Page 18 of Poison Apple Crisp
“Oh, that clears everything up.” She belts out a laugh. “I can see now why you felt the need to give your baby two fathers.” She continues the chuckle fest, but no one else at the table seems to be joining in on the effort, so she rolls to a stop.
Before the situation can deep dive further into a rabbit hole of awkwardness, a spray of stars appears to her left, and soon that precious little Pomeranian is floating by her side.
“Hello, Lottie!” Ginger trills in her cartoonish little voice. “Oh my, look at these handsome steeds. How they remind me of my Emmet and Nolan. Emmet had commanding blue eyes and dark shiny hair just like the man on your left. And my sweet Nolan had dark hair that turned red in the sunlight, the same daring green eyes as the man to your right.” She does a little orbital spin around Cokie. “I recognize this woman from last night. Is she the killer, Lottie?”
I shrug over at her. “So, Cokie? Any word on what happened to poor Brenda? Was her misfortune brought on by natural causes?”
The waitress comes by and lands breadsticks, two large pizzas—one pep and sausage, one veggie—and a round of ice water for us. Noah must have ordered before we came. Either that or the waitress instinctually brought it over. I’m guessing it was the latter. It’s our standing order, and this wouldn’t be the first time it miraculously appeared before us.
Cokie inches her face my way. “I heard she was poisoned. A lethal dose of cyanide salt.”
Noah glances my way for a brief second. “Cokie, how did you hear that?”
She shrugs as we all help ourselves to a giant slice of heaven, and my stomach starts pulsating as if it were considering whether or not this delicious food was still an option for us.
It is, I want to tell it. There’s nothing any part of my body can do to stop me from shoving both of these pies into my face.
Cokie shrugs. “I don’t know. I just heard it floating around on campus. The faculty is really close, you know, and people talk.”
Ginger lets out a few sharp barks. “She’s guilty, Lottie. I can see it in her beady little eyes. My mother—the woman who raised me, Amanda—said not to trust people with beady little eyes.”
I gasp. Miranda? Amanda? Something is definitely up. I smell a celestial rat in the kitchen.
And it’s ridiculous to paint people with beady eyes that way. People can’t help what they look like. Her mother sounds like a goof.
Ginger floats her way over to me. “I know what you’re thinking. What an awful thing to say. My mother was sort of a goof. After her husband passed away, she had to raise Brenda and her sisters on her own. And once they flew the coop, she was very interested in just about every man that looked her way.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Cokie leans in. “Excuse me?”
“Oh,” I straighten, “I mean, don’t I know how rumors can get started.”
Everett dabs his mouth with his napkin. “That rumor sounded very specific. Noah, do we know what that woman died from?”
Noah takes a breath. “Toxicology hasn’t confirmed anything yet.” He nods to the redheaded killer among us. Okay, so maybe she’s not a killer, but that perky bosom of hers on display for all to see is killing my good time. “I’m afraid I’ll have to come down to the school and interview people. If someone is that specific, the killer might be right there on campus.”
“Great,” I say as my hand slaps over the table. “And Evie starts school in a week.” I lean in and squint over at the redheaded nuisance among us. “That killer better watch their back. I’ll make sure this case is good as solved before my daughter sets foot on that campus.”
“Lottie.” Noah gives a little shake of the head.
“Don’t you Lottie me,” I say. “I have every right to protect little Evie.” So she’s not so little, but she is mine.
Everett strums his fingers over the table. “Lemon, why don’t we talk about this after dinner?”
I turn his way as I take umbrage to his words. “Don’t you after dinner me. Both of you men are in hot water for colluding against me.”
I can hear Carlotta snickering with laughter from behind.
“Woo-wee, ten bucks says both Mr. Sexy and Foxy are about to get some of the angry action tonight. I should lend her my riding crop.”
“No way.” Mayor Nash doesn’t waste a second to deny me my kinky rights. “She can use a whisk or a wooden spoon. Tell her to get her own riding crop. We’ve got to preserve what’s ours.”
That sums up my bio parents in a nutshell—always thinking of themselves.
Everett penetrates me with those serious eyes and Noah sighs deeply.
“That’s right,” I snip. “I saw the two of you coming together in the name of keeping my investigative efforts at bay. Well, it’s not going to work. I’m going to dig away at my heart’s content. I’m going to get my hands dirty if I want. And I’m even going to question suspects in an effort to bring this killer down. There’s not a man on the planet that can keep this amateur sleuth down.”