“I do,” I say, biting down on a smile. “And watch out. Because I am a much better stalker than Cressida Bentley could ever hope to be.”
“Good.” He dots a chaste kiss to my cheek. “Because we’re family.”
I nod. “Forever.”
“Forever.” His lips curve with approval.
“Whatever happened with the boat? Did you finally pull the trigger?”
“I sure did. The Lucky Lemon is ours.”
“Yours.” I give his tie a playful tug.
“Ours.” He touches his forehead to mine. “And I can’t wait to take you and Evie out on it.”
“Our maiden voyage.”
He nods, his lips still curled in the right direction, and I try my hardest to memorize the moment.
I dance long into the night with both Noah and Everett, Keelie and Bear, Lainey and Meg, Carlotta, my mother, Evie and her menagerie, Naomi, Lily, Mayor Nash, and just about everyone I know and love in Honey Hollow. Of course, Nell is there for it all, swaying her hips right alongside of us as if she didn’t have a care in the world, and she doesn’t.
And for once, I don’t feel as if I do either.
“It’s done,” I say to Nell as we stand in the kitchen of the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery contemplating life on a Monday afternoon. Lily is up front taking care of the register and I’m all alone, save for Nell, working on a batch of peanut butter crunch cookies, just the way I like it. “Keelie is married and on her honeymoon.”
“That she is.” Nell plucks a fresh baked cookie off the cooling rack and takes a bite. “Mmm, Lottie. You’ve outdone yourself with these.”
“You say that with every sweet treat of mine you try.”
“That’s because I like to tell the truth. Speaking of the truth, are you ready to discuss the matter at hand?”
“You mean the matter of the heart?” I shrug over at her. “I don’t know, Nell. I love both Noah and Everett. And I’ll admit, after you said they were both my soul mates, I was a little relieved. But that’s not the way the world works. Everett’s been so kind as to let Noah and me get through what we started, but it seems as if what we start never really gets going.”
“Then I might suggest you fully commit to one or the other, for at least the time being. You need to take the full plunge.”
“Noah and I had a brief plunge. And Everett and I had an even briefer one than that. But you’re right. A full plunge…that would be, well, amazing. And I’d like to do it for much longer than the time being.”
She nods. “It’s the only proper way to assess the situation.”
“A full plunge. It would change things, Nell. And you know I hate change.” Ridiculous excuse, anemic at best.
“I don’t think things would change as much as you think they would. Take, for instance, how you introduce them. Noah is your boyfriend and Everett is your husband.”
“Horrible, I know. Believe me, I feel like a monster.”
Nell shakes her head. “You’re no monster, Lottie Lemon. You have a big heart.”
“Some might argue too big.” I bite down on my lip.
“You just need to decide which one is the best fit for you at this juncture in your life.”
“Mr. Right Now?” I tease, echoing the words Greer Giles uttered to me at the B&B the day of my mother’s naughty book club.
“It could lead to Mr. Right.”
“I suppose I really do need to take the plunge with one of them. I need to really know that I know what’s happening, what we’re capable of. And I’d like to stay there. I’d like for him to be the one.” A thousand scenarios run through my mind at once, and then as if the answer was before me all along, tears come to my eyes. It didn’t take a month, a year, or even five minutes for me to know which one I need to fully commit myself to.
It’s right.
It’s fitting.
And the answer has been in front of me all along.
Nell takes up my hands and warms me with her love. “Have you decided which one you think is the best fit?”
I nod over at this amazing soul who has lovingly helped me through this painful yet beautiful journey.
An impish grin crests on her lips. “Then you know what you have to do.”
“Thank you, Nell.” I pull her into a hard embrace, and she feels just as solid as if she were standing here in the flesh. “I knew you’d come through for me.”
“Your heart came through for you.” She pulls back with tears pooling in her eyes as well. “I’ll be back soon enough, Lottie. But I think my mission is accomplished for now. And don’t lose heart for the other man in your life. This journey you’re on will be full of surprises. And I know for a fact, you will enjoy each and every one.” She dots a kiss to my cheek, and in a shimmer of white-hot light, Nell up and disappears.
My body bucks with emotion as I do my best to wipe away my tears.
I quickly put together a box of his favorite sweet treats, ask Lily to watch the bakery, and take off for Ashford County.
It’s time to dive into the deep end with someone, and I know exactly who that someone is.
It’s time to forge an unbreakable bond, time to see where our story goes with a true-blue commitment binding us together, now and perhaps forever.
It feels like no time at all when I finally pull into the lot. I hold the box of baked goods tightly as I stroll into the building, my heart thumping with both exhilaration and a touch of fear.
This is the start of something new, something better, something deeper than we’ve ever had before. This is our moment, and I’m going to make sure we utilize it to the fullest.
I’m so head over heels in love, so very ready to take the plunge into unchartered territory, I bypass the secretary and give a quick knock on his office door before stepping on in.
He spins in his chair, and I see Essex Everett Baxter pulling the phone away from his ear.
