Baby Bundt Cake Confusion (Murder in the Mix Book 31) Unknown (good beach reads .txt) 📖

me. An old friend of mine is at the bar, and I’m just dying to say hello. Don’t be strangers, and if you need me, you know where to find me.” She jets off, screaming for the bar as if her hair was on fire until she’s embracing a woman who looks every bit as polished.

“Well, boys”—I say—“it looks as if our next stop is Hennifer’s Fried Chicken. But I say we hold off until at least tomorrow night.” My hands pat my belly. “I’m stuffed and that marinara sauce has reincarnated itself as heartburn.”

Lil’ Mama chortles and yips. “That sounds like the delicious food Mrs. Albright used to give me. I was quite spoiled, you know. Try to add some nutrient-rich kibble to your diet before a stud comes at you again. I bet it’ll up the odds of putting more than one pup in your belly. I’m off to the bakery, Lottie. Do forgive me for the mess in advance, but by the way your baked goods are locked up for the night, you’d think the kitchen staff were afraid of mice infiltrating the bakery.”

We finish up our drinks and head for the exit. Neither Noah nor Everett opted for the valet, so we head into the parking lot, and just as we’re about fifty feet from Everett’s car, an explosive boom goes off as orange flames shoot out of the windows and glass goes flying.

Everett swings me out toward the woods, covering my body with his, and once the ground stops shaking, we look that way to see that Everett’s car suddenly has a sunroof as the flames lick to the sky.

Carlotta was right. Jimmy Canelli just wants to make a point.

And believe me—message received.

Lottie

They blew up Everett’s car. Bye-bye nice ride. It’s been real. And now it’s very real and evident the Canellis mean business—or more to the point, another trip to the morgue for Everett himself.

Suffice it to say, our night devolved into madness. Noah had to call it in. The sheriff’s department was not amused. The wealthy revelers at Fortune were sufficiently freaked out and vowed to never come back. I’ll admit, I felt pretty bad about that one. It’s basically all my fault that Everett’s car was blown to smithereens. I’m the one who gave the final go ahead for us to steal Flo’s body from the morgue.

Who the heck cares if it was under the directive of Flo herself? So what if she was plotting to take Noah, Everett, and me down if we didn’t comply? I should have known better than to be threatened into partaking in illegal activity.

Last night, Noah said not to go there in my head. He wants the blame to fall square on his shoulders just because I gave him the final word on whether or not the body snatching should take place. If Noah had said no, then I wouldn’t have agreed to it. But in the end, I could have shut down his decision. I agreed. End of story.

“So then what happened?” Lily asks with a half-eaten, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookie in her hand while Suze stands beside her with her mouth agape. Carlotta and I headed to the bakery on this, the very next day after the attempt on Everett’s life, and basically my own. Noah went to the station to work on the case. And Everett said he had a very busy day ahead of him picking up a new car. I offered to go car shopping with him, but he said it would be tedious and didn’t want to put me through that. But there was no stopping Evie. She’s been hinting like mad she wants a car, so I bet she’s hoping Everett will pick one up for her, too.

“Did Noah singe a hair on his head?” Suze grouses as if it were all my fault. And if it had happened, it would have been.

“No,” I tell her. “Noah is fine. He’s just irritated more or less. Everett is livid. They both are. Let’s just say the expletives were flying last night just about as much as the flames. They were both very thankful I wasn’t in the car.”

“Aww,” Lily coos. “I wish I had two sexy men fighting over me constantly, angry to high heaven that something dangerous could have happened to me. What do you think made the car blow up?”

I shoot a glance to Carlotta, who just so happens to be feeding Lil’ Mama a mountain of fresh baked brownies right from her plate. Chocolate chip cookies are Noah’s absolute favorite, and brownies are one of Everett’s addictions, so I came in this afternoon and got straight to baking for the two of them.

“It’s a mystery.” I shrug. “Faulty wiring, maybe?”

“Faulty wiring?” Suze sneers. “Please. It’s that Hearst curse you picked up around Halloween. It’s clearly still in play. This is the exact same manner both you and Essex lost your homes last fall.” Yes, Suze insists on calling Everett by his formal name, but only because she considers herself a mother figure in his life. I think. Regardless of her reasoning, she was never Essexed.

“I bet you’re right.” Lily gives a furtive nod at the lunacy Suze just spouted. She looks my way. “That must mean the bakery is next.” Her eyes narrow over mine. “You had better wait to burn this place to the ground until after all the customers are out of here. These people have become like family to me.” She shakes her head as she takes a look around. “Boy, am I going to miss this place.”

I glance to the bakery shelves where sugar cookies have been cut out in the shape of four-leaf clovers and green cupcakes with four-leaf clover sprinkles in honor of St. Patrick’s Day abound. I love the fact my sweet little bakery celebrates the holidays, big and little and everything in between. I love the pastel mix and match furniture and the large