Next to the refreshment table stands Noah’s look-alike father doling out mama-mosas per the sign perched before him. Wiley Fox has been the resident bartender whenever his services are needed. At least he’s useful for something.
The sound of cheery music kicks on over the speakers as the women break out into chatty conversations all at once.
Mom tackles me with a hearty embrace, and I take in the lilac scent of her perfume.
“Oh, Lottie”—she pulls back and her blue eyes sparkle with tears of their own—“were you truly surprised?” Mom has creamy blonde hair that touches her shoulders, she’s somehow forgotten to age, and always has an upbeat attitude no matter what might be happening around her—case in point, the hot pink couture frock Cormack and Cressida force her to wear around here. Mom has gone from owner to employee in a single bound. But at least she’s still got a free bedroom here.
Mom sold the place to give Noah’s father money for his publishing house. So far Mom and Carlotta are his only two authors. Mom has transitioned from writing trashy novels to penning steamy beach reads, and Carlotta writes self-help books that teach women how to snag a man. It’s safe to say Carlotta’s been doing extensive research while living with me.
“Yes, I’m completely surprised.” I give a few hard blinks. I spot Evie in the corner with her best friend, Dash, and my sisters, along with my half-sisters, headed this way. “How did you? Why did you? You certainly didn’t have to.”
My sisters, Lainey and Meg, come at me at once.
Lainey has her precious little girl, Josie, sitting on her hip. Josie is a golden hair cutie with amber eyes and is all of seven months old. She’s wearing a frilly dress that looks as scrumptious and delicious as her rosy cheeks, and I can’t stop myself from kissing her first.
Lainey is one year old older than me, same caramel hair and hazel eyes even though we’re not blood-related. Meg, my younger sister by a year, has dyed her blonde locks black and wears enough black kohl around her icy blue eyes to make any raccoon insane with jealousy. She’s clad in leather, works part-time at the Honey Pot and part-time at a gentlemen’s club out in Leeds teaching the strippers their dicey moves. Before that, she did a stint in Vegas in the female wrestling circuit and she was a pretty big hit as Madge the Badge.
“Can you believe this, Lot?” Meg offers a quick bear hug. “You’ve got enough gifts here to have a dozen kids easy.”
“That’s right,” Lainey says. “You and Everett, or you and Noah, or you and the both of them need to get cracking.”
“Slow down,” I tell her. “I haven’t even had this one yet. Adding to my brood isn’t on my mind. You, however, are free to get cracking,” I say as I give Josie’s tiny ponytail sitting on top of her head a twirl. “You make cute kids, Lainey. I don’t see why you’re wasting time.”
“Please”—she makes a face—“I can hardly leave for work knowing this cute little moppet is at home. I’d never want to leave the house if I had more. Never mind the fact I wouldn’t be able to leave the house without them at that point. I’d miss them too much.”
Meg grunts, “That’s why you’ve been bringing Josie with you to the library.”
It’s true. Lainey is the head librarian at the Honey Hollow Public Library and she’s had her mother-in-law bring Josie down to the library during all of her shifts so far. There’s been a bit of separation anxiety on my sister’s part.
Speaking of sisters, Kelleth and Aspen, my half-sisters—Mayor Nash’s daughters—come at me. I’ve got a half-brother, too, Finn. And I get along great with all of them. It wasn’t always that way, especially with Kelleth and Aspen, but I’d like to think we’ve coasted past that.
Both Kelleth and Aspen are varying degrees of blonde. One is older than me, one is a year younger, and I can never keep it straight which is which. Kelleth is taller with a giraffe like neck and wears a touch too much cosmetics. And Aspen has always held a cartoony nature to her. She reminds me a bit of a blonde Betty Boop with her voluptuous lips and body and sassy attitude to match. I’m not sure what they do for a living anymore, but in the past they’ve been involved in some pretty dicey dealings.
“Have you heard the news?” Kelleth fans herself with her fingers. She’s donned a yellow pantsuit and Aspen is wearing a pale pink dress, and the two of them together look like a couple of parfaits.
“What news?” I look from one sister to the other. Even though Kelleth and Aspen are far more biologically related to me than Lainey and Meg, I still view Lainey and Meg as my real sisters. That might sound like hash, but I just met Kelleth and Aspen a little over a year ago.
Aspen leans in with her eyes the size of stop signs. “There’s a rumor going around that you might not be our sister.”
I shoot a quick glance toward the refreshment table and spot the rumormongers themselves, Cormack and Cressida.
“I’m sure it’s just a rumor. I’m glad you’re both here regardless.”
We part ways, and just as I’m about to head over to the new owners of the hot pink disaster, I’m intercepted by one of the cutest little boys in all of Honey Hollow.
“Baby Bear,” I coo as I give the tiny tot a kiss to the forehead. Noah actually helped Keelie deliver him last summer, on Noah’s birthday no less. It was the same day little Josie was born, too. “And Keelie Nell Fisher.” I pull my blonde bestie in for a hug as close as my body will allow. “How could you keep this from me? I’ve known you all my life and I had no idea you knew how to keep a secret.”
“I don’t. My mother called me over to have brunch with her. I’m just as surprised as you are.”
Keelie is tall with golden curls, sparkling mischievous eyes, and a smile as bright as sunshine. But she, too, is a well-known rumormonger, so I can see why they saw fit to keep this little secret from her as well. I spot Mom, Keelie’s mother Becca, and Chrissy Nash all humming around the gifts and taking pictures of them. Chrissy Nash, Kelleth and Aspen’s mother, and my mother are very good friends. And I spot Eliza, Everett’s mother, and Meghan, his sister, both of whom seem to be having a rather amicable conversation with the owners of this hot pink B&B.
A rumble comes from baby Bear’s bottom followed by a foul odor that makes me gag on cue.
Keelie belts out a hearty laugh. “Oh, Lottie! Just wait until your baby explodes like a poop filled piñata. I hope I’m there to see it. I can’t wait to welcome you into this poopy club. I’d better go change him. Why don’t you fuel up? I bet Meg and Carlotta were in charge of the games. Sorry in advance.”
She takes off and I spot Carlotta standing by the door holding that ghostly little Maltese pooch that’s come back from the other side to help me solve this case, and next to them both is Greer Giles, one of the ghosts that haunts this place—or more to the point, one of the ghosts that can’t for the life of her scare Cormack or Cressida out of here.
I make a beeline over and Greer’s ghostly smile widens. Greer was about my age when she passed away a few years back and has long dark hair that sparkles with onyx stars. She’s still wearing the white ruched dress she had on the night she was shot, and the crimson ring around the left side of her chest looks like a corsage if you didn’t know it was a bullet hole.