I glare at Everett a moment.
And why are we here again? To repair my relationship with Noah or to tear what Everett and I have left to sexual shreds?
Dr. Allen straightens in her seat, her hands folded in front of her. “So, Lottie”—she’s doing some oddball fidgeting with her eyes as if trying to get me to look at Everett without moving her head—“you’ve had a fair sampling of the two. I can see now why all the indecisive behavior. Noah, you’ll have to understand that Lottie is in a peculiarly difficult position. Both you and Essex are wrought of a very high caliber. I’d go as far as suggesting that this is an impossible decision.”
Noah shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “Lottie has chosen. We’re moving on with the marriage.”
She balks, “For two months.”
“At minimum,” he corrects. “It could take up to six.”
I can tell Noah is rooting for seven.
Everett sighs as if bored with Noah’s efforts to maintain me as his legal spouse. “I can move it along, and I will.”
“Ooh!” Dr. Allen shimmies her shoulders as she giggles. “Don’t you just love a man in charge, Lottie?” She sighs, never taking her eyes off him.
Noah grunts, “I have a team of deputies at my disposal.”
Dr. Allen gives him a quick wink. “And don’t think for a moment that doesn’t drive the bakers wild.” That throaty giggle reprises itself. “Isn’t that right, Lottie?”
“That is correct.” I pat Noah on the knee.
Dr. Allen shudders as if coming to. “Let’s get down to business. Speaking of which, Lottie, did you and Noah get down to business?” She pops a pair of glasses on, and they promptly glide right down her nosy nose.
I use all of my mind power to glower at her.
“Yes,” Noah whispers as if prompting me to admit it.
I clear my throat. “A lady never tells.”
She looks to my right. “And Everett, how does that make you feel?”
“Oh, come on,” I balk. “How do you think it makes him feel?” I’m fighting mad all of a sudden. If I were her, I’d move because I’m about to flip a table.
“It’s okay, Lemon.” Everett picks up my hand and offers a sweet kiss to the back of it. “I completely understand. You’re married. Noah is your husband. This is something the two of you wanted before I ever stepped into the picture romantically.”
“Oh, Essex.” Dr. Allen picks up a brochure with her picture on the cover and fans herself with it. “How chivalrous of you. Are you currently dating?” She presses her lips together as if she were hopeful he wasn’t.
“I’m on hold until Lemon fully makes her decision. I’m confident she’ll choose the best path for the both of us.”
“For the three of us.” Noah’s voice sounds strangled.
Dr. Allen frowns his way as if he was ruining her mojo with the good judge.
“Noah”—she offers him her full attention—“how does it feel having Lottie back fully?”
Noah picks up my hand and warms it with his, those emerald eyes hooked to mine. “It feels amazing. It feels as if my life has kick-started again and I have the one person I longed for back in my arms. I feel complete with you, Lottie. I feel as if we’ve already started our family. You’re my family.”
My heart melts—every last part of me melts into a puddle hearing Noah proclaim his love for me that way.
“And Lottie?” Dr. Allen opens her beak once again, and I’m really starting to get irritated with her. “How do you feel?”
“I’m sorry, but I refuse to eviscerate Everett. I’ll tell Noah how I feel when we’re alone.”
Everett takes a breath. “Lemon, please, I don’t mind. I know you have very deep feelings for him or we wouldn’t be sitting here. You were with him first, you gave yourself to him in an intimate way last year, and you firmly believed the two of you were altar bound—the first time. Please don’t hesitate to let him know how you feel. Remember, it was me who implored you to take this marriage head-on. I’m not going to fall apart simply because you declare your love for him.”
I bite the inside of my cheek hard. Of course, Everett knows all the right things to say. He’s a judge for Pete’s sake. He says all the right things for a living.
A ragged breath pumps from me.