“I’ll call you back.” He tosses the phone to his desk as he stands to his feet. “Lemon?” He tips his head to the side as he closes the distance between us. His brows hike with amusement as he wraps his arms around my waist.
“I brought treats,” I say, setting them down on his desk.
“You’re the treat.”
A tiny smile plays on my lips as I look him right in those daring blue eyes.
“Everett, I’ve made a decision about…us.” I give a little shrug, my breathing picking up to unsafe levels.
“Does this mean you’re willing to give us a shot and see where things go?”
I give an enthusiastic nod and his lids hood low as a hint of a dangerous smile flickers on his lips.
“Welcome home, Lemon. I think it’s time for me to give you a proper homecoming.”
Clothes and shoes go flying and he does just that.
Recipe
Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery Cake Pops
Hello! It’s me, Lottie Lemon! My best friend, Keelie, has finally gotten hitched, and I couldn’t be happier. But, being the one of a kind wild child she is, Keelie wouldn’t stand for a traditional wedding cake. She insisted on having delicious, sweet, cake pops instead. Not only are these ridiculously easy to make, they’re ridiculously addicting to eat.
Be warned, you can’t eat just one. Happy baking!
*Just a side note; You can bake any flavor cake you wish. I’ll give you a basic recipe but feel free to switch it up!
Ingredients for basic yellow cake
3 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
1 cup butter softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 1/3 cup milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. Slowly beat in eggs and add vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add in flour mixture to creamed eggs and sugar, incorporate milk. Pour batter into gr
eased and floured rectangular pan (13x9).
Bake 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out dry.
Let cool completely.
Ingredients for basic frosting
¼ cup butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
5 tablespoons milk
In a medium size mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Add in vanilla extract and milk. Mix well.
Cake Pop Directions
In a large mixing bowl, crumb basic yellow cake until fine. Add in frosting and mix well until the consistency resembles a paste. Roll walnut-sized balls onto a small pan lined with parchment paper and put in the freezer for 15 minutes until very firm.
Candy Melt Coating
1 12 oz. bag of Candy Melts (any color)
* You will also need one package of Cake Pop Sticks.
*Styrofoam block, optional
Fill a double boiler (a sauce pan, or pot) halfway with boiling water with a glass (Pyrex) or metal bowl that fits snugly over the top that does not touch the boiling water. Place candy melts into the bowl and stir until melted. You want the mixture to be relatively thin and smooth. *I like to use a tablespoon of vegetable shortening to help thin the candy as it melts, for a smoother finish. (Or use a product such as EZ Thin to help aid in the process.)
Place cake balls onto cake pop sticks and carefully roll into melted mixture. Place on parchment paper to cool until all cake pops have been coated once. Repeat the process. The second candy coating will be smoother and look more refined. Place into Styrofoam block, or lay on parchment paper to dry.
Feel free to sprinkle with nonpareils or any topping you like.
These go quickly!
Enjoy!
Copyright © 2020 by Addison Moore
Edited by Paige Maroney Smith
Cover by Lou Harper, Cover Affairs
This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. The author holds all rights to this work. It is illegal to reproduce this novel without written expressed consent from the author herself.
All Rights Reserved.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Copyright © 2020 by Addison Moore
Created with Vellum
Book Description
My name is Lottie Lemon, and I see dead people. Okay, so I rarely see dead people. Mostly I see furry creatures of the dearly departed variety, aka dead pets, who have come back from the other side to warn me of their previous owner’s impending doom.
It’s the Fourth of July and my friend Bizzy Baker and her family have come to Honey Hollow to celebrate. My mother is debuting her new romance novel, and there's a book signing at the lake. The authors are squabbling, Noah is brooding, Everett is determined to get me alone, and Carlotta is scheming to take over the world with her new friend Georgie Conner. I plan on showing Bizzy all the sites our cozy town has to offer, right up until a body is discovered. It's up to Bizzy and me to track down the killer before they strike again. Fireworks are going off in our world, and the ramifications will be explosive.
Lottie Lemon has a brand new bakery to tend to, a budding romance with perhaps one too many suitors, and she has the supernatural ability to see dead pets, which are always harbingers for ominous things to come. Throw in the occasional ghost of the human variety, a string of murders, and her insatiable thirst for justice, and you’ll have more chaos than you know what to do with.
Living in the small town of Honey Hollow can be murder.
Chapter 1
My name is Lottie Lemon, and I see dead people. Okay, so rarely do I see dead people. Mostly I see furry creatures of the dearly departed variety, aka dead pets, who have come back from the other side to warn me of their previous owner’s impending doom. But right now, I’m not seeing a dead anything, but a very much alive and sexy to the bone honorable judge whose official bench happens to reside in downtown Ashford County. Not that Everett, the sexy judge in question, lives in Ashford. Nope. Everett just so happens to conveniently live right next door to me right here in Honey Hollow, Vermont.
Everett is a tall stack of muscles with a shock of black hair and steely blue eyes that look as if he’s about to slice you in half with those lusty laser beams he sees the world through. He rarely smiles, is smarter than an entire library of books, and has the full attention of anyone with a functioning pair of ovaries.
