Pumpkin Pie Parting

  Pumkin Pie Parting

  Murder in the Mix 15

  Addison Moore

  Contents

  Connect with the Author

  Book Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  A Note from the Author

  Books by Addison Moore

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2019 by Addison Moore

  Edited by Paige Maroney Smith

  Cover by Lou Harper, Cover Affairs

  This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples either living or deceased is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. The author holds all rights to this work. It is illegal to reproduce this novel without written expressed consent from the author herself.

  All Rights Reserved.

  This eBook is for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase any additional copies for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Copyright © 2019 by Addison Moore

  Created with Vellum

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  Book Description

  My name is Lottie Lemon, and I see dead pets. On occasion I see a once upon a human, too, but mostly it’s just cute little furry beasts who have come back from the other side to warn me of their previous owner’s impending doom.

  The unthinkable has happened, and I’m left to reel with a profound level of grief that I haven’t known since my father died. Throw in a ditzy llama, a snow lodge, and a murder, and you’ll have a recipe you never want to share at the Thanksgiving table. One thing is for sure—Noah and I will never be the same again.

  Lottie Lemon has a brand new bakery to tend to, a budding romance with perhaps one too many suitors, and she has the supernatural ability to see dead pets—which are always harbingers for ominous things to come. Throw in the occasional ghost of the human variety, a string of murders, and her insatiable thirst for justice, and you’ll have more chaos than you know what to do with.

  Living in the small town of Honey Hollow can be murder.

  Chapter 1

  I see dead people. Mostly I see dead pets, but on the rare occasion I do see a dearly departed of the human variety. However, at the moment, I’m looking at a rather dead husband—namely mine.

  “Noah!” I leap over him and offer a firm embrace.

  We’re standing outside of the Evergreen Manor, right in front of my refrigerated van where I’m about to extricate enough pumpkin pies to feed all of Vermont. It’s the night of the Friendsgiving charity event at the Evergreen Manor, where proceeds go to helping families in need have all the supplies they’ll need to have a Thanksgiving of their own. The parking lot is heavily scented by the pines in the nearby woods, and the icy air knifing through my dress certainly promises an early snowfall this year.

  I pull back and examine his ghostly frame. He’s every bit himself except for the fact he’s glowing a faint shade of blue and I can see the forest behind him right through his body. But those loving—glowing in the literal sense—green eyes, those deep-welled dimples, the dark hair, the bodybuilder frame, he’s every bit the same.

  “How’s it going, Lottie?” He lands a simple kiss to my lips and it feels strangely solid. I’m forever marveling at the fact that the ghosts that visit me have the capability to feel as solid as they want. And right about now Noah wants.

  My chest bucks with emotion. “Better now that you’re here. What’s happening, Noah? Why are you here? Is someone that loved you about to bite the big one? Oh God, it’s not me, is it?”

  A laugh rumbles through his chest. “I promise, it’s nothing like that. And for once, I am damn glad you are supersensual.”

  Noah is right about the supersensual thing—further classified as transmundane. I didn’t always know what this strange gift was called, up until my grandmother Nell filled me in on it last Christmas. It turns out, she was supersensual, too, but she’s long since passed.

  The only people who know my secret are Noah and Everett, and, of course, my birth mother Carlotta who shares my eerie talent. I just met Carlotta last January. We’re still trying to key in our relationship, but the fact we can see the dead has been a rather bonding experience to say the least.

  “I’m glad I’m supersensual, too,” I say, swooning at this gorgeous glowing version of the man I married. Okay, so Noah and I were accidentally married while working on an active homicide investigation. You see, we dated a year ago, and then I found out he conveniently forgot to mention he was still technically married to the woman I thought was his ex-wife, so I broke up with him until he could figure that mess out. And, in the meantime, I got hot and heavy with his former stepbrother, Judge Essex Everett Baxter. That sort of complicated things to no end.