“Noah”—I turn his way, and my eyes blur with tears in an instant—“my heart belongs to you in ways I simply cannot explain. When our lives blew apart last February, I honestly tried to find it in me not to care for you anymore, but my heart didn’t allow for that to be an option. I’m in love with you, madly in love, and I can’t help myself.” My body goes rigid as I feel the weight of Everett’s stare over my back.
“Come here.” Noah pulls me into a hard embrace. “Thank you for sharing that with me.
“Very good, Lottie.” Dr. Allen sighs. “Now I’d like for you to do the same with Essex.”
I shoot her a look for being so liberal with her first name privileges.
“Everett.” I give her the side-eye before turning to him fully. “I am truly, madly, insanely in love with you.” I shrug. “I can’t help it. When Noah and I split in two, it was you who helped put back the pieces of my heart, and I’ll forever be grateful to you for that. And, as it stands, although I’m fully committed to my marriage with Noah, you still hold a very special place in my heart—and not one part of me wants to evict you from it. You know parts of me that no one else has ever seen.”
Dr. Allen titters, and I tap my fingers over my mouth.
“That’s not what I meant.”
She motions for me to face forward once again.
“Noah”—she hitches her head toward Everett—“please let Essex know how you feel about him.”
“How long do we have?” Noah smarts before leaning forward to get a better look at his old stepbrother. “Everett.” He offers a slow blink. “We’ve had our fair share of disagreements. I’ve wronged you in the past, and you were right to be angry with me. I stole your first love right from under you. It was a stupid adolescent move, and I’ll regret that forever. And when you came back into my life—through Lottie, I instantly feared you were after retribution. I couldn’t blame you for being attracted to her. But I could blame you for actively pursuing her while we were still together, or so I thought.” Noah presses a remorseful smile my way. “I understand now you were just a very good friend to Lottie. And once Lot and I took a step back in our own relationship, you were right there ready to fill my shoes. Again, I couldn’t blame you. I wasn’t half the gentleman you were.”
Dr. Allen nods. “And now? How do you feel about Essex today?”
Noah clears his throat. “Today, I’m grateful for you. It’s because of your encouragement that Lottie and I are able to pick up where we left off and see where this could lead. And I’m in full agreement with you. I only want what makes Lottie happy. If it’s me, I’m thrilled. And if it’s you”—he takes a hard breath—“then I will accept her decision and wish the two of you the best.” Noah’s shoulders sag at the prospect. “But above all, Everett, I’m thankful that we’ve reached a place where I can once again call you a friend.”
Dr. Allen claps, and I offer my own meager applause.
“Noah, that was great,” I say, wiping a tear from my eye.
“Essex?” Her lips expand. “Your turn.”
Everett sighs hard as if this was something he wasn’t anticipating nor did he wish to continue. I say join the club.
He looks to Noah, those blue eyes settling in. “Noah, when you and Alex came into my life, I thought finally—the universe is making all the wrong things right. I had my wish for a brother fulfilled twice over. After about a week, I realized my error,” he teases. “But in all seriousness, having the two of you around made me feel complete. Losing my father was tough, but having a new family was an amazing gift, and I didn’t take it lightly. So when I discovered that you decided you knew what was best for me—in regards to Cormack, I was livid with you. I swor
e I’d find a way to sell both of your kidneys on the black market. And I was privately learning jiu-jitsu in an effort to kill you swiftly in your sleep.”
“Everett”—a nervous giggle bounces from me—“refocus.”
“Right.” He wipes his face with his hand. “Noah, bottom line. You survived my wrath. When Lemon came into my life, I found something unique in her that I’ve never had in a woman before—a friend. And as time went on, I knew my heart wanted more. I laid out my feelings for her and she graciously thanked me for doing so, but assured me the two of you were on the right track. Later that month, Britney showed up and blew all of your good plans out of the water. And just like that, Lemon and I fit. But in the interim you and I grew to be friends once again. I knew she still had feelings for you, so making sure the two of you either finished what you started or ended on the right note was crucial. I love Lemon.” He pauses while staring hard at Noah. “And I’ll be honest. That’s not going to change.”
