Poison Apple Crisp - Addison Moore Page 0,4
Meg can extrapolate, Suze Fox, Noah’s mother, growls.
“Let’s have it,” she barks. Suze is generally ornery. She has short blond hair that swoops low in the front, and she reminds me of an older, angry member of a boy band.
“All right,” I say, taking a deep breath as I make my way around the counter and hold out my hands as Noah takes up one and Everett takes up the other.
I nod to my stepsiblings and to my birth father, looking as if he’s about to fall asleep standing up, Mayor Harry Nash. I glance across the sea of faces to find Evie staring at her phone. That’s okay. I’m pretty sure I’ll have her undivided attention in about ten seconds.
I clear my throat. “The reason I’ve called you all here today is to tell you that—” A lump the size of a bassinet swells in my throat.
Noah gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “You can do this, Lottie. You have my full support. I’ll never leave you.”
Everett grunts. “A good restraining order could fix that,” he mutters under his breath. Everett lands a sweet kiss to my cheek. “I’m right here, Lemon. It’s going to be fine.”
I push out a hard breath. “Okay. About two weeks ago, Noah, Everett, and I discovered something rather serious, and we’ve had a hard time sitting on it ever since. We weren’t sure what the best way to do this would be, then I had the thought that maybe we should just gather you all here and blurt it out at once.”
“You’re making it official.” Carlotta slaps her hand down on the counter. “You’re Honey Hollow’s very first throuple.” She looks to the crowd. “I called it. Miranda, Becca, and Harry, you all owe me twenty bucks a pop.”
“What?” I hiss. “No! Carlotta, I can’t believe you were taking bets.”
Evie gives a lazy glance my way. “I’ve got a pool going, too.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s not that.” It’s probably not far from the truth, though. I clear my throat as I look at all of the faces I know and love. “I’m having a baby.”
Dead silence takes over. You could hear a cupcake drop.
Then in a burst, the entire room erupts in cheers before it, too, begins to die down rather quickly.
“Oh, Lottie!” Mom lunges for me with a firm embrace. “Congratulations!” She pulls back and looks to Noah and Everett as her glee begins to morph into confusion. “So? Who’s the father?”
My mouth falls open as I look to both Noah and Everett for a little assistance in this department.
“Yes!” Evie shouts with enthusiastic vigor. “I’m having a kid brother or sister, and my mom doesn’t have any idea who the daddy is. I’m going to be the talk of all Honey Hollow High.”
“I’m so sorry.” My chest bucks as tears blur my vision. I can’t help the tears. I cried peeling open the wax paper off the butter this morning. But then, butter is so great it probably warrants a few tears.
Evie inches back. “Don’t apologize. I’m the one who’s going to rev up the rumor mill about my dicey family before the semester even begins. I’m finally going to be the cool kid for a change.” She takes off while tapping furtively into her phone.
A flurry of congratulations come my way, and I can’t help but note there’s a hint of confusion in everyone’s eyes.
Carlotta grunts. “Don’t worry, Lot. If you don’t want the kid, I know a nice fire department where we can drop ’em off once you pump ’em out.”
Keelie wraps her arms around me. “Are you going to breastfeed?” Her eyes look wide with fear. An odd sort of congratulations, but then again, she is sleep-deprived.
I open my mouth to answer when Meg thrusts her phone my way.
“Of course, she’s going to breastfeed!” my sister, Lainey, chirps.
Meg chuckles. “I felt that one coming.”
It’s no secret Lainey has been nothing short of Mother Earth these last couple of weeks now that she’s had her sweet pink bundle of joy.
Carlotta gives a wistful shake of the head. “I would have breastfed for seven years if I could have.”
“Carlotta.” I look her way. “You didn’t keep me for seven minutes.”
Keelie flinches. “That’s exactly how long I nursed Bear. Don’t judge me, Lainey. But my nipples cracked and bled!”
“GAH!” No sooner do I cry out than Meg tosses the phone to Keelie.
Suze staggers forward, white as a ghost.
“Noah Corbin Fox,” she gravels out her oldest son’s name. “Don’t you dare