When my mother owned the Honey Hollow B&B, she ran the Haunted Honey Hollow B&B tours out of it at eighty dollars a head, and once she was through with them she sent them to my bakery for what she dubbed as The Last Thing They Ate Tour. She’s still running her haunted tours, albeit all the proceeds go to Cormack and Cressida now. But on the bright side, she’s still sending the tourists my way afterwards, so there’s that.
Noah takes off to take Ariella home, and I’m about to get straight to the task of helping Lily clean up when my belly decides to harden into a bowling ball. I drop the stack of forks in my hand and grip my stomach as my eyes squeeze shut.
“Whoa,” a female voice pipes up from my right and I open my eyes to see Serena standing there looking at me with a touch of wonder. “Hey? Are you having a contraction?”
“No way,” I tell her. “It’s nothing. I’m just practicing for the real deal.”
“When is your next doctor’s appointment?” She squints over at me as if she didn’t believe a word I just said.
“In a week. Dr. Barnette says she wants to start seeing me weekly up until the big day. So there’s nothing to worry about on my end.”
“Have you packed your bag for the hospital?”
A tiny spike of terror strikes me. “I’ve been meaning to. I mean, obviously, everyone keeps telling me to do it.” Specifically my best friend Keelie and my sister Lainey, both of whom just had babies last summer. “But, to be honest, I’m half-afraid that will send out some signal to the universe that I’m ready to have the baby. And I’m not ready to have the baby.”
“Yes, you are, Lottie.” Serena shakes her head at me. “Look, you can deny that this baby is coming all you want, but in less than a month you’re going to have an infant on your hands whether the nursery is painted, there’s a crib set up, or even if your bag is packed for the maternity ward. You have toured the maternity ward, right?”
“Toured it?” I inch back in horror. “Why would I do that?”
“So you know what to expect. You don’t want to be caught off guard, do you?” She glances to the ceiling. “Look, I was supposed to run a tour with the birthing class we just finished up, but things got wild toward the end and we never got around to it. I’ll put your name in with the head nurse and give you clearance to take a tour on your own. Since you can’t be trusted to do it…” She waves behind me, and soon Everett and Alex have joined us. “Everett, I’m arranging for a tour of the maternity ward for you, Noah, and Lottie. I’ll get the details to you soon. Make sure she’s there.”
“I will,” he says as his lips flicker just this side of a smile. “Thank you. We appreciate that.”
“Speak for yourself,” I mutter.
Alex leans in. “Don’t worry, Lottie. Both of my brothers are going to be there for you.” He offers Everett a mock sock on the arm. “And I do consider you my brother. I’m rooting for you, Everett. Noah told me all about the sleepwalking defense. I’m sure it’ll work out for you.”
It’s true. Noah remembered that Everett had a well-documented case of sleepwalking. And Everett’s acting attorney, Fiona Dagmeyer, one of his old girlfriends who has been thoroughly Essexed, agreed that it might work. I guess we’ll find out next month when the trial gets underway.
Alex and Serena say goodnight and take off just as a familiar brunette with cobalt blue eyes comes this way.
“Oh my goodness!” Meghan Baxter, Everett’s sister, strides forward. “You two are here for less than five minutes and we’ve got a mountain of corpses in the back alley. Tell me it’s not true, Essex. You didn’t gun those people down, did you?” She pulls us into a double embrace, and I’m momentarily smothered by her flesh and sugary perfume.
“That you had to ask is an insult.” Everett pulls back. “Don’t breathe those words again, Meghan. This night has given me more than I can handle already.”
“So much for having a great reunion.” She makes a face as she looks out at the crowd. Meghan looks like Everett in female flesh, but she’s voluptuous where he’s rock hard, and her humor is a bit drier and biting. I like Meghan a lot. “I guess I missed all the fireworks. That’s what I get for showing up late.”
Evie comes up and hugs her aunt with ferocity. “If it isn’t the Marvelous Ms. Meghan,” Evie teases. They’ve grown pretty close, considering the fact they just met this past year, and I’m glad about it, too. Evie deserves to have a normal family life, especially after Cressida did her best to strip her of it.
“Evie, my favorite niece.” Meghan wraps the crook of her arm around Evie’s neck and gives her a noogie. “But you just might have to share that honor if your mom has a girl. I guess I’ll see you all tomorrow at that big—”
Evie all but tackles Meghan a good ten feet away and now she’s whispering into Meghan’s ear and the two of them are nodding frenetically.
“What was that about?” I ask while Lily and Everett exchange a quick glance.
“Who knows?” Everett wraps his arms around me. “My guess is boy trouble.”
“You’re probably right.” After narrowing her two boyfriends to one, Evie has had nothing but one drama after the next in her dating life. Not that Everett and I are thrilled with her dating at all.
My stomach squeezes tightly once again and I press my lips together, not wanting Everett to catch onto the amount of discomfort I’m in.
I’m positive this baby isn’t making its debut into the world tonight. And I certainly don’t want an unwarranted tour of the maternity ward any sooner than I have to have it.
I blow out a slow and steady breath just the way Serena taught me during those birthing classes she presided over, and soon the tight feeling subsides.
I spot Carlotta off in the corner of the room and gasp. In her arms is that white silky-haired pooch who came back from the other side to help us solve this murder.
But there were two suspects, and I get the feeling I should keep my eye out for another ghost to make itself known—and here’s hoping the killer makes himself or herself known, too.
Noah
Snow falls softly as I run into the Ashford County Sheriff’s Department.
It’s just about midnight, and after I dropped Ariella off at home, I thought I’d head out this way. At this point my jaunt to the station is more or less out of habit. But seeing that there was a double homicide tonight in Fallbrook, the victims of which were two of my old friends, I’d say I have more than a horse in the race and every right to be here.
Who knows? This might just be the catalyst to get myself off suspension and back behind my desk where I belong.
No sooner do I set foot into the warmth of the building than Everett cycles through my mind. He belongs back on his bench as much, if not more, than I belong back here.
Last January when Florenza Canelli, in her ghostly form, promised she would help me thwart a deadly mob war, I foolishly told Lottie to take the deal. Initially, I was going to be the only one stealing her body from the morgue. But Everett had to play the part of hero and joined in on the effort. In fact, he did just that last month, too, when he took the fall for the entire debacle. But, then again, it was his face that showed up clear as a bell on the security footage and his alone.