Baby Bundt Cake Confusion (Murder in the Mix Book 31) by Unknown (reading eggs books .txt) 📗

shoots Noah a dirty look as he stands with his arms folded a few feet away. “And Noah is staying here.”

Evie gives her dad a quick hug. “Don’t worry, Dad. We’ll just make the new house bulletproof, and soon we’ll all be under one roof again. And if you’re the new Uncle Noah, that means you’ll pretty much be living here anyways.” She dots a kiss to his cheek before flopping onto the couch.

Everett nods. “She’s right. I’ll be here, but not tonight.” Everett pulls me close and lands a searing kiss to my lips. It says don’t worry and don’t forget me all at the same time. He pulls back and takes a breath as he looks to Noah. “Don’t give me a reason to kill you. Keep your hands to yourself.” His blue eyes land over mine once again. “I just need a minute to figure out how to fix this. And I will.” His thumb brushes over my cheek. “I promise I’ll fix this, Lemon.” He lands another kiss to my lips before sailing out the door.

The night comes to a close and I crawl into bed, with Noah crawling in right after me.

“I’m sorry, Lot,” he says. “I’ll figure this out. This is my mess. I should be the one to mop it up.”

He places his hand over my belly and the baby gives him a gentle kick.

A sad smile comes to his face. “It truly is the best of times and the worst of times.”

“You’re right, Noah,” I say as I pull his arm around me while tears roll down my cheeks.

It is the best of times and the worst of times.

I guess when your whole life feels jinxed, that would be about right.

And I can’t help but feel sorry for this child I’m about to bring into this world.

Here’s hoping a jinxed life is not a genetic attribute.

Noah

Lottie Lemon.

My eyes can’t drink in enough of her as the morning light bleaches the bedroom. Her caramel waves are slightly tangled and her skin glows as if she was lit up from the inside. Every last inch of her is beautiful.

I’ll admit, I did not get much sleep last night. I held Lottie all night, one hand on her stomach. The baby kicked and moved for hours. I have no idea how she got a single wink. I’m not sure if she noticed I was holding her, or even that I was here. If she did, she didn’t care. And all night I marveled how the entire world seems to have righted itself if but for a moment.

I woke up with a spring to my step and made everyone in the house bacon and eggs, hash browns, and buttered toast. Evie and Carlotta are still fast asleep, but I served Lottie breakfast in bed.

“I will not lie,” I tell her. “I am not too broken up over the fact Everett is safely tucked across the street,” I say, shoveling in the last bite of my hash browns.

“Don’t be surprised if he shows up for breakfast, which is phenomenal by the way.” She reaches over and gives my hand a squeeze. “Thank you for being so nice to me. I’m shocked you don’t hate me by now.”

“That will never happen. So what’s new with the case, Detective Lemon?”

“Stassi Maxwell.” She nods. “Stassi made it clear she thinks Jasmine set her up to look like the other woman. If she did do it, I’m guessing Jasmine, or Jazzy, did it for the big payout she was going to get when she divorced Slater. I mean, think about it. If she knew he was cheating but couldn’t catch him, why not set him up so that you could have a witness to drag to court with you? Ariella is an attorney. She’s a credible witness.”

“Maybe. But I can’t see why anyone would set up their friend that way. And she trashed the friendship between her and Stassi.”

“You’re right, Noah. But then, she was a reality star. And you know what they say. There’s no bad publicity. I did an internet search and that feud she had with Stassi put her right back in the spotlight. A spotlight that was beginning to wane.”

I blow out a breath as I consider it. “You think a waning spotlight could have made Jasmine ruthless?”

“And you don’t believe that’s a possibility?” A laugh bounces from her. “I hate to say it, but I’ve met enough of your old classmates to draw the connection. But if she was or wasn’t, it doesn’t change the fact she’s dead and so is Owen. There are just so many factors to this case, Noah. Stassi could have gunned Jasmine down and Owen could have been a casualty. Stassi might have snapped. She did say Jasmine was making a concerted effort to ruin her life.”

“And that is a very clear motive. But she did build up a good case for Jen.”

“She sure did,” she says, taking a sip of her coffee. “Stassi might have suffered a blow to her reputation, which is still a big deal. I mean, she did mention she couldn’t get a job. Jen Olsen, though, she has an established business that apparently Jasmine was interfering with. It’ll be interesting to hear what she has to say.”

“As in you’ll be interviewing her?” I know the answer to this, but it’s amusing to ask.

“Are you kidding? The woman has a restaurant that specializes in fried chicken. I am not missing out on this feast. You’re welcome to come.”

“That’s a very generous offer, Lot. I’ll be there for sure.” My phone goes off and it’s a text from Ivy.

Ballistics confirmed the gun Everett had on his possession wasn’t fired that night. He’s off the suspect list. I’ve passed the word along to him. And if you’re so inclined, I should be off by five if you want to catch dinner. We can talk about the case.

“What’s that, Noah? You look miffed.” Lottie leans forward and I