Teddy scoffs. “A singing chef and a magician? Verity always did like the go-getters even if they didn’t actually get anything. Oh dear, Carlotta is missing all of the good stuff. I wish you wouldn’t press ahead without her, Lottie. I have a feeling things will go terribly wrong if we don’t wait for our commander in chief to arrive.”
I roll my eyes and Bambi laughs.
“I thought the same thing, honey. A chef and a magician? Verity was probably blowing smoke up my skirt. She liked to do that toward the end. Let’s just say she needed to be in the driver seat of our friendship, and when the boat started to rock, she threw me overboard without hesitation. But like I said, I don’t really care about Chad. He’s a freaking lunatic just like the rest of the guys she attracted. Verity sure did seem to have it all together.” She nods to the crowd. “Especially to these guys, but she was a fractured mirror, long before I ever met her. And believe me, she cut everyone who dared get too close.”
“Oh dear.” Teddy shivers as a sprinkling of silver stars peppers to the floor. “Verity certainly was a walking piece of broken glass. I couldn’t have said it better myself. She said she’d claw her way to the top. She vowed she’d have enough money so that she wouldn’t have to rely on anyone.”
Interesting.
I lean toward Bambi. “So I take it Verity didn’t come from much.”
“Are you kidding? She was scraping and stealing from the waste bin just to keep herself fed as a kid. She was a dumpster diver before dumpster diving was cool.”
“Oh yes.” Teddy sighs. “Those were some of my best memories. Verity often said that’s why she needed me. I was able to winnow all the way down to the bottom of those steely, stinky wonders. And we always found treasures. Burgers and fries, and even the branch of a eucalyptus on occasion. We made a great team, Verity and me. That is, when she was in a good mood.”
“But I bet she was moody,” I say to Bambi with a nod. “You don’t get to be a genius like that without a few emotions.”
“You can say that again. She was a tempest in a teacup. She had to be just to survive.”
I nod. “And I bet that secret you’re holding for her had to do with her need to survive.”
Her eyes sharpen over mine a moment. “You can bet your bottom dollar it did. In fact, Verity’s bottom dollar often relied on it.”
The barista motions to Bambi, and without hesitation, I step in front of her.
“Bambi, who do you think could have done something like this to Verity? The poor thing died a horrible death.”
She sighs as she stares off past me, her eyes quickly growing vacant.
“She wanted to ruin me. I can only guess she wanted to ruin other people, too. Verity was a very powerful woman. But the sin that did her in was the fact she forgot what it felt like to be hungry. She thought nothing of stealing the food from someone else’s mouth when she herself once knew the pain that hunger could bring. She had evolved into a monster.” Her eyes grow dark. “Anyway.” She takes a breath. “That bonehead she was dating was closer to her toward the end than I was. Maybe he knows who had it in for Verity the most. All I know is I survived her tyranny, and I’m still standing on the right side of the soil. Excuse me.” She gives a little wink, picks up her drink, and melts into the murky darkness.
“Wait!” I call out. “I didn’t get that secret—”
Carlotta scurries up and shoves a cup of coffee my way.
“Well, Lot? Did she do it?”
“She had motive.”
“Carlotta!” Teddy belts out a growl of frustration. “Lottie was relentless. I tried to get her to wait. You were right. The girl is stubborn as a hurricane.”
“Stubborn as a hurricane?” I smack my lips as I look to the one who bore me.
“What?” Carlotta squawks. “Would I say something like that?”
The crowd breaks out into a quick applause, and the emcee of the night steps on stage and asks if anyone from the audience would like to volunteer.
“Right here!” Carlotta calls out, and before I know it, I’m standing on a pedestal with a microphone less than a foot from my mouth.
Well played, Carlotta, Well played.
“Mom,” Evie wails. “What the heck are you doing here?” she hisses. “Don’t answer that. That’s my mom, everyone!” She starts to clap and the rest of the room follows suit.
I blink out at the white fog blinding me as I struggle to find a familiar face, but it seems everyone is lost in shadows and light.
“Um, I’m Lottie. Evie’s mom, Hot Baker,” I say that last part in less than a whisper, but the applause is still carrying on from the fact I’m Evie’s mother.
“Let’s hear it, Mom!” Evie calls out. “It can be short and sweet, just so long as it’s from the heart.”
“From the heart.” My hands rub over my belly as I lean into the microphone. From the heart… All those years I spent as Bear Fisher’s girlfriend come to mind, then the louse I almost married from my time in New York. Two cheaters. At the time that’s all I thought I would ever attract.
I clear my throat into the mic. “There was a time where love eluded me, where I wet my pillow with my tears, where loyalty was scarce and my fragile heart was fractured, broken glass under the heel of the shoe of the one I had entrusted it to. But then, I met two very special men.” I bite down on my lip as I look in their direction and I see them, Noah and Everett. “Hot Cop, Hot Judge, and all was right with the world again. Evie came into our lives, and no matter how complicated things were already, she made everything perfect. And now there’s this little sugar cookie,” I say, patting my belly. “Who knew perfection could grow? Life is complicated, but it can be perfect, too. Remember to always love deeply.” I give a little shrug as I step down from the stage and the room lights up with applause.
“Mom!” Evie pulls me into a tight embrace. “I’m, like, so proud of you.”
“I’m so proud of you. And I’m glad I didn’t miss it even though I didn’t have a clue about any of it.”
She shrugs. “It must be fate.”
“It must be.”
Noah and Everett show up and offer their congratulations to both Evie and me and we share a group hug for the ages.
Love.
It might be the month the world chooses to celebrate it, but with a family like my own, every moment is forever cherished, every month of the year.
Evie dots my cheek with a kiss. “I gotta run. I’ll be home early tonight. I promise.” She takes off and Noah nods my way.
“How’d it go with Bambi?”
“It was interesting, to say the least.” I blow out a breath. “I’ll tell you everything in the car.”
“Good,” Everett says. “I need to make a pit stop before we hit that chicken stand.”
Carlotta runs over with a giant bag in hand.
“Don’t worry, Lot Lot. I boxed up all the goodies to go.”
“Perfect,” I say. “Everett was just about to tell us where we’re headed to next.”
Carlotta juts her head forward. “Where to, Sexy?”
“Down the street to Red Satin.” His eyes land over mine and he doesn’t say another word.