29. Lottie

LOTTIE

" H ear that, Foxy?" Carlotta claps up a storm as we ride down Main Street in a horse-drawn carriage done up in twinkle lights bright enough to rival the sun. "Felix here just called your mama a psychotic loon! Don't feel too bad. That's a lot nicer than some of the names I've heard your wife here call her." She winks my name and kicks me in the leg for good measure.

"Oh, I have not," I'm quick to protest before shaking my head at Noah.

Usually, I just think those things about Suze. I wouldn't dare say them out loud, mostly because I can't run the risk of Lyla Nell repeating them.

Felix glances back while loosening the reins in his hands. "I'm sorry. Was that woman your mother? I had no idea. And I certainly didn't mean to offend."

"No offense taken," Noah says, sounding as if he were resigned to the fact he'll hear those words a lot when it comes to describing the woman who bore him. "Did you see anything suspicious that night?"

We take a righthand turn and our bodies shift to the opposite side. Noah holds me extra tight so I don't accidentally flop over. I'm not exactly able to right myself like I used to. It's safe to say I won't be able to right myself well into spring either.

"Let's see…" Felix blows out a breath, and it plumes from him like a cloud. "There was some commotion around Glenda and a couple of women at the club." He lifts his shoulders. "Eudora Fairbanks had a bone to pick with the woman, and apparently so did your mother. Although I only saw Eudora and Glenda going at it."

"Then how did you know about Suze?" I ask.

"Let's just say I've got an in with one of the women in the club. Her name is Clara. She likes to keep up with what the grapevine has to say, if you know what I mean."

"He means she's a gossipmonger," Thimblewick is quick to fill in the blanks. "That's what Santa used to say about my Glenda, too."

Sounds like Santa has his head screwed on straight.

Thimblewick runs his fingers through Carlotta's messy mane. "Santa also warned against the dangers of gossip. He said if we weren't careful, it was dangerous enough to get us killed."

"Santa really knows his stuff," I whisper to Noah. "Case in point, I'm betting that's exactly why Glenda took a trip to the big Purple Hat Society in the sky."

Felix gives a mournful laugh. "That's exactly my theory as well, young lady." He points to the right and we look up to see a trail of colorful Christmas lights that seems to drift from one rooftop to another all the way to Hollyhock.

"Oh, it's so beautiful," I moan. "I can't believe I've never seen the lights from this perspective. This isn't a street I drive down very often."

"That's exactly why I've been pointing it out all night," Felix says. "Just about everyone has said the same thing. It's the less traveled roads that often harbor a beautiful secret or two. Just like the most unassuming among us might be harboring a deadly secret or two."

"Isn't that the truth," Noah says under his breath. "Felix, will we be seeing you tomorrow night at the Honey Hollow Christmas party?"

"That you will," he says as we turn back onto Main Street and I can see the glow from my bakery window up ahead. "And how about you, my fair maiden?" He glances back at Carlotta. "Will I be seeing you tomorrow evening?"

"You bet your honey buns you will," she's quick to tell him. "I don't miss a free meal for nothing."

"Honey buns?" Thimblewick inches back to inspect her. "I thought that was my special nickname."

"It's yours in the moment, Hot Stuff. You might say I like to share the love."

A dark chortle streams from him. "Dare I say that you're the exact type of woman Santa used to warn us about."

"Carlotta essentially invented the naughty list," I say.

"Good to know," Felix says with more than a smidge of hope in his voice just as our carriage ride comes to its conclusion. "I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow evening at the Evergreen Manor."

"You'll be seeing us, for certain," Noah says as he helps me out.

"And you won't be able to miss me," Carlotta says. "I'll be the one dressed like a naughty Mrs. Claus," she says, hopping out of the carriage and onto a small mound of snow. "It's my final night to conduct any sort of frisky business. I might have a line for my company, but seeing that I like what you can do in a carriage, I'd love to see what you can do in the?—"

"Would you stop?" I yank her to me just as the next group of passengers scrambles on board. "You cannot entertain strange men tomorrow night. It's Christmas Eve, for Santa's sake."

"And that's what you've got me for," Thimblewick says as he all but wraps himself around her like a scarf. "Don't you worry, my little peppermint stick. I've already put in for an extension for my visit."

"But tomorrow night is her deadline," I tell him. "Come midnight on Christmas Eve, her journey as a quasi-single woman will poof , up and disappear."

Thimblewick growls so loud, he shakes the snow right out of the trees that line Main Street.

