“Because she’s not me, you moron!” Flo growls the words right at her, and I look to Flo in an attempt to knowledge the lunacy transpiring. “How could you?” she shouts. “I gave you everything! If you wanted that cheating jackass of a man so bad, I would have given him to you as well. But you took everything from me!”
“You gave me nothing!” Lorena fires back. “You took the lion’s share of everything in our lives and made sure Donata and I suffered with the leftovers. The only thing that cheered us up about not having you around was the fact that we were finally going to step out of your shadow and make a name for ourselves. This was our shot, and we weren’t going to blow it!”
Their one shot.
So that’s what Flo heard them talking about that day at my bakery. They wanted to step out of her shadow. But one of them stepped in the wrong direction entirely.
“You were greedy and conceited and unstoppably selfish,” Lorena continues. “You didn’t care about anybody but yourself. And now with you gone”—she closes her eyes a moment—“I’m twice the monster you were.”
Flo lunges for the gun. “Run, Lottie!” she cries out as she and Lorena are suddenly struggling for control of the weapon. Flo’s entire being ignites as bright as a hot pink star before her ghostly frame becomes far more transparent by the second.
“Flo!” I cry out just as she dissipates to nothing.
“Don’t worry about me, Lottie,” she says, still struggling with Lorena with every ounce left in her. “I’ve got a kid to get home to. You protect yours. I’ll never forget you.”
“And I’ll never forget you.”
“Lemon!” Everett’s deep voice echoes over the expanse, and just as I turn to look his way, a gunshot goes off.
It feels as if the entire world stills for one horrific moment.
Everett pulls me in and shields himself over my body just as Noah dives past us and tackles Lorena one-handed. Ivy Fairbanks runs out after him and helps him land the woman in cuffs.
“She did it,” I cry. “She confessed to killing Florenza Canelli.”
A series of screams comes from the entry to the restaurant, and someone shouts for a medic.
We look that way and see a woman with strawberry blonde hair lying on the ground with her blood pooling over the snow, red as a rose.
“Oh my goodness, Everett. I think I know who that is,” I say, pulling him along.
And sure enough, lying motionless on the ground is Allison Gray. Her eyes are opened to the sky, her lips parted as she expires her last breath.
“It’s her,” I whisper to Everett.
Everett nods. “I know.” He drops down and checks her pulse before rising slowly to his feet. “I’m sorry, Lemon. She’s gone.”
A glimmer of light appears next to her. The form of a man begins to fill in, and I recognize that dark wavy hair and that boyish warmth in his mournful smile.
“It’s Carter Cameron,” I whisper to Everett as I take up my husband’s hand.
“I’m sorry,” I say to the man. “I should have paid better attention during the trial. I should’ve—”
He shakes his head. “Don’t worry. Justice always prevails on the other side, no matter if it was missed on this planet.” He glances down at Allison Gray’s lifeless body. “And sometimes—one way or another—justice finds its own way, right here on earth.” His ghostly frame sparks and sizzles until there’s nothing but air left in his wake.
“He’s gone,” I whisper to Everett as I bury my face in his chest. “I failed him, Everett.”
“You didn’t fail anyone. I love you, Lemon. I just need you safe.” Everett takes me as far away from the scene as he can before landing his lips over mine. “I say we focus on this baby. No more trouble, no more murder.”
“No more jury duty or demanding ghosts. And both of those are finally over.” I shrug a little. “What else could possibly go wrong?”
And yet in the pit of my stomach it feels as if the universe is about to best me yet.
Chapter 20
Lorena Lazzari admitted to killing Florenza Canelli, but Everett says the Lazzaris have hired a top-notch legal team for her, so there’s a chance she won’t have to serve all that much time. They ruled Allison’s Gray’s killing accidental. Carter Cameron’s family ruled it a clear case of providence.
It’s just two days since that violent scene back at Kenicky’s Steakhouse, and yet it feels as if a decade has passed. We’re standing in my mother’s B&B, which is already decorated to the hilt for Valentine’s Day with little metallic heart cutouts everywhere and pink twinkle lights strewn all over the conservatory, even though it’s still weeks away.
My mother and Wiley called us all down for a surprise announcement. My sisters and their plus ones are here, including baby Josie, Keelie, Bear, and little Bear, and Keelie’s mother, my mother’s bestie, Becca Turner, and Mother’s other bestie, Chrissy Nash, Cormack and Cressida because they happen to be holing up here, and that pretty much explains Suze Fox’s appearance, too. Evie and Dash are here with their newly minted individual boyfriends. And Carlotta and Mayor Nash are here for the event as well. My mother said it was casual attire, so when Carlotta donned what amounts to a prom gown, a ruby red satin number with a full bell skirt and ruffled hemline, I immediately grew suspicious.
I lean toward Everett. “Do you think Carlotta has traded her unicorn costume for a formal?”
“I can only hope,” he grunts. “I bumped into her in the kitchen the other night after midnight, and let’s just say she only had half of her costume on. Do you know how disconcerting it is to see a topless unicorn?”
Both Noah and I chuckle at the thought. Noah still has his arm wrapped in a sling, but he’s already started to move it to improve his range of motion.
“I’m sorry.” I press my fingers to my lips. “I feel as if I need to apologize to both of you.” I sober up really quickly. “I’m sorry for the poor decisions I’ve been making. I never should have followed Lorena outside. I never should have agreed to moving—you know what, you know where.”
Noah bows his head a notch. “You left that call in my hands, Lot. I’m the one that let the two of you down.” He gives Everett a sheepish half-smile. “Maybe I do need a big brother to look after me.”
Evie jumps into our circle before we can say another word, and conjoined to her hand is the blond varsity football player she’s been hanging out with ever since she arrived in Honey Hollow. He’s got a boyish round face, light eyes, and dimples.
“Dad, Mom, Uncle Noah, I’d like to formally introduce you all to my official boyfriend, the one and only Conner Saint.”
We’ve met before—plenty of times—but I’m with Evie. I think the occasion called for a do-over in that department.
“Saint, huh?” Everett growls at the kid. “And you think you’re going out with my daughter?” he snarls it out with an aggressive edge, and I pull him back a notch.
“Hi, Conner,” I say. “It’s nice to meet you as Evie’s official boyfriend. Just to clarify, you do realize that her father is a judge and her uncle is a cop, and I’ve been rumored to bake a poisoned cupcake or two?”