“Geez, you can fit the entire Fallbrook cheerleading team in here.”

  “You got that right.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you’re speaking from experience?”

  Everett strips off his T-shirt, and his lips curve with deviant intent.

  I suck in a quick breath. “That was right after Cormack broke your heart. Of course, that’s when the harem processional began.”

  He nods, his brows pinching in the middle as he helps remove my dusty, less than sanitary clothes. “It ends with you.”

  My mouth falls open as he pulls me to him, skin on skin.

  “It ends with me.” It comes out more of a question, but Everett collapses his mouth over mine in an effort to begin something new.

  Maybe Gloria will be found guilty.

  Maybe the case is over.

  Maybe Nell will help me understand my tumultuous heart before she’s blipped off to the other side once again.

  Maybe, just maybe, Everett and I are starting our forever.

  But Noah’s face pops to mind and begs me to reconsider.

  Chapter 11

  Thursday evening, after facing an entire herd of homicide-hungry tourists who snapped up every macaron in Honey Hollow, Everett picked me up and landed us smack-dab in the middle of the Ashford Convention Center where a packed house sits waiting to listen to Michelle Ireland boss us around on how to live our best lives.

  Everett is clad in black, and his tie is a metallic blue that sets off his eyes. I’m just about to compliment him on exactly that when a trio of familiar faces emerges from behind him.

  A groan works its way up my throat. “It looks like we weren’t the only ones who managed to score last-minute tickets.”

  Everett turns, and we watch as Noah, Britney, and Cormack make their way over.

  “Well, look who it is”—I say, lifting my chin at the treasonous trio—“it’s Detective Fox and the Blonde Brigade.”

  Everett’s chest bounces as he looks to his old stepbrother. “Looking to expand the harem? There is a sea of single ladies here tonight. Lemon isn’t one of them.”

  Cormack nearly sucks in a lung as she yanks forth my left hand. “Why no, she isn’t! Would you look at this sparkler?” Her jaw unhinges as she looks to Everett. “Essex, this is your grandmother’s wedding ring!” She drops my hand like it’s a dead fish. “Why you little Lolita, you wily little thing. I had my eye on that very same piece when I first met the Baxters, and here it’s on your finger. I think I’m going to start calling you Lucky.” She gives a wink accompanied by a high-pitched rhythmic laugh that’s reminiscent of a dolphin braying.

  Britney scowls at my ring finger as if it offended her. “A person like you shouldn’t be wearing a cube of ice that big.”

  I inch back. “A person like me?”

  Noah huffs at his ex, “Explain yourself quickly.”

  Everett clicks his tongue. “You’d better do it, Britney, or he might lock you out of the bedroom tonight.”

  The thought of Noah’s bedroom being occupied by another female other than me makes me sad—selfishly sad.

  Britney wave us all off. “I meant because Lucky isn’t so lucky, after all. In fact, Smack Mack”—she steals a moment to growl at Cormack, and my goodness how I’m loving the quasi-violent nickname—“if you knew how to read people just a bit better, you’d know that Lonely here is quite unlucky.”

  “How do you figure?” I’m about to point out that both of the most handsome men in the room happen to have an affection for me, and that makes me feel pretty darn lucky, but think better of it. Smack Mack is liable to pluck her hair out, and mine, at the revelation.

  Brit lifts a blood red fingernail. “You find bodies. You solve crimes. You’re a virtual magnet for criminals. That bling is just a setup for a mugging. I’m a firm believer that women shouldn’t wear showy jewelry for just that reason.”

  Cormack gasps as if she were just forbidden from decorating herself with baubles from Tiffany’s as if she were a million dollar Christmas tree. “She can wear a fake.” Cormack’s celadon eyes dart my way. “I know a great jeweler who can do a replica. You’ll keep that one in the safe.” She nods frenetically as if we were suddenly in cahoots to find a way to display our fancy ruble.

  Britney gives an exasperated sigh, her only visible eye closing for the briefest of moments as if she’s had enough of the nitwit among us. But if Brit is so brilliant, why hasn’t she gotten rid of her yet?