“Lottie, you’re staring,” whispers Keelie, my very best friend in the world.
It’s the Fourth of July and I’ve spent all morning at my shop, the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery, whipping out one flag cake after another for today’s festivities down at Honey Lake.
But at the moment I’m not at the bakery. I’m standing at the reception counter of my mother’s happily haunted B&B because I just so happen to be expecting out-of-town guests at any minute, and Keelie has graciously—or perhaps not so graciously—offered to greet them with me. The B&B is an oversized white mansion with innumerous bedrooms and bathrooms. Once my father died, this place became my mother’s baby. It’s beautiful and cozy inside with its dark mahogany paneled walls and emerald carpet. I’m hoping my guests will think so, too.
My new friend, Bizzy Baker, and her crew are heading down to Honey Hollow this afternoon all the way from Cider Cove, Maine.
Keelie let me know, in not so many words, that she didn’t like how easily I took to Bizzy. I guess you could say she’s just a smidge jealous, but she doesn’t have to worry. Keelie’s best friend status is cemented for life.
A wicked laugh erupts from our left and we look over to find Carlotta Sawyer as she heads this way, a shifty look in her eye.
Carlotta is my biological mother who abandoned me on the floor of the Honey Hollow Fire Department well over two decades ago and has recently come into my life. This B&B isn’t hers. It belongs to Miranda Lemon, the woman who raised me and whom I still call Mom to this day. Miranda, Mom, is as spicy as she is sweet and has an affinity for wanting the best for me.
Carlotta, on the other hand, is ornery, and wily, and has an affinity for booze and men. We share the same caramel-colored hair and hazel eyes, but she has more gray strays in her mane these days than she does otherwise. She also has crow’s feet, marionette lines, and a cutting sense of humor—all of which serve as harbingers as to what the future might bring for me if I lean too heavily on impulsive day drinking.
“Guess what, Keels?” Carlotta elbows her niece. Yes, Keelie and I are cousins as well. “Lot came home from the bakery last night with her sweater inside out.”
“Lottie Lemon!” Keelie belts out a husky laugh and her belly shakes along with it. Keelie is tall, blonde, and her belly just so happens to be the size of a bona fide beach ball. Both she and my sister Lainey are about to pop out little ones next month, and I couldn’t be more elated and anxious to welcome two sweet little angels into this world just as soon as they want to get here. “Have you been getting naughty in the bakery?”
“What? No.” I steal a glimpse in the direction Everett went in. “And would you shush? He’s actually here at the B&B with his sister Meghan.” Not only will there be fireworks tonight at Honey Lake, but my mother and her wily publisher have arranged for a local authors signing to take place there this afternoon. “Apparently, Everett’s sister is a huge fan of Tallulah Velvet.” I wrinkle my nose because my black-haired, blue-eyed god is nowhere to be seen at the moment.
Carlotta huffs, “You might be foolin’ Keelie Nell because she’s got a mini monster eating away at her brain cells, but you’re not fooling me. You and that hottie naughty judge were heating things up in the bakery kitchen, weren’t you?”
“No, Carlotta, we were not.” My cheeks heat a thousand degrees just reliving the naughty scene. “I dragged him into the office instead.” There. I said it. “And Keelie, feel free to step on Carlotta’s toe
s for that comment regarding your brain cells. Everyone knows you’re a sharp cookie. You’ve managed the Honey Pot Diner for going on eight years now.”
Keelie sucks in a quick breath. “Don’t you try to throw smoke and mirrors in my direction, Lottie Lemon. Carlotta isn’t wrong about my brain cell depletion. Everyone knows losing brain cells is just a part of becoming a mother. You’re trying to skirt around the sexy issue at hand. You and Everett are doing the dirty! You’re back together, aren’t you?”
I bite down on my bottom lip as the lobby fills with bodies, and I quickly scan the crowd for signs of Bizzy and her friends, but I don’t see any.
“Okay, fine”—my shoulders bounce with excitement—“we’re back together.”
Both Carlotta and Keelie let out a whoop so loud and shrill you’d think I’d just won the lusty lottery. And in a way I did.
Keelie’s joy quickly morphs to something much more somber.
“Lottie”—she leans in—“did you really choose Everett over Noah?”
“No, no. I mean, yes.” My hands fly to my ears. “I mean, I was trying to make a decision between the two of them and Noah said to be with Everett. He wanted to return the favor that Everett gave him. Anyway, it’s confusing. Bottom line—I didn’t listen to Noah. I listened to my heart. Everett is the only man I should be with seeing that he’s my husband. I mean, sure, our marriage was simply a business transaction so he could keep his inheritance, but somehow it still makes sense.” A visual of the two of us entwined in one another’s arms flits through my mind. “It’s the right move. He’s the right move.” I grow weak in the knees. “And his night moves aren’t so bad either.”
Murder in the Mix Boxed Set 8 Page 19