Dr. Allen whimpers while fanning herself all the more.
Heck, in a moment I’m about to join her.
“But—I love you, too, Noah.” Everett flexes an all too brief but genuine smile. And just like that, I explode into a million confetti hearts all over the room. “And that’s why I’m doing this. Not for one other person would I have done this. But I’m doing it for you—because you are still my brother.”
“Oh good Lord up in heaven.” Dr. Allen tips her head back as we both indulge in a deluge of tears.
“Everett”—I hop over and fall onto his lap, pressing my lips to his as I pull him into a hard embrace—“that was so beautiful. What a sacrificial heart you have. I’ll never forget those words for as long as I live. It was truly the most touching moment I have ever witnessed.”
“Lottie?” Dr. Allen clears her throat.
“Yes?” I glance around and Noah’s gaze is wide and hard.
“Oh right.” I hop right back into my seat.
Dr. Allen motions for the three of us to stand. “I think Lottie had a brilliant idea. It’s time to share a heartfelt embrace.”
I pull Noah in and wrap my arms around him hard. My husband. My everything. Noah truly is just that.
Noah and Everett exchange a rather manly embrace—that’s more of a pat on the back than anything.
“Homework.” Dr. Allen bears a wild grin our way. “Noah, you’re to treat Lottie to something special, something romantic, something unexpected that will change her views of you. Think outside the box.”
“I look forward to it.” He gives my hand a squeeze.
“As do I.” I dot a quick kiss to his cheek.
“Good. Noah, you have another assignment. Essex, this includes you as well. The two of you are to go on a male bonding expedition. Something isolative that will give you both some quality time together and room to share your thoughts with one another. Agree?”
“Agree,” both Noah and Everett chime in unison.
Noah nods his way. “How about I take you to Hollyhock when we get a chance and you can help me check out that lodge I’m looking to purchase.”
Everett tips his head. “I’d like that.”
Noah mentioned to me a few weeks back that he was looking to make a lucrative investment, something he could pass down to his children one day—our children. The thought warms me all the way to my toes.
“In that case, enjoy the rest of the weekend.” She pulls a pin out of her bun and her red hair falls wildly all around her. “Essex, you know where to find me if need be.”
“So unprofessional,” I mutter under my breath as we file out of her office.
Everett looks from Noah to me. “Anything else I can do for you, Lemon?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, there’s something the both of you can do for me. Be my date for the senior soirée. I have a feeling those attending my mother’s geezer-fest shouldn’t be left unsupervised.”
Everett raises a brow. “Sounds to me like it’s time to party.”
Noah gives a sly smile. “A room crawling with single women? I wonder how many women will call you Essex?”
I’m beginning to wonder that myself.
Chapter 18
“Essex!”
The first giddy granny we see says his proper moniker right out the gate.
“Mom?” He pulls her into a quick embrace.
And that right there is the only exception to the coital rule—with the other only exception being his sister.
The B&B is brimming with bodies, young and old as it were. As soon as we finished up in Fallbrook, we hardly had enough time to load up all of the cupcakes into the back of Noah’s truck and hustle them to my mother’s celebratory version of dueling banjos—haunted silver banjos as it were.
I’ve just set all the cupcakes and cookie platters in place—in the conservatory for the silver sect and in the dining hall for those who paid to have their socks frightened right off of them. I’ve already seen Greer running around with her head in her arms, looking mildly visible to the naked human eye, and about a dozen different people marveling at my mother’s special effects.
Little Lea has Thirteen tucked under her arm and they’re roaming the halls kicking people in the shins and biting them.
Winslow looks awfully dapper in his ghostly duds and he’s holding a pitchfork and jabbing it at random. The guests are so riveted by the floating garden tool that they’ve actually tried to pry it away from him. But seeing that Winslow was once a farmer right here in Honey Hollow two hundred years ago, he’s hanging on to what’s rightfully his.
Carlotta, Brit, and Cormack are conducting the haunted house tours—an odd trio if ever there was one—but I don’t mind one bit that my mother is enlisting the aid of her regular boarders.