  Britney glowers at Cormack, and I’m delightfully amused. “An idiot crook can’t tell the difference between the real deal and a replica—thus, the danger remains the same.”

  Cormack sniffs. “And that’s why they’re the idiot.”

  “It takes one to know one,” I mutter mostly to myself. And heck, I don’t even know if it made sense, but it felt darn good to get it out. “Don’t worry about my ring.” I offer Everett a forlorn look. “It’s most certainly going into the safe. Your safe. That was very kind of your mother, but don’t you think you should confess that we’re not quite engaged?”

  Everett inches back as if it were the last thing on his mind. “Lemon, in some countries, the things we’ve done have already qualified us as husband and wife. Keep the ring.” His lips curl with naughty promise. “It looks good on you.”

  Noah chuckles. “But it means nothing. Yes, Lottie, keep the ring. We’ll hock it for a down payment on our first house.”

  Everett gives a slow blink. “I’m a homeowner, Lemon. I’d never make you sell your jewelry to buy me a piece of real estate.”

  Cormack swoons, momentarily forgetting which old beau she’s trying to stab with Cupid’s arrow.

  Noah’s dimples press in approvingly as he looks my way. “I’ve got news about the case, Lottie. We found the murder weapon.”

  “Where?” Suddenly, I can’t get close enough to Noah. If his tactic for the night was to lure me with evidence, it’s working.

  “It was spiked in Gloria’s flower bed. We found it with a metal detector.”

  “A metal detector? Now that’s thinking outside of the flower box.”

  The lights dim, and the entire lot of us takes up a row of seats near the front—with Noah and Everett ensconcing me like bookends. We’re far too close to the stage—the area infamously known as the fun zone, but seeing that every other spot is taken, we don’t have a say in the matter.

  The room darkens to pitch before a single spotlight shines center stage and Michelle Ireland pops into existence like an apparition with her arms stretched wide.

  “Boo,” a gentle voice whispers into my left ear, and I glance back to find Nell illuminated like a glow stick as she hovers next to me.

  “Nice to see you here!” I whisper. “Ooh, let me do something real quick,” I say as I pick up both Noah and Everett’s hands. “Nell is here,” I say to the two of them.

  “Welcome!” Michelle Ireland’s voice booms throughout the room effortlessly and a tad too loud as if the mic was turned up all the way. She’s wearing a flowing white dress, her auburn hair is wild and wavy, and her lips are a jarring shade of red juxtaposed to her paper white skin. And that smile, it just seems to get wider by the minute.

  She struts to the front of the stage, and the lights come up a bit as she searches the audience with that perma-grin of hers.

  “If you’ve come out tonight, it’s because you’re ready for a change in your life. You’ve found the old way of doing things is breaking your spirit—breaking your heart and the hearts of those around you.”

  Nell leans in. “I’ll say. Lottie, you might just glean something from this, after all.”

  I turn and frown at Nell. As much as I want her advice on my wonky love life, I suddenly regret the fact I volunteered to play the part of a megaphone for the other side. I try to let go, but they both happily secure my fingers to theirs once again.

  Drats.

  Just my luck.

  I can’t keep my heart or my spooks in line.

  Hey? It looks like Britney might be onto something with that hideous new nickname she gifted me. Although, I’m not sure which is worse, Lonely or Unlucky. But then they’re probably not mutually exclusive.

  Michelle Ireland waxes poetic about the attributes of strong, forward thinking people. “You must think big—and then you must think bigger than that! You need to blow up your dreams the size of a hot air balloon and fill them with ambition.”

  Nell chortles. “It sounds like a lot of hot air to me.”

  Michelle pumps a fist into the air. “You must charge your attitudes, charge your steps. You must walk quickly. Winners have someplace to go. Those who slouch and slog behind are rarely on the victory lines of any frontier. You must believe in yourself. Believe in your progress, believe in kindness, believe in leaving those that don’t believe in you—behind.”

  Noah leans in. “I believe in you, Lot.”

  “Too late,” Everett whispers. “The ship has sailed. She’s already left you behind.”

