Page 5 of Peach Cobbler Confessions
I’m going to kill Carlotta for adding this unnecessary drama to my life.
“Lemon”—Everett holds a hand out to the stalky man—“Dane used to go to school with Noah and me back in the day.”
Back in the day, Noah and Everett used to be stepbrothers. Noah’s no good father once married Everett’s billionaire mother and took her for a financial ride. Things didn’t end any better between these two temporary stepbrothers either. Noah stole Everett’s girlfriend and things have never been the same.
Dane gives an enthusiastic nod. “And look at you two, both fighting the good fight.” He pretends to sock them. “Hey, this is my buddy, Kent Noble.” He pulls the older man forward. He’s not that much older than us, maybe in his forties? He’s got a round belly and dark stubble on both his head and cheeks as he sheds an affable smile.
“Nice to meet you all.”
Dane ticks his head toward his friend. “Kent’s helping me out of a pickle I’m in.” He plucks a navy cloth with gold flecks or triangles printed over it from the pocket of his suit and dabs his forehead with it as if the mere mention of the pickle were enough to incite a sweat to break out.
Noah’s chest pumps with a dry laugh. “Some things never change.”
A man and a brunette pause as they come upon us, and immediately I recognize them. It’s the tall, handsome man that was having an animated conversation with Dane early this evening. And the woman—she’s the one that continued the conversation in the same heated manner. But up close, that handsome man…he looks amazingly familiar.
Dane pauses as he looks to them.
And then it hits me where I know him from.
“Hey!” I give a little hop to go along with my exuberance. “You’re Ridge Porter fromUnsolved Mysteries Tonight! I love that show. My sisters and my best friend, Keelie, we’re all addicted. I don’t think I’ve missed a single episode. How do you find all these unsolved mysteries? I bet more than one of them has been solved because of your show.”
He shakes his feathery dark hair that touches down to the base of his neck.
“Nope. Not a single one—not as of yet anyhow.” He looks to Dane and sheds an easy smile. “Let’s talk more on that project when you get a chance.”
Dane lifts his brows as if he were amused. “Noah, Everett, Lemon, this is my buddy, Ridge. And the lovely woman by his side is my girlfriend, Jade Archibald.”
His girlfriend? Interesting.
“Hello,” she says in a husky tone that sounds oddly as if she were trying to seduce both Noah and Everett. She swings her hips as she moves in close and shakes both of their hands while her chest is propped up and on display as if she were offering her wares to the highest bidder. Come to think of it, sheistrying to seduce my men.
“I’m Lottie Lemon.” I step before her and hold out a hand, which she hesitantly shakes. “This is Noah, my boyfriend—and Everett, my husband.”
Her mouth rounds out in confusion.
Okay, so I probably shouldn’t still be using that line. But for a long time it was true. Noah was my boyfriend, and while we were seeing one another, I may have married Everett so that he could qualify to receive the entirety of his trust fund. It was purely a business transaction, until it wasn’t.
“Ridge.” Noah smiles over at him. “I think I remember you from back in the day, too.”
“You’re friends?” My voice hikes with excitement, and just like that, I get a brilliant idea. I pull Noah in close as I look to the two men before us. “Well, then you probably know this big guy is about to have a birthday. And I happen to be hosting a get-together at Honey Lake in three weeks, on a Saturday at seven. You’re all invited.” I make a face at the busty brunette. I’m sure she’ll be there with pasties on.
“Thank you.” Dane gives a friendly smile my way. “I’ll be there for sure.” Something catches his eye and he squints as he looks somewhere off into the crowd.
“I’d better get going.” He glances to Noah and Everett. “It was good seeing you guys. I’ll catch you before I leave.”
He takes off as Ridge and Kent step to the side to have their own conversation, leaving Jade here with a starstruck look in her eyes.
She leans my way. “So you’re really seeing both?” she whispers as if it were suddenly a secret.
“Yup.” I make a motion for her to scoot her way in another direction—far away from these two men. “In fact, I might be having a baby and have no idea which one the daddy can be.”
“Aww.” She moans as she stomps her foot. “All the good ones really are taken and you’ve got two.” Her blue hobo bag slips from her fingers in the midst of her stomping spree and drops to the ground.
I bend over to help her pick the innards that just spilled out and note what looks like the metallic blue butt of a gun sticking out of the back.
“I’ve gotta run.” She quickly scoops her purse up and cinches it over her shoulder. “It was nice meeting you,” she says to no one in particular as she darts into the crowd.
“Did you see that?” I hiss to both Noah and Everett. “She had a gun in her purse!”