“You don’t think Bambi did this, do you?”
Her lips twitch side to side. “Honestly, deep down, Bambi is a nice person. Don’t let that persona she’s donned fool you. But poisoning? I doubt Bambi would risk her livelihood just to off someone she wasn’t friends with at the moment. Both Bambi and Verity’s careers depended on a certain level of drama, so a part of me thought that it was a part of an act. But Juliet?” She hitches her thumb in the direction of the knit shop. “Whatever she and Verity were arguing about felt genuine. I’ve never seen Verity so charged. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Juliet that charged either.”
“How well do you know Juliet?”
“We’re just acquaintances more or less, but she’s a gentle soul. That’s why watching them argue really caught me off guard. Bambi and Verity? Not so much.”
Someone calls for Sugar from the registers.
“I’d better go. Please stay and have a good time, Lottie. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“You bet,” I say as I snatch that furry little koala off her shoulder as she takes off. “I think someone has been avoiding me.”
“Never.” Teddy waves me off. “I just can’t get enough of my sweet Sugar. You do realize Verity snatched me away from her much the way you just did.”
“Are you saying Verity stole you?” I keep my voice down, but the noise level in the room is pretty high in general and those intermittent bouts of laughter are ear-piercing.
“That’s exactly what she did. And she threatened to harm Sugar’s reputation and break the heart of Sugar’s parents if she tried to take me back. Sugar lived in fear of the girl. And so did everyone else who came in contact with her. The girl was a pill as her aunt used to say. So was her aunt.” She groans as if reliving the memory. “And by the way, Lottie, Sugar mentioned you to her mother as well. She said you were married to a judge who’s about to go to prison. She said there’s a rumor going around that your boyfriend set him up. Oh, you’re the talk of the town. Isn’t that wonderful? You’re what Verity used to call popular. Verity said there was nothing more important than being popular. And she said it was equally important to do whatever you needed to do to get there.”
“From what I know of Verity, I believe it.”
“Mom!” Evie shouts as she runs on over and Everett strides up after her. “I just hit four million followers. Like, this is totally surreal. You know what this means, right?” She nods to both Everett and me as he wraps an arm around my waist. “I’m going to have to quit school.”
“What?” we balk in unison.
“No way,” Everett says. “I’m putting my foot down. I’ll take that phone away before I let that happen.”
“I thought you wanted to go to law school,” I cry out to her on his heels.
“Nobody is taking away my phone,” Evie snaps at Everett as her chest pounds. Her eyes are wild as she stares him down with defiance. You’d think he just threatened to take her sanity away, and I guess in a way he did. Her screen lights up and her mouth falls open as she looks at it.
“What is it?’ I scuttle over and hold her wrist steady so I can catch a glimpse, but Evie slaps the phone to her chest. “It’s nothing.”
Everett growls, “Spill it or lose the device.”
Evie growls right back, “Fine! It was Verity, if you must know. And she was reminding me to snap a picture of my environment.”
“Verity?” Teddy sounds about as alarmed as I am. “Why, she wouldn’t say that. Verity would be much more interested in getting a picture of herself in there somewhere. The vain are vain well into the afterlife, too, you know.”
I nod her way. I’ve certainly witnessed a vain character or two who has crossed the earthly divide.
A group of girls circle around us.
“Did you say Verity?” one of them asks.
“Is she speaking to you from the dead?” another gasps.
“No way! She can talk to Verity!” a third shrieks, and before we know it, the entire bookstore has turned itself inside out.
Evie is swarmed by a gaggle of women, all clamoring to speak to Verity, and Everett pulls me to safety just as Noah appears and makes his way over to us.
“What did I miss?” He glances to that hub of bodies surrounding Evie. “Is she safe in there?”
“No,” I tell him. “I’m starting to wonder if any of us are safe.”
Teddy purrs at the sight of Noah. “Oh, he is a looker, Lottie. Why, you’ve got two. One for each arm, I suppose.”
She’s not that far off the mark.
“I see your arms are empty. I’d like to fill the void.” Noah flexes his dimples my way and I bite down on my lip to keep from giggling. Little does Noah realize he’s playing off of Teddy’s words. “How about I help you pick out a few spicy books to heat up your nights? In fact, I’ll be happy to read them to you if you like.”
Everett lifts his head a notch. “She doesn’t need you to read her a spicy bedtime story. She lives it with me.”
“That may be true, but I think we could all get a few good books to curl up next to the fire with. Plus, it’s a nice way to support a local business,” I say, leading us over to my mother’s table where my sisters flank her on either side and Josie sits on my mother’s lap like the miniature queen she is.
“About time, Lot.” Meg winks. She’s just a year younger than me, but she’s spicier by a mile. “What’s it going to be?”
“One of each of her novels,” I tell her.
“Same for me,” Everett says.
“Ditto.” Noah lifts a finger. “Hey, where’s my father?” He gives a curious glance around.
Lainey shakes her head. “Apparently, Cormack and Cressida won’t let him off the leash.”
Noah inches his head back as if he was incensed. “I guess that’s what he gets. On second thought, I’ll take two copies of each book, Miranda. It’s the least I can do considering my father is wreaking havoc in your life.”
Mom makes a face at the three of us. “Fine. But none of you are allowed to actually read these books. They were written for adults, you know.” She offers a sly wink our way just as Carlotta stretches her legs in this direction and the people who were in her line zip over to Bambi’s table, making it almost certain I won’t be getting a signed copy of her tell-all tonight.
“What do you mean they can’t read your book, Miranda?” Carlotta gives her a playful slap on the back. “These three have done things together that would make even a grown woman such as yourself blush.” She looks over at Teddy. “Now come here, cutie patootie, and give me some lovin’.”
I take a moment to glower at her. It’s as if she has no regard for our transmundane status anymore, or the status of her thinly veiled sanity.
“There’s nothing I’ve done that could make you blush,” I’m quick to inform my mother just as Teddy floats over to Carlotta. “Okay, so it’s a little bit true.” I cut a quick glance to both Noah and Everett. “But the three of us haven’t done it at the same time.” I shrug. “And I’ve already read your first three books, Mom.” Although, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have admitted it. Just the thought of her acting any of those scenes out with anyone makes my stomach turn. Speaking of which, I open my purse and pull out a savory snack just to take the edge off. “Fried pickle, anyone?” I ask after I’ve all but lopped its head off with my teeth, and surprisingly no one takes me up on the offer.