Teddy floats right out of the roof, spinning and tumbling, as she gets sucked out off into the night.
“Well done, Carlotta!” she calls out as she rises ever so higher. “You can learn a thing or two from her, Lottie! Good luck with the baby!” And just like that, Teddy disappears in a spray of silver stars.
“Lemon!” Everett shouts just as another set of headlights rush this way, and soon Noah is running over.
“Lottie?” Noah thunders. “What’s going on?”
“She did it.” I point over to Juliet just as she jumps out of her car. “She killed Verity!”
Noah pulls out his weapon. “Freeze!” he bellows, and this time Juliet holds up her hands with a look of surrender.
A second car pulls up, and it’s Detective Ivy Fairbanks.
“You did it again, didn’t you?” She scowls my way before heading off to take Juliet into custody.
Everett smiles down at me with his chest palpitating wildly “You sure did do it again.” He plants a warm kiss over my lips. “And I’m damn proud of you.”
“What about me, Sexy?” Carlotta puckers up. “I saved Lot Lot’s life. How about planting one on my kisser, too?”
I shrug up at Everett. “Not on the kisser.”
Everett leans over and offers Carlotta a peck on the cheek, and she hoots and howls as if she just won the lottery.
“You, too, Foxy! I saved the love of your life and your baby!” she shouts as she heads his way and coerces a quick kiss to her other cheek.
Everett bears those brilliant blue eyes onto mine.
“Lemon.” Everett’s face is rife with worry and relief. “You were out here with her alone.”
“I know. But I couldn’t help it. The mama bear came out, and as soon as I figured out that she was threatening both Evie and the baby, I wanted to shake her head right off her body.”
“That’s because you’re a good mother.”
“And a bit hormonal at the moment.” I shrug up at him. “One thing is for sure, I won’t tolerate anyone messing with my family.”
Noah jogs over just as a squad car pulls up to the scene.
“It’s done.” He pulls me in for a quick embrace. “Let’s get you back inside. It’s Valentine’s Day.” He looks over at Everett. “And I’ve got a surprise for the both of you.”
Noah
“I called Fiona to come down here,” I say to both Lottie and Everett once we head back into the warmth of the B&B. “She’ll be here in just a few minutes.”
The music is still as raucous and loud as people begin to pair off for the night, and from the corner of my eye, I spot Cormack trotting over.
“You called Fiona?” Lottie gives a hard blink.
Lottie is so beautiful tonight. That red velvet dress makes my heart ache.
It was just a couple of years ago on this very day that I was set to propose to her when my ex walked into the bakery and shook up our lives. Lottie later told me that she would have said yes.
Lottie Lemon would have been my wife, and that baby in her belly would have been mine, no question. Nell herself came back from the great beyond and told Lottie that I was her soulmate. Of course, she mentioned that Everett was Lottie’s soulmate, too, but I choose not to focus on that.
All I know is that I love this woman. She owns both my heart and my soul, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
“Wake up,” Everett growls my way. “What’s the deal with Fiona? I highly doubt you asked her down here to be your Valentine.”
A surge of sugary perfume assaults our senses as Cormack appears and wraps her arms around me tightly as if she were about to pull me away from the side of a cliff.
“I solved the case!” she squeals in my ear. “I know who the killer is, Big Boss, and you need to arrest her right now.”
Lottie curves her lips up at Everett then me.
“Cormack, the killer was just apprehended,” Lottie tells her with a note of glee in her voice. “So you’re a day late and a killer short.”
Cormack’s mouth opens wide. “That can’t be. She’s right in there, in the conservatory. The killer is Bambi Bailey.”
“How do you figure?” I may as well get this out of the way.
Cormack glides her finger down my tie. “Easy, Hot Cop.” She gives a flirtatious wink. “Verity said she wanted to issue a restraining order against her the night Verity was killed. Lucinda didn’t pick up on that, but that put Bambi right at the top of the suspect list for me.”
“Me, too,” Lottie says. “You see, I did pick up on that, but I knew to dig deeper.”
Cormack huffs, “Oh, I dug deep, Leslie. I dug so deep I read almost half of Bambi’s new tell-all. It turns out, she confessed to the killing right there in black and white.” She smacks me on the chest. “Cuff her, Big Boss. And afterwards, we can go to that Italian place you like so much and share a pizza.”
Lottie starts to vibrate with rage at the sight of it. Mangias is our place, and I would never take that away from her. Nor would I break bread or pizza with Cormack anywhere, at any time, let alone on this sacred day devoted to love.
“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?”