Chocolate Chip Cookie Conundrum (Murder in the Mix Book 32) by Unknown (romantic love story reading txt) 📗

“All right, fine. Go on,” Mom shoos us away. “I know where the diaper bag is and I have an infant seat in my sedan. Wiley and I will take her to your place and watch some television with Lyla Nell. You have a good time. You deserve it.” She rocks the baby while blowing her kisses. “Glam Glam is going to take very good care of you. We might just do a little internet shopping and then catch a solid nap. Does that sound good? Yes, it does.”

Internet shopping and naps? Suddenly, I have the urge to have my mother babysit me.

But Carlotta, Noah, and Everett shuttle me out the door before I can change my mind.

I miss Lyla Nell so much, I cry all the way to Hollyhock.

Lottie

Hollyhock is the neighboring town to the east of Honey Hollow, and it just so happens to be where Noah grew up before his father nuked their family and moved his boys to a far ritzier town named Fallbrook to live with his new wife, Eliza Baxter.

And after a half hour drive, we finally make it to the fairgrounds. There’s a large sign staked between two rugged wooden posts up above that reads Welcome to the Annual Chili Pepper Festival! Fire in the hole!

Carlotta belts out a laugh. “At least they’re honest.” She gives a few sniffs while clutching Cluck Norris tightly in her arms. “I think I smell cornbread.”

“Corn?” The friendly fowl’s head bops up and down with excitement. “That’s my favorite food. Lottie, you really should consider baking a corn cake. Or corn cookies.”

“Or corn brownies,” Carlotta adds and Everett groans.

“I don’t want to know what that conversation is about,” he says, picking up my hand and kissing the back of it.

“Ooh,” I moan, taking in the sweet scent myself. “I bet it’s cheesy jalapeño cornbread. That’s my favorite. While I was pregnant with Lyla Nell, I really broadened my culinary palate.” My chest bucks with a hiccup and the tears start flowing again. “Lyla Nell. I bet she thinks I’ve abandoned her.”

“There, there, Lot.” Carlotta slings an arm around my shoulders. “I dropped enough pamphlets from the Honey Hollow Fire Department around the house and you didn’t take the bait. That kiddo is stuck with you no matter how ruffled her feathers get.”

“It’s true on both counts,” I say. “You’ve crop-dusted the entire house with those pamphlets, and Lyla Nell is stuck with me forever.”

Carlotta drove up with Noah, Everett, and me. Mayor Nash said he’d meet us here in a bit, and as soon as Evie heard where we were headed, she and her friends zipped out this way, too. And I do mean zipped. She’s already texted me three different pictures of herself at the fairgrounds. One with a jalapeño pepper hat on, one knee-deep in a chicken coop, in which she let me know she wanted to steal a rooster to have her own Cluck Norris, and the third was of her and Conner kissing under a sign that read hot lips. Needless to say, I didn’t tell Everett about that one. No need for him to have a heart attack while he was at the driver’s wheel.

The crowds are thick, and the scent of fried food lights up our senses. It’s becoming clear Woody Hawthorne is no longer the star of this show, the food is. I plan on having just a little bit of everything, and I have a feeling that will equal a whole lot of deliciousness.

“Lyla Nell is stuck with me forever, too,” Noah says as we make our way into the festival. “So you can stop crop-dusting my house with those pamphlets as well, Carlotta. Lyla Nell isn’t going anywhere.”

Carlotta huffs, “Who says I was hinting at getting rid of Lyla Nell? There’s a certain brunette who I share a bathroom with who hogs all the hot water.” She looks to Everett. “Now that Evie Stevie has got herself a boyfriend who can drive, I bet he’d do the dirty work for you.” She smacks Everett on the gut. “I’m just teasing, Sexy. I’m keeping Evie for myself. She’s about as entertaining as my Lot Lot. And not only does she keep me young, she’s educational to have around, too. Just last night she was teaching me all about the bulletproof hater coat.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“It’s an invisible shield you put on when people are being mean to you.”

Cluck Norris lets out a few quick buck-buck-bucks.

“I could have used one of those myself,” he says as his head juts back and forth. “Let’s just say Candace had a brother who wasn’t a fan of either hers or mine. And he definitely wasn’t an early riser.”

“Sorry to hear it,” Carlotta says. “But had I put that bulletproof hater coat on when I was back in high school, you might not be here today, Lot. Foxy and Sexy would be battling it out for Cormack.”

“Not true,” Everett is quick to contest it.

“Have it your way,” Carlotta shoots back. “Sexy would be with his baby mama. And Nell would have left the bakery to me.”

Noah shakes his head. “Not true either. Without Lottie there wouldn’t be a bakery. The Cutie Pie was her idea.”

“Wait a minute,” I say, pulling her back before she trots off for jalapeño cornbread pastures. “What does that bulletproof hater coat have to do with my existence? Don’t tell me someone bullied you into sleeping with a very married man.”

“Candace Cottonwood didn’t care that he was married. As far as she was concerned, that wedding ring was just another doohickey that made him sparkle and shine. Once Randy Candy put her mind to something, there was no stopping her.”

Everett looks her way. “Why do I get the feeling something—or more to the point, someone stopped her?”

“Darn tootin’, someone did. And that someone would be me. All that girl did was tease me and call me names. Unibrow was just the tip