry my lack of dating decorum led this entire group astray.”
“Actually”—I clear my throat—“there is something I want to say. I think someone said it best. It all boils down to timing. Noah, your timing was off. Had you explained things to me from the get-go we would be in a different place. I panicked. I wasn’t able to stand by your side and hope your wife would let you go. I’m sorry. I believe too strongly in the institute to take someone’s marriage out from under them. And, Everett, we were sort of on a collision course. I would hardly call you a rebound. We’re far more complicated than that. This is who we are.” I pump my shoulders. “You’re married, Noah, and I’m”—I glance down at my ring finger—“sort of pretend engaged.”
“The facts speak for themselves.” Everett tips his head toward the crowd. “I say this meeting of the minds is adjourned.”
Noah closes his eyes. “Please, Meg, do your thing.”
And Meg does exactly that. After about a half an hour of stretching while looking into one another’s eyes and verbalizing positive affirmations, we’re free to go. I’ll admit, it was a bit odd having Noah look deep into my eyes and tell me he loves me while Everett massaged my feet. I’ve had strange and twisted dreams before, but tonight’s reality took the outlandish cake.
Afterwards, Noah, Everett, and I drive home in our separate cars, only to congregate in my driveway.
Everett put in an order for Chinese, and it’s delivered just as we arrive. The three of us head into my place and eat our fill of Kung Pao chicken and beef with broccoli. Noah and Everett each take one of my sweet cats in their lap, and we discuss Rich Dallas’ murder investigation from every angle we know how. It feels right, so blissfully normal. It almost makes me forget all about the trauma we just endured.
Almost.
It’s easy like this with Noah and Everett—and if I’m not mistaken, it feels like bliss.
I don’t want to analyze my complicated love life for one more minute. There’s a killer on the loose, and I’m about to unleash all of my attention on bringing him or her to justice.
Look out.
Here I come.
Chapter 14
While I was growing up in Honey Hollow, June was blissfully met with the end of another brutal school year—and along with that, the promise of a blissful summer cresting on the horizon. Although I no longer get three full months off of life to spend my days as I wish, June still thrills me in a way like no other month. If a month from the calendar were able to come to life and bestow a kiss to my lips each year, that month would be June.
I’ve been in and out of my mother’s B&B all morning preparing the dessert table for Lainey’s bridal shower. Meg and my mother have decorated the conservatory with a rustic theme per Lainey’s rather hostile request. It seems my sweet sister has transformed into a mini bridezilla before our very eyes, barking out orders, making an extensive wish list that, come heck or high financial water, my mother is determined to foot the bill for. Of course, Lainey and Forest aren’t letting my mother pay for everything, but my mother’s persistence has a way of winning out, and winning out she is.
Felicity Gilbert, down at the Enchanted Flower Shop, furnished the conservatory with millions of peonies and lavender roses, all free of charge. Her gift to our family for helping bring her mother’s killer to justice a few months back. I’ll have to repay her somehow. I know these flowers cost a fortune regardless if she is getting them at cost.
