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Her lips part, and she hesitates a moment. “Regina Pacheco.” Her lips curl at the tips, and an uneasy feeling settles in my bones. “I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of me around these parts, Lottie. I’m already in love with everything Honey Hollow has to offer.” She winks before taking off.
A chill runs through me as she says those words, and I shudder in her wake.
I shake my head as I watch her dart out into the ever-darkening night.
“I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something strange about her... I just can’t put my finger on it.”
“That’s because she’s evil, Lot,” Carlotta says, slumping over the counter.
“Oh, she is not,” I say. “You’re just so zonked you can’t sit up straight.” I bet there’s not a thing wrong with that poor woman. I’m just as tired as Carlotta.
The bell chimes again and in walks Cormack Featherby, socialite extraordinaire, with her belly so big you could cram a circus in it. She’s due next month, although I can’t imagine she could get much bigger.
As it stands, you could park a Volkswagen in her uterus.
“Regina might not have been evil, but this one? Her, I’m not so sure about,” I whisper as Cormack makes a beeline in our direction.
“There you are, Lorelai.” She arches her back as she gets my moniker mixed up.
For reasons unknown to me, Cormack has never managed to say my name correctly.
All right, scratch that. I’m acutely aware of the reasoning behind her silliness.
Cormack is jealous that I’ve garnered the attention of the two men she desires most in this world, Noah and Everett. She’s hoodwinked the entire planet—well, most of it—into believing that baby she’s carrying belongs to Noah. But the key players in this maternity nightmare are well aware the baby belongs to Noah’s brother, Alex.
“What can I do for you, Cormack?”
“My baby shower is coming up in two weeks, and I need to put the finishing touches on the cake design.”
“Charlie already put in a request for a three-tiered pineapple upside-down wonder, hot pink, with the words Noah’s daughter emblazed across it. In fact, I’ve been baking pineapple upside-down cakes and cupcakes in an effort to ready myself for your big day.”
It’s true, the part about baking those pineapple upside-down cakes like mad, and it’s also true that Charlie is helping out with Cormack’s tropical-themed baby shower.
I take a moment to grit my teeth.
I have no idea why my sister, Charlie, has taken to Cormack as much as she has. But they’re practically best friends at this point. Also, Charlie is best friends with another one of my nemeses, Naomi Turner, as well. Which explains why she and Naomi have teamed up regarding the aforementioned baby shower. You’d think they were planning the event of the century the way those two have gone all out for the tropical extravaganza.
Cormack chose the theme. Seeing that she couldn’t travel to the tropics this year, she thought she’d bring the tropics to her.
On second thought, I have an inkling why Charlie has gotten sucked into Cormack’s hurricane of a life. Charlie was raised on the fringes and has a heart for people who are somewhat outcasts of society, no matter how many zeros they have in their bank account.
And even though Cormack has been filthy rich all her life, no thanks to her thief of a papa, she’s been extremely poor when it comes to trustworthy female acquaintances.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it.” Cormack steals the chocolate muffin from Carlotta’s hand and takes a bite out of it. “Mmm, throw in some of these, would you?” She tries to hand it back to its rightful owner, but Carlotta holds up a hand in protest.
“Go on and take it,” Carlotta huffs. “I’ve gotta get back to Rizzo’s. It’s lasagna night, and I promised Cha Cha I’d help out in the kitchen.”
Cha Cha would be the nickname Carlotta has gifted her youngest daughter. Charlie was actually raised by Carlotta. Not that Carlotta didn’t try to get out of that one as well. My poor sister would have fared better with a band of feral wolves—heck, werewolves would have done a better job. But other than being a little rough around the edges, somehow Charlie came out unscathed.
“Lasagna night?” Cormack shoves the muffin into her mouth as her fingers dance across the screen of her phone. “Mmm phh buff, ooh, moo,” she grunts before plucking the muffin from her piehole and walloping down the bite. “I just asked Big Boss to meet me down there for dinner. I told him it was an emergency with the baby.” She pats her blooming belly as she says it. “I can get that boy to do practically anything if I tell him our little pink princess is in peril. Noah Fox is going to make one heck of a father.”
“He already is one heck of a father,” I say, but Cormack is halfway out the door before I can finish the sentence.
I glance at the clock and sigh. “It’s closing time. We’d better get down to Rizzo’s ourselves.”
“You bet we’d better get down there.” Carlotta stands and straightens that wreath of mourning on her head. “I’m sensing there’s murder on the menu tonight.”
“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “Now that Cormack is with child, the odds of me taking her off the planet are nil.”