  Michelle takes an exaggerated breath. “And sometimes when those who don’t believe in you refuse to get out of your way—you simply have to remove them yourself.” The smile drips right off her face. Her gaze seems to have wandered to some unknown horizon, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was reliving that fateful day her father died—because she killed him.

  “Oh dear.” Nell’s voice is melodic with worry. “She does sound rather guilty, doesn’t she? Perhaps Detective Fox needs to bring another Dallas family member to the sheriff’s department for further questioning.”

  Noah glances back. “Good idea, Nell,” he whispers.

  Everett leans over and cuts a mean look his way. “No need to flirt with Nell. She’s not available either.”

  A dull laugh bubbles in my chest. Noah is rather agreeable this evening. Odd for a man with a woman on each arm and then some. It’s as if he’s addicted to estrogen.

  “I’m not flirting,” he hisses back. “I’m being sensible. That’s one of the qualities Lottie appreciates about me. I’m sensible.”

  Everett’s chest expands. “You’re right. It was sensible of you to choose to forgo the all-important detail of having a wife. I’m afraid I’m not that sensible. In fact, I think I’m a little bit dangerous.” His eyes hood over as he looks my way. “Danger makes your wheels turn, Lemon.”

  I gulp audibly and sink in my seat a notch as I try my best to pay attention in hopes the white-hot spotlight of their attention will dissipate from yours truly. But my God, Everett pegged it.

  Noah is sensible. Everett is dangerous. And just like the next girl, I can very much appreciate both of those attributes in a man—men. And that right there is the problem. Noah and Everett simply need to be rolled into one glorious person.

  Honest to God, that person might be too much for the female population of the planet to handle. The solar system might disband at the sight of him.

  Michelle gives another hour’s worth of pointers before coming to a rollicking conclusion. “You must master your circumstances—they mustn’t master you. If they do, then time is liable to slip away out of your grasp, and you will see all of your hopes and dreams wither away right along with it. If you are at a crossroads in your life”—she pauses, and I scoot to the edge of my seat in hopes to hear the words of wisdom I so long for—“then it is all the more crucial you take command of the situation. You must make a decision. Paralysis by analysis is a very dangerous game. The lie you might be telling yourself is that you’re being prudent, weighing your options, carefully vetting out the pros and cons of each situation, but the unvarnished truth is, you are allowing the hours to slip by. Precious time is being lost. You must make the right choice. The answer already lies within you.”

  The houselights flick back on, and the room explodes with applause as every soul in the place bounces to their feet, Nell included.

  “What did you think, Lottie?” Nell leans in. “Has she helped untangle your dilemma a bit?”

  I’m thankful to be in full-throttle applause mode, thus Noah and Everett aren’t privy to my conversation with Nell any longer.

  I shake my head at her. “Do you know the answer, Nell?” I pin her with a look you could cut both butter and hard cheese alike with, and she mimics a zipper motion across her lips.

  “You do know!” I suck in a harsh breath as Michelle comes down the side stairs and heads on over. She’s instantly mobbed, but she’s relentlessly heading in our direction.

  “Pardon me,” she sings sweetly to the thicket of bodies ready to ardently bow and worship at her feet. “Please form a single file line in the foyer where I will be signing and selling my latest book. I need a quick moment to speak with a couple of friends.”

  Her grin turns into a grimace as she turns our way—to Noah specifically. “I see you took me up on my offer, Detective Fox. I’m glad you could make it. I still haven’t decided if I should slug you or kiss you for hauling my mother to the station.” She tosses her hair as she laughs. “It’s good to see the old girl get a pop in the behind every now and again. She had it coming.” She gives a sly wink.

  Pop in the behind? Who would say that about their own mother? Come to think of it, Miranda Lemon might just benefit from a good pop in the behind after all the shenanigans she’s partaken in this year alone. If she hadn’t entangled herself with a raging lunatic, none of us would be standing here today—save for Michelle, and she’s technically the only one of us who belongs here.

  “So”—she flashes that wide smile once again as she looks from me to Britney to Cormack—“which one is the wife?”

