“What did you read in the book, Cormack?” I ask as my patience begins to wane. My eyes flit to the entrance for any sign of Fiona, but there’s none just yet.
Cormack’s hands snake around my body, and I carefully pluck her off, much to her dismay.
“Fine,” she pouts. “On page thirteen, Bambi states she had an infamous friendship with the famed Verity Prescott, which went off like a bottle rocket then dissipated just as quickly.”
Lottie scoffs. “That’s hardly any evidence.”
“Oh yeah?” Cormack takes a step in Lottie’s direction. “And then she said, ‘Verity Prescott has hair that I would kill for.’”
Lottie chokes on a laugh. “Cormack, I read that, too. It’s hardly a motive for murder.”
“No, it’s not a motive.” Cormack shoots daggers at Lottie. “It’s a confession.”
“All right.” Everett rocks back on his heels. “Good effort, Cormack. But the killer was Juliet Jackowski. Her family canned jam for a living, and she had working knowledge of botulism.”
Lottie nods. “Botulism is an adverse effect of canning gone wrong. Juliet confessed to killing Verity in order to keep from going to prison over the fact she was stealing from the Craft Emporium. Verity was using their theft as leverage over her. And it was Juliet who was sending those cryptic messages to Evie. But then, you probably have no clue about the other component to this case.”
Cormack gasps. “You mean there were two killers? I don’t even know how that works.” She looks my way. “Don’t worry, Big Boss. I’ll be at your place later and you can teach me a few lessons on how to improve my sleuthing skills.” She licks her lips. “And I’m not talking about detective work.” She takes off before I can reject the offer.
“Don’t worry, Lot,” I tell her. “I have a deadbolt, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
My attention shifts to Everett for a moment. “Would you mind if I had a private word with Lottie? Just for a moment?”
Everett takes a breath, and I can tell he’s as stressed out as he’s ever been.
“No problem.” He glances to the door. “I think I’ll head out front and see if I can spot Fiona.” He brushes a kiss to Lottie’s cheek. “If he tries to steal second base again, knee him in the cookies.” He takes off, and Lottie presses out a shy smile.
“I’ve been given strict orders,” she teases.
The music shifts to something moodier, and I hold out a hand her way.
“Can I have this dance?”
“I would never deny you,” she says, falling into my arms, and it feels right.
As if it were a reflex, I plant a kiss over the top of her head.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Lottie.”
“Same to you, Big Boss.” She gives a cheeky wink, and we share a warm laugh on Cormack’s behalf.
I swallow hard as I take in her beauty. “The thing I wanted to tell you is that—you own me, Lottie Lemon.”
“And you very much own me, in a very strange way, Noah Fox.” She shrugs. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t ever apologize for giving me the best news ever.”
Her stomach jumps, and I feel it up against my hip.
“Whoa.” I land a hand over her stomach and can’t help but grin. “Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too, kiddo. I guess we’re going to meet you soon enough.”
“Noah”—Lottie breathes my name in a sigh—“it’s all happening so fast, I can’t bear it. And yet it can’t get here fast enough all at the same time.”
“I feel the exact same way.”
“And don’t worry.” She gives my tie a playful tug. “I want you to know that whether or not this is your baby, you are going to play a vital role in its life. Just like you are with Evie.”
I give a solemn nod. “Thank you for that.”
Lottie blinks up at me with those doe eyes of hers, and I can’t help diving in and getting lost in them.
Here I hold the holy grail to Everett’s defense, and a small, selfish part of me says don’t give it. Let him go away so I can have Lottie all to myself. And try as I might to stomp that horrible, fiery thought out of my mind, the flames keep popping right back up again.
A part of me wishes someone else had thought up the defense, that the burden of Everett’s future lay in anyone else’s hands other than my own. But at the end of the day, Essex Everett Baxter is my brother just as much as Alex is. And I need to protect him. I need to save him from this unfortunate position that I landed him in to begin with.
Lottie pulls my head down to hers, and for a moment I think she’s going to plant one on me. Not that I would stop her. Not that I could stop Lottie Lemon from doing just about anything. But she rests her forehead against mine instead, and I appreciate the proximity to her lips nonetheless.
“Noah”—she whispers—“I’m so very grateful to have you in my life.” She sniffs back tears. “I don’t think I could bear to not have you in it. You live in my heart now and you will forevermore.”
And just like that, Lottie gives me the best gift I could ever ask for.
A cool breeze moves past us, and we look up to see Everett and Fiona Dagmeyer stepping this way.
It’s showtime.
Everett
Noah has his arms wrapped around Lemon as if he were about to pull her from a burning building. No doubt I’m the raging fire looking to burn down Noah’s world.
I can relate, I thought the same of him for almost the entire duration of time he was with Lemon.
Fiona clears her throat, and Noah is slow to remove his grip on Lemon.
“Detective Fox”—Fiona lifts her chin— “if you don’t mind speeding things along, I don’t like to hang out in haunted houses any longer than need be. What
