Pecan Pie Predicament (Murder in the Mix #27) - Addison Moore Page 0,36
Noah and Everett hit yet another tie—“let’s hear it for the handsome, shirtless gentlemen! Introducing the cow chip kings for the night! And maybe if they’re lucky, our cow chip queen will take them both out for a corn cob dinner.” She lands a cow chip hat over each of their heads, and the three of us step off to the side to the cheers of the crowd.
Carlotta elbows her way over as she steps in close.
“Nice work, Foxy and Sexy,” she says while pulling her phone out. “Now say cow chip,” she sings as she snaps a picture of the three of us. “This is a great shot, Lot. I think I’ve got your Christmas card taken care of. Don’t be shy, boys. Make her buy you a juicy steak. Rumor has it, she’s got deep pockets.”
Everett wraps an arm around my waist. “There was no tie, Lemon. I won fair and square. Noah greased the moderator twenty bucks to stay in the game.”
“It was a tie,” Noah asserts. “I was paying her because I felt bad we were hogging the floor. It’s not a free-for-all. It’s a ploy to make money.”
Carlotta smacks Everett on his broken arm. “Before you go breaking Foxy’s limbs, I think we’d better get to the stage.”
We follow her gaze to the front where a familiar looking sixteen-year-old is strutting her stuff with her top reconfigured and tied off under her chest, her skirt hiked up just barely covering her bottom and she has a bright red ten-gallon hat sunk over her head.
The three of us groan as Evie Baxter sways her hips from one end of the stage to the other.
Before we can get to her, Evie is crowned Miss Sweet Corn for the night, and Dash is right there cheering her on.
We pick up enough enchilada corn casseroles to feed every soul at this fairground before we hightail it back to Noah’s place to enjoy our dinner.
Evie laughs about the fact she belongs to cow chip royalty, and I laugh along with her.
We curl up by the fire with my sweet cats Pancake and Waffles while Noah and Everett watch sports on TV. Pancake and Waffles are downy creamed-colored Himalayans with blue eyes and rust-tipped tails, and on a night like tonight they feel like living furry quilts. And right about now, I want nothing more than to fall asleep with them in my arms.
Carlotta falls into a food coma on the sofa and snores so loud it’s hard to hear the game. Evie uses Toby as a pillow as she sits on the carpet with him. I’m sipping on a cup of hot apple cider while nestling with my kitties and my men, and I can’t think of a single place in the universe I’d rather be.
Things may not be perfect in my world, but it’s times like this when my heart overflows with thanksgiving.
My hands warm my belly, and I imagine my sweet little sugar cookie sleeping safe and sound.
Poor Hannah will never know the level of peace I feel because someone out there decided to rob her of everything her future could have held.
Reese certainly had a motive to poison Hannah’s pie. She was costing her everything. She also knows something about the man in the fedora. I’ve never seen anyone look so jumpy as she did when I brought him up. She mentioned that Autumn and Hannah had some tension between them…
I guess that’s my next move.
But right now, I don’t want to think about Hannah or her killer. I want to soak in every ounce of this cozy night.
Some might say I’m cursed.
But I say I’m the luckiest girl alive.
The only one cursed around here is Hannah’s killer.
And their luck is about to run out.
Chapter 8
Since I’ve been toting a plus one along for the ride in my belly, both Noah and Everett helped me hire a staff to open the bakery so I wouldn’t have to get up so early and head to my shop alone where I would bake to my heart’s content before most people in Honey Hollow lift an eyelid to the day. And to be honest, I’ve appreciated sleeping in more than I could have imagined.
Who knew it was so exhausting to grow a human in your body?
Women who have grown other humans, that’s who.
But this morning, both Noah and Everett are still here well after the time they both should have left for work, and I catch them murmuring about something