  Cormack is quick to offer her a hand. “That would be me—soon-to-be.”

  Britney rolls her eye. “That would be me.” She smacks Cormack’s hand out of the way and grabs hold of Michelle’s fingers herself. “I’m the present missus.”

  I bite down on my lower lip to keep from laughing. Oh heck, I can’t fight it. This is far too fun. “And I’m the ghost of girlfriends past—but we’ve already met. And this is my new boyfriend, Everett. He’s a judge at the courthouse down the street.”

  “Ah.” She lifts a brow his way. “So you must be acquainted with my sister.” She expels a dark laugh. “I jest.” She looks my way. “Claret has a dicey career in a seedy part of Leeds. Poor girl just never believed in herself. That was the difference between the two of us. I believe in me and—well, she did, too.” She slaps her thigh as if it were a hoot. “But alas, she didn’t believe in herself.” A strange energy takes over her person as if she were reliving a bad dream.

  Everett leans in. “How long has your sister been working for the wrong side of the law?”

  “Too long.” She flicks a finger through the air. “I apologize.” She looks to the girls and me. “I’m afraid I may have painted my sister out to be a thug. In reality, she’s a lover, not a fighter. Claret was seeing two different men. Poor thing couldn’t decide between the two—always back and forth, back and forth.” She rolls her head from side to side as if to exemplify the fact.

  Nell pops up next to her as a sea of stars swirl around her. “This is starting to sound familiar, isn’t it?”

  I choose to ignore Nell momentarily.

  “Go on,” I say to Michelle. “How did she know which one was the best for her?”

  “Oh, she didn’t. She chose the wrong one in my opinion. Her other suitor was an insurance salesman. He was heartbroken when Claret decided to go with Louie, but he’s since moved on. And now, he has a sensible job with a sensible wife and three sensible children. Poor Claret. Louie was quite the playboy before he met her, and he’s since resumed his philandering ways. She chose dangerous over sensible, and now all she has is her job and her cats.”

  Oh my God, that’s going to be me!

  I turn to Everett and scowl for even entertaining his philandering ways one more time.

  “It’s not happening, Lemon.” His cheek flickers because he’s smart enough to connect the philandering dots.

  Noah nods. “It’s happening. Be sensible, Lottie. You have enough danger in your life as it is.”

  “Oh hush, you.” I scowl at him as well. “You’re already well on your way to having a sensible wife or two. Can’t you see? There’s no safe scenario left for me.”

  Michelle Ireland laughs as she brings her hands together. “Now there’s something I’ll have to add to my speech. There is no safe place. It’s true, Lottie. The only safety we have is in ourselves. It’s either one or the other.”

  Britney glides an easy smile my way. “You can’t have one, so it must be the other.” She stabs her arm through Noah’s and yanks him in. “And let’s see, Mack Nut. I have Noah, and Unlucky has her hands full with Judge Baxter’s sexy gavel… Where does that leave you? Oh yes, all by your lonesome.”

  Cormack stalks over and threads her arm violently through the crook of Noah’s other arm, and I can’t help but smirk.

  “Noah, you’ll have to stop acquiring wives and girlfriends”—I say—“you’re quickly running out of limbs.”

  He blows a hard breath as the two of them start in on a tug-of-war, and I scuttle Everett and Michelle over a notch.

  Nell tips her head toward the suspect before us. “Perhaps ask her about her other sister?”

  Everett gives my hand an approving squeeze.

  “What about Dawn? Do you think she had a vendetta against your father?”

  Michelle’s skin turns pasty in patches as if I caught her off guard. “Dawn wouldn’t kill anybody. She was a good girl, and she didn’t deserve to be treated the way she was.” Her fingernails press into her fist so hard her skin glows white. I can’t help but note she’s all but drawing blood. “Dawn was four years younger than me. While we were growing up, she was my living doll. I loved her as if she were my own. She was my baby girl.”

  Strange. She’s talking about her as if she were no longer with us.

  Nell nods. “Ask her when was the last time they spoke.”

  “When did you last speak with Dawn?” I give a little shrug as she pierces me with an icy stare.

 

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