"Carlotta is mine ," he thunders and a bolt of lightning erupts in the sky, touching down just shy of where we're standing.

" Geez ." Noah pulls us under the awning of the bakery.

"You caused that to happen, didn't you?" I say, shaking a finger at the elf among us.

"So what if I did?" His pointy ears hike up a notch over his head. "It's a show of my affection for my favorite little Christmas cookie."

" Aww ," Carlotta coos. "Hear that, Lot? I'm his favorite little Christmas cookie."

"I heard," I snip while looking right at the wily specter. "I've got news for you, Thimblewick. You weren't sent back here so that you and Carlotta could exchange notes in the naughty department."

"More like the nimble department," she interjects. "Although we've been pretty naughty, too."

"I know it," Noah says, giving my hand a squeeze. "I can hear it all the way down the street." He frowns my way. "When you leave your windows open, I can hear everything."

Thank goodness we're in deep winter, but I'll make a note of it for the spring.

And even though my windows have been closed, Carlotta likes to let in a little fresh?—

I suck in a quick breath. "Thimblewick! You're supposed to be helping us solve this murder, not helping yourself to Carlotta. Don't you want to see the person who did this to poor Glenda put away behind bars? You need to help us figure this out."

His countenance flares up in a caustic shade of red as he speeds my way and touches his nose to mine. "I don't need to figure this out . I already know who killed Glenda. I figured that out days ago. What I'm counting on is that it's going to take the two of you months, years, or better yet, decades to do just that. That will buy me all the time I need to spend with my precious plum pudding," he says, nibbling on her ear as if she suddenly morphed into the steamy dessert.

"Now, I like what you've got cookin', good-lookin'," Carlotta says. "How about we head back to my place where we can whip up a veritable feast of sassy sweet treats—in the bedroom, of course." They start to take off and Carlotta turns around and points hard at her watch as if to exemplify the fact she's running out of time.

Noah sighs hard as the two of them take off.

"Well, Lot, if it's any consolation, she seems pretty dedicated to sticking to her deadline."

"Agree. Although he seems pretty determined to extend it." I shake my head in the direction they took off in. "Can you believe he says he knows who the killer is?"

"If it's true, it's disappointing."

"That he's not sharing the information?"

"That one of us hasn't beat him to it," he says, pulling me in. "What are your thoughts?"

"I think Eudora has a motive—the fact she's borrowing money from Glenda to save face. And with Glenda gone, not only does she save face, but she doesn't have to pay the loan back. And then there's your mother." I wince.

"What was her motive?" Noah cocks a brow, and I cringe at the thought of telling him what I know.

"Oh, Noah." I close my eyes for a moment. "The other day Clara mentioned that Glenda had the goods on your mother, too. Apparently, she's been getting frisky with the manager of Honey Hollow Bank." I press my lips together while Noah's eyes nearly fall right out of his skull.

"Mr. Diggins?" His voice climbs twelve octaves in horror as I give a meager nod. "But he's happily married."

"Maybe not so happily?" I shrug.

"Oh, geez." He groans twice as hard. "And that's the dirt Glenda had on my mother." He blows out another breath. "What did you think of Felix?"

"He wasn't a help. I mean, he lied about not having a girlfriend."

"He sure did." Noah shoots a dirty look down the street. "And if he's covering that up, it makes me wonder what else he might be covering up." Noah pulls me in for a quick embrace and one of the twins gives him a kick in the gut. "Let's get you inside, Lot. I'm going to dig in a few different directions tonight. I'll let you know if I come up with anything."

"Good luck," I tell him. "You're going to need it."

We're both going to need it.

I head in and help close the bakery before scooping up Lyla Nell from my mother and heading home.

By the time Everett comes home, I'm too tired to recant the day's events. All I can do is moan.

"Lemon," Everett says as he drops down next to me in bed. "How can I make this better?" He pulls me close and lands a kiss to the tip of my nose.

"If it pleases the court, how about you massage my shoulders and I'll return the favor?"

"The court is always pleased with you in my presence," he says with a delicious darkness coating his voice.

Everett does me one better and offers me a full-body massage instead.

The court is pleased.

I'm pleased. The judge is very, very pleased.

And you can bet your last Christmas cookie that I made sure those windows were shut tight.

Tomorrow may be Christmas Eve, but Everett and I had no qualms about exchanging gifts a little early.

And hopefully tomorrow night, I'll get another early gift—justice for Glenda.