Page 57 of Peach Cobbler Confessions
“Yes, I killed Dane,” he says, pointing the working end of Ethel right at me once again. “You’re right. I did it. Dane was a snoop, just like you. He had to go. And now you do, too. I’m not all that sorry. The only thing I’m sorry about is the fact I couldn’t make you disappear. You would have made for a great season opener.”
An explosion goes off just as a body pushes me out of the way and lands me with a certain grace and deftness over the soft summer grass.
I look up to see Everett Baxter with his swollen lips curving up as if he were happy to see me, and to my right, Noah has a knee over Ridge Porter’s back. Ridge’s left arm is profusely bleeding. It looks as if Noah got that shot right where it needed to be.
“Lemon”—Everett helps me up and pulls me in so tight I can feel his heart ricocheting off my chest in rhythmic detonations—“are you oaky? Is the baby okay?”
My mouth opens and closes. “I’m okay.”
In an instant, the entire sheriff’s department swarms the area and Ridge is being taken by deputy escort into a waiting ambulance.
“He confessed to killing Dane,” I tell Noah as he heads our way. “And he was responsible for every unsolved mystery on his show. I have proof.”
Detective Ivy Fairbanks steps up next to Noah, and I tell them everything that’s inside of that sickening treasure chest at the base of Ridge Porter’s desk. Of course, I don’t actually tell Ivy that I broke into his office. I’m sure she wouldn’t be as quick to turn a blind eye as Noah is.
Ivy takes a breath. Her crimson locks are spun into a tight knot much like Collette’s.
She nods my way. “I’ll obtain a search warrant right away for Kent Noble’s home. I don’t say this often, but impressive work, Lottie.” Her expression sours as she looks from me to Everett then Noah. “Congratulations to the three of you on the baby. That’s…a bit mindboggling for me to comprehend, but I suppose it was inevitable.” She takes off and Collette fills her void.
“Quick,” I say. “Give me your hands. Collette is here.”
Collette Jenner’s ghostly body begins to fade, and I suppose that as well was inevitable.
“It looks as if I’m headed back to paradise. Too bad I couldn’t get a bite out of you, Essex, but I did have access to an entire bakery, so for that, Lottie, I thank you.” She begins to rise into the sky. “Hey?” she shouts down at us. “Do you think there’s any chance of me coming back? I knew a lot of wicked men, Lottie. This may not be the last you see of me!” She turns into a crimson blip in the sky and my heart breaks to see her go.
“I guess that’s the end of Collette Jenner for now.” I shrug over at Noah and Everett. “Before we move one inch, I have a confession I need to make.” My chest bucks with emotion and I invert my lips in an effort to stave off tears. “Noah, Everett, I beg your forgiveness, because I should have told you earlier—heck, I did tell you earlier, but you wouldn’t believe me, and then it snowballed like nobody’s business, and then the timing never felt right. And then, before I knew it, here we are, standing right here, holding hands under a beautiful summer sky.” I take a deep breath. “And since there will never be a good time to tell you, I’m going to do it now.” I look into Noah’s forest green eyes, then into Everett heavy blue ones. “I’m not having a baby. I was never pregnant. It was a silly rumor Carlotta started that I couldn’t get away from. That night of Dane’s murder—Sammy slipped some psyllium into the peach cobbler she handed me. It was initially for Dane. I know I mentioned it, but it bears repeating. That’s the only reason I was sick. I’m so sorry.” Tears come, and this time there’s no fighting them. “I saw the excitement in both of your eyes, and it just breaks my heart to tell you the truth.”
Noah pulls me into a strong embrace, his chest bucking against mine a moment, and I can feel his profound sense of grief.
Someone calls for him from the crowd of deputies, and his eyes meet up with mine.
“It’s okay, Lottie.” He sheds a mournful smile. “As long as you’re happy and healthy, that’s enough for me. I love you.” He dots a kiss onto the tip of my nose before taking off.
Everett pulls me in and I can feel him breathing over my hair. His breath both warms me and enlivens me at the very same time.
“Lemon”—he pulls back enough to examine my features—“I should have believed you the first time. I guess I chose what to believe. I guess I wanted this more than I realized.”
A sorrowful smile comes to me as the events of this day, of last night at Kent Noble’s house come crashing to the forefront of my mind and my stomach begins to churn, bubbling and hot. I break free from his embrace, stagger over, and vomit into my mother’s border garden.
I may have a thirst for justice, but that doesn’t mean it won’t make me sick.
Chapter 19
The summer sky gives way to shades of tangerine and auburn as fall licks on its heels. It’s the end of August, the end of a long, hot summer, and the end of this the last Saturday of the month as we celebrate Noah’s birthday down at Honey Lake.
It seems as if all of Honey Hollow has congregated around this mass of water as the lake glimmers navy and silver.
Everett volunteered to grill for Noah, and Noah has insisted on helping, so the two of them have been hovering over the community grills here at the lake as they cook mounds of steak, hot dogs, and hamburgers for any and everyone who would have them.
The Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery has provided all of the sweet treats for today’s festivities. And seeing that I’ve invited the entire sheriff’s department, I’m glad that I spent the entire last week baking up a storm to make sure we were well-stocked on all of Noah’s favorite desserts. There are cookies, brownies, eclairs, cream puffs, muffins, macarons, dozens and dozens of Noah’s favorite chocolate chips cookies, and a cake, too—but it’s not just any cake. I took a page out of my recipe book from last year and built a towering cake comprised solely of donuts—made exclusively with luscious glazed confections in every shape, size, and color. Suffice it to say, the sheriff’s department got a good chuckle out of that one.
Noah heads my way, along with Mom and Wiley, Noah’s look-alike father, and I can’t help but frown a little at the man holding my mother as if she were about to float away.
“Oh, Lottie!” Mom trills. “Everything is perfect. And it’s all your fault I’ve blown my diet.”
Wiley nods in agreement. “I’ve eaten an entire pan of peanut butter chocolate brownies all by my lonesome.” He slaps his stomach just as Noah’s brother, Alex, crops up.
“It’s true.” Alex nudges his father with his elbow. “I watched him do it.” He shakes his head over at his brother. “Another year older, and none the wiser. I heard Lottie here busted not one case but two.”