“Oh, Lainey, she’s an angel,” I coo. “How does she sleep through all this noise?”
“Come to find out, she loves noise. That’s exactly why she can’t sleep at night. It’s too quiet.” She makes a face. “Forest and I let the vacuum run for the past two nights, and believe it or not, we’ve slept more in the last forty-eight hours than we have in the last six months. I’d better get going. I wanted to stop by the library and make sure it was still standing.”
I tip my head her way. “I thought you were taking the week off?”
“I am, but as it turns out, I’m addicted to that place. I can’t wait until Josie grows up so we can work side by side and we’ll never be separated from one another again.”
She blows us both a kiss before taking off.
“You’re going to feel the same way, Lottie. You’ll just never want to be apart from this baby.” Mom pats my belly before heading back to her friends.
My arms wrap around my stomach protectively.
Instinctually, I know she’s right. I never want to leave my little sugar cookie alone in this world. But I know that’s not reality. And that’s exactly why I need to do what I can to make this world a safer place for my baby, like stop a turf war by way of solving this homicide.
If only a little pesky thing called jury duty didn’t stand in the way.
If Lainey thinks Allison is innocent, I bet she’s right. Lainey is a great judge of character. Now the entire trial feels like a time-kill until deliberations. Let’s hope things wrap up quickly so I can get on with the rest of my life—a life of fighting crime.
And by doing so, Flo can get on with the rest of her afterlife.
Chapter 12
Everett put the spare onto his car, and I followed him to the tire shop where we dropped it off.
I’m not sure why I thought poking a hole in his tire would ground that car forever, but in the least, we’re taking my minivan to Ashford. Everett offered to drive us to the courthouse, and I was more than glad to let him. It seems my big belly is getting in the way of everything these days, and driving is one of those things.
I don’t mind tooling around town, but add in the snow, the long drive on the highway to Ashford, and the thousands of directions my brain is reeling in, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster I’d rather avoid.
Evie texts. Rumor has it that I’m expecting twins. And rumor also has it that you started that rumor. I knew I loved you. Thanks for putting me back at the top of the Honey Hollow High charts!
“Is that Noah?” Everett glances my way just as we exit the highway for the courthouse.
“No, actually,” I press the phone to my chest, “it’s Evie. Something about a dress.”
Good Lord! If Everett finds out I even hinted to a group of women that Evie was expecting, he’ll toss me out of his life for good.
Everett’s phone bleats in the cup holder next to me. “Would you see if that’s Noah? There were some shady looking characters driving around the neighborhood this afternoon. It makes me wonder if they broke into the garage and slashed my tire.”
“What makes you think someone slashed your tire? I mean, you could have simply rolled over a nail in the road.” My heart wallops against my chest because I happen to have it on good authority someone did just that—me.
“When I changed it out, I saw there was an incision point. If I ran over a nail or glass, the cut wouldn’t be so clean and there might have been evidence of debris.”
Shoot. Everett is far too bright for his britches.
“But don’t worry, Lemon.” He pats me on the knee as we pull into the secured lot behind the courthouse. “Noah tailed them.”
“What?” A ripe panic spikes in me. “Those shady characters could have been the Morettis.”
He glances my way. “I doubt it. They have no idea we have anything to do with Flo. And they certainly don’t know we have her body.”
“Right.” It comes out weak as a whisper.
Only they do have some inkling, especially if they’re coming around our neighborhood.
“Hey”—Everett brushes his thumb over my cheek, and there’s so much love brimming from his eyes I could just cry—“don’t worry. Noah and I already talked about beefing up the patrol cars in the neighborhood. You and the baby, Evie, Carlotta—you’re all going to be safe. I would never let anybody hurt you.”
“I know.” A lone tear rolls down my cheek, and Everett quickly comes around and helps me out of the van.
Everett kisses that tear right off of my face, and the wind stings me where his lips were as a punishment. I deserve it. I’ve dragged Everett into something he never wanted to be a part of. And now it’s all going to backfire on me, I can feel it.
Everett holds me a good long while right there outside the courthouse as the storm clouds move in overhead, purple and thick as welts.
Everett would never do anything to hurt me, and here I’ve willingly hurt him.
We head inside, and soon enough, I find myself right back in that jury box.
The entire courtroom rises to their feet once Everett enters the room, and my heart goes boom once I see him. He’s so alarmingly handsome, such a very powerful man. I wish we could forget about the world and lock ourselves in his chambers for the rest of the afternoon. Just seeing Everett in all his judicial glory is enough reason for me to want to be in this jury box forever.
“You may be seated,” Everett says as he takes a seat and he looks our way, pressing out a quick smile just for me.
As much as I dreaded this entire debacle, being a part of Everett’s courtroom has made this a memory I will never forget.
Of course, I much prefer being a part of the jury rather than a defendant, like I was the last time I was in a courtroom with Everett. But I can’t knock that day either since it was the day we first met. Just to think, if those Simonson sisters had never sued me, this would have been my first interaction with Everett. I would have probably married Noah by now. This would most certainly be Noah’s baby. I would be missing out on every facet of how wonderful Everett truly is, and not to mention Evie.
My heart breaks just thinking about it. And yet at the time, being sued by the Simonson sisters felt as if my entire world was crumbling, and here it was falling into place all along. Although Noah might contest that.
Everett nods in our direction. “We’ll proceed with the defense today as we continue the People of the State of Vermont v. Allison Gray. Just to inform you, the defendant has the right not to testify. And the prosecution cannot make a comment if she decides not to take the stand, nor can you hold it against her.”
All of the same players have shown up today. I’m once again ensconced between Dillard and Annie—the latter of which has really vamped up her look with her hair teased to the ceiling, her lips a glossy shade of red that matches her low-cut dress, and her sugary perfume strong enough to penetrate my unborn child’s nostrils. It’s sort of giving me a hankering for cotton candy, too.
Mr. Wolfe and a couple of his interns sit just in front of me. He looks dapper per usual, and I catch Annie winking his way whenever he happens to glance in our direction.
Fiona Dagmeyer is seated at her own table. She looks particularly sharp today with her dark locks loose and free around her shoulders and a navy pantsuit on with gold-rimmed glasses, an almost replica of those on her client. Allison has her strawberry blonde hair combed neatly, no makeup, and she looks pale as a stone. Her plain navy blouse is buttoned up all the way to her neck, and she looks like the quiet kid who sat in the library alone as a kid.