Page 28 of Peach Cobbler Confessions

This is far too much like a dicey dream I’ve had on more than one occasion, and in a strange way it feels as if I’m doing just that, dreaming.

This is impulsive, unreal, and something just this side of ecstasy.

And it just so happens to be one dream I don’t want to wake from.

The music stops and is quickly replaced with the low rumbling of thunder as a cool breeze emanates from my right.

Both men have abandoned their efforts, and I can hear the distinct whispering of voices, both men and women. And if I’m not mistaken, it sounds as if a crowd just wandered in.

Someone takes off my blindfold and I not only see Sammy wielding it like a flag, but I see about twelve people in the shadows breaking into a spontaneous applause.

Sammy lifts a hand my way. “Let’s hear it for our damsel in distress!”

The applause increases tenfold, and I think I just heard my name.

“Lottie!” my mother’s voice trills as she steps out of the shadows and into my worst nightmare. “That was fantastic. You were just brilliant.”

“Mother?” A sense of panic rises in me as I take in her odd sense of style. “Why are you dressed like a cat?”

An elf-like creature materializes next to her. “You knocked it out of the park, Lot Lot.”

“Oh dear God.” I moan at the elf from the biological shelf. I squint at the men nearby and the realization of who they are hits me—Wiley Fox and Mayor Nash—aka my father.

Sammy lifts her hand to my right. “And let’s hear it for the boys!”

The room goes wild once again in honor of Noah and Everett, twice as wild as it ever went for me.

“Okay,” I say to the pink Pop Tart. “You can unleash me now.”

Sammy makes a face. “I think your hero should reveal himself.”

Both Noah and Everett dash over, and before I can demand to be set free, my hands are unbound and I’m rubbing my wrists.

Noah and Everett take off their masks.

“Lemon.” A dark smile twitches on Everett’s lips as he bows in to kiss me. “We’ll finish our game later. The hero and the damsel deserve to have a hot night.”

Collette Jenner fans herself with her ghostly fingers. “I’ll be there, too. There’s no way I’m missing out on the sequel—theRitual Part Two.”

Noah scowls as he pulls me into a quick embrace. “Don’t listen to him, Lottie. I was the hero.”

“Yes, well, you’ll both be my hero if you get me out of here asap,” I say as my mother and Carlotta and their disastrously dressed plus ones crowd around me.

Wiley has on a black leather strappy number that honest to God frightens me. And Mayor Nash is dressed like one of Santa’s helpers.

I’m not even going to ask.

Carlotta pokes at my dress. “Great job, Lot. You look like a movie star in that getup. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were discovered.”

“In here?” I give a quick look around at the crowd milling around. “For what? An adult movie?”

My mother chortles. “If the blindfold fits.”

“Mother,” I hiss. “What are the four of you doing here, anyway?”

Mayor Nash pats his belly. “It’s my birthday.”

Dear Lord. Of course, it is.