Page 24 of Christmas Fudge Fatality

“Oh my God.” She lets go of me and clutches at her chest. “I can’t breathe.”

I try to crawl past her and she grabs onto my ankle. “I’m sorry, Lottie. This ends tonight. You end tonight.” She plucks the knife right out of my hand and thrusts it down over me just as I roll out of the way. But Stacy is relentless as she hoists the knife back up.

“You’re going to die, Lottie. And don’t forget—you made me do it.”

“Like Tamara made you do it?”

Her eyes fill with rage. “Tamara lied to me! She took what belonged to me, and I was going to make her pay.”

Noel growls like a hound from hell as he jumps onto her back and Stacy falls forward, landing on top of me.

Noel barks, “I’m so sorry, Lottie! Oh dear, the knife! The knife!”

“Where’s the knife?” I stop struggling to get out from underneath her in time to look up and see a shining silver blade right over my head, and before I can scream a shoe comes from nowhere and kicks the weapon out from her hands.

Stacy’s body is yanked off mine, and I see Everett’s handsome stone-cold face as he pulls her to the side.

Noah and Ivy come running out the back door of the kitchen, and soon Stacy is in handcuffs and I’m in Noah’s arms.

“Lottie, you could have been killed.” He presses a heated kiss to my forehead. “I’m so glad you’re okay. What happened?”

“She confessed. She did it. She pushed Tamara off the embankment,” I pant.

“Let me take care of this.” He steps over to where Everett and Ivy work to subdue Stacy.

Noel runs up. “Good work, Detective Lemon.” His body lights up an eclectic blue hue, and tiny sparks of light that look like miniature stars spray all around him in a supernatural display of glory. “I’m afraid it’s time I return to paradise, to my Tamara.”

Tears come to my eyes. “I’ll miss you, Noel. Have a wonderful Christmas with your best girl.”

Slowly, Noel begins to fade into the background until there’s not a trace of him left.

“Merry Christmas, Lottie Lemon! I will never forget you.”

“I’ll never forget you either.”

Everett comes over, and soon I’m in his strong, capable arms. I press my ear to his chest and listen to the quickening of his heartbeat.

Everett pulls me in tight. “You got another one, Lemon. I’m proud of you. How about we put a moratorium on finding any more bodies until after the holidays?”

I pull back and bite down on my lip as I look at this beautiful man. “Deal.”

And just like that, it’s all over.

“Tamara can finally rest,” I say, wiping the tears from my eyes. “And so can we.” I wrap my arms around Everett as I watch them take Stacy away.

It’s all really over—just in time for Christmas.

Chapter 11

It’s Christmas Eve, and my mother’s B&B is just as festive tonight as it was during that dizzying dating fiasco. The grand dining room has a feast fit for a king set out—a turkey with all the trimmings and enough mashed potatoes and sweet potato pies to feed all of Honey Hollow. My sisters, my mother and her friends, Keelie and her family, Noah and Everett, we’re all here together celebrating the holiest day of the year—I’ve even brought Pancake and Waffles over to celebrate the joyous holiday.

Stacy was arrested for the murder of Tamara Gray. Scott felt like a fool after he was filled in on Stacy’s true intentions with him. He denied Stacy’s accusation that he was siphoning funds from the farm and keeping them from Tamara. I guess we’ll never know for sure. But it turns out, Stacy’s anger toward Tamara had been festering for years. And that missing camera that Stacy accused Tamara of stealing? It was discovered in the trunk of Stacy’s car in a bin filled with old produce. Stacy forgot all about it. All of it was for nothing. Murder usually is.

The friendly ghosts of the B&B, Greer Giles and Winslow Decker, take turns swinging from the chandelier up above, knocking over glasses, and rattling the presents under that behemoth tree my mother has bejeweled with the ornaments I remember from my youth.

After dinner, Noah, Everett, and I congregate by the fire as we reflect on this dizzying month.

“Mmm,” Noah moans as he holds up a piece of my chocolate walnut fudge. “I don’t know how you do it, Lottie, but this is the best fudge I’ve ever had.”