Carlotta trots my way while Cormack accosts Noah. And Brit heads over to Everett as they share a laugh—probably because he’s filling her in on our last adventure.
“Listen, Lottie—” Carlotta pulls me farther out of earshot in her zombie-like costume, her face painted so white there’s a hint of a blue cast. The dark circles under her eyes look menacing—and, shockingly, she looks a lot like I do at three in the morning. “Your mother has crossed the line this time.”
“Does she have the toilet paper running in the wrong direction again? I’ve threatened her in the past. The toilet paper runs over—or she’s out.”
Carlotta takes a moment to swat me. “This is not about toilet paper. It’s about human waste—as in a literal human. You can’t let her see this Topper person. He’s a whopper, all right. He’s bad news, you hear me? Whatever you do, you need to make sure it stops! And it ends tonight, Lottie.” She picks up her enormous gray tattered gown and looks to the throngs of tourists bursting through the doors, wide-eyed and smiling. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to scare the pants off a group of high school students.”
“Wait!” I yank her back by her bustle. “You can’t just leave me hanging like that. What’s the matter with the guy?”
The chandelier goes on and off, and a riot of screams ensues from all around. The lights start to dim once again, and this time they stay that way. Perfect. I was hoping the universe would remind me why I liked living in the modern era once again. Lord knows if we ever had to revert to candlelight we’d burn the town to cinders.
“Later, Lottie. I’ve got little Lea angry with me, and that’s one brat I need to make nice with.” Carlotta stalks off, and I opt to join Everett and Brit over Noah and his psychotic concubine.
Brit purses those pillowy lips of hers my way. “Sounds like no progress was made today, Lancaster.”
I inch back, unsure of how the alphabet soup got so far. But I’m in no mood to try to figure out Britney, so I go with it.
“You’re right,” I say. “It turns out, Dr. Allen is one of Everett’s coital castoffs. She was hitting on him hard.”
She snorts. “She was hitting on Noah pretty hard when we started out, too. But I set her straight.”
“You
told her to knock it off or else you’d flip a table?” I knew I should have sent furniture flying.
“No. I gave her a lifetime pass to the Swift Cycle gym I planted down the street from her office. Believe me when I say her face turned colors.”
“Ha! Don’t worry, Brit. I’ll bring a box of my impossible-to-resist chiffon cupcakes the next time I head her way. I think we make a great team in that respect.”
She cranes her neck past me. “Someone else thinks she makes a great team with your husband.”
I turn around to see Cormack trying to climb Noah as if he were Mount Olympus as Noah does his best to remove her from his person.
“That’s it. I may not have a table to flip, but I can flip a blonde just as easily.”
No sooner do I dig my claws into Cormack’s shoulders than Everett plucks her away and sends her back to her post at the distal end of the B&B.
Noah takes my hand. “I’m sorry, Lot. Maybe I should get a restraining order.”
“Why? So she can break it? Please, she’s unstoppable.” I lead us toward the kitchen. “I’d better make sure any surplus of cupcakes I brought are put into my mother’s refrigerator.”
“I’ll help.”
And sure enough, my friendly ghost cupcakes are beginning to melt into white gooey globs. I slide all of the boxes down the island as Noah fits them into the fridge in various patterns as if he were playing a skilled game of Tetris.
The back door begins to open slowly, and I head over in the event one of my mother’s guests has turned themselves around.
“Hello?” I open it wide and my breathing ceases. My brain can’t believe what my eyes are seeing. A scream evicts from me at the top of my lungs as I shut the door in a fury.
Noah dashes over and pulls me close. “What’s wrong?”
“The door,” I pant. “I saw him. He was there.”
“Who was there, Lot?”
“Pastor Gaines. He was tall and dressed in a suit and that smirk on his face he always wore, and even his eyes looked as if they were laughing at me.”
Killer Cupcakes (MURDER IN THE MIX Book 14) Page 14