  Noah’s father had married Everett’s mother for a brief time, just long enough to swindle her out of part of her fortune. And while they were all living under the same ritzy roof out in Fallbrook, Noah saw it fit to steal Everett’s girlfriend from under him, an up-and-coming socialite by the name of Cormack Featherby. They were all in high school at the time, and let’s just say when they’re together they can still act that way, too.

  I pull back and marvel at the ghost of this beautiful man who stole my heart.

  “Noah, you know the rules. I see a ghost and something bad happens to someone who had an affinity for the poltergeist. Sure, usually it’s a cute fuzzy little animal coming back from the other side of the rainbow bridge, but it’s been a person plenty of times before. And I haven’t seen you since you nearly died.” I swat him on the arm and my hand glides right through him. “How dare you stay away from me.”

  He’s right back to chuckling. “I’m sorry, Lot. I haven’t had too much control over where I land. I’ve been locked in that body of mine, trying my best to wake up.”

  I swallow hard. About a week ago, Noah and his psychotic ex-girlfriend Cormack Featherby were in a horrific car accident.

  It was Halloween night and Cormack’s father just gifted her a brand new steel gray Corvette, and she thought she’d take Noah for a quick spin. But as it turns out, Cormack missed a turn as she was speeding down a twisted road and smacked into an old oak tree going eighty miles an hour.

  Cormack came out of it unscathed, but Noah is still in the hospital hanging on by the skin of his teeth—and the fact that his ghost is visiting me doesn’t bode well for the situation.

  Cormack has been pretty torn up about it. She’s held vigil at the hospital almost as much as I have. Cormac
k Featherby was under the ripe delusion that Noah was her boyfriend when, in fact, Cormack has been nothing more than a proficient stalker of his.

  “You’re on life support, Noah. They put you in a medically induced coma hoping you’ll heal quicker that way, but they’ve since tried taking you out if it…” I stop shy of telling him that his brain activity isn’t looking all so great. I don’t think I can bring myself to say the words. My chest bucks as I fight an onslaught of tears.

  “I know.” He nods and bites down on his lower lip as if trying to stave off his own emotions. “I hope you don’t mind if I hang out tonight.” He hitches his head toward the Evergreen Manor.

  “Are you kidding? Noah, I never want you to leave.”

  “Is that Noah?” a deep voice calls out from behind, and I turn in time to see Everett making his way over in a dark, crisp suit. Everett is tall with broad shoulders, black hair, and cerulean blue eyes that make every female in a ten-mile radius sit up and pay attention. He’s slow to smile and serious as one can get without turning to stone. He also happens to be painfully handsome, as is Noah.

  “Yes! He’s here!” I say, waving him over, and Everett quickly takes up my hand. A while back Everett and I discovered that others can hear the dead if they hold my hand. I don’t know why, but I seem to act as a sort of a conduit.

  “Noah”—Everett’s chest expands the size of a door—“I love you, man. I’m sorry we haven’t always gotten along, but you need to come back to us. Life isn’t the same without you.”

  Noah’s smile broadens. “It was almost worth crossing to the other side just to hear you say those words. I appreciate it. I suppose you’re taking good care of Lottie.” Noah’s expression smooths out on a dime, but sadly he looks almost resigned to his current disembodied state.

  “I am.” Everett wraps an arm around my shoulders. “And not in the way you think. Lemon and I are still hoping the best for you.”

  He grunts, “Stranger things have happened.”

  “Lottie?” a female voice calls from the entry to the kitchen of the Evergreen Manor. I recognize that voice as my newly revealed cousin, Naomi Sawyer.

  “I’d better get going,” I say. “But you’re coming with me, Noah. There’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight.”

  “Actually”—Everett ticks his head to the side as he looks to Noah—“you should probably get back in that body of yours and try like hell to impress the doctors.”

  I suck in a quick breath. “That’s true, Noah. If you’re here, that can’t mean good things for you there.”

  “I really don’t have a say in it. If it’s my time, it’s my time.” He presses those evergreen eyes into mine. “Just always remember, no matter what, I love you, Lottie Lemon. And that will never change.”

  My heart wrenches just hearing those words as I pull him in hard. “I love you, too, Noah. And that will never change.”

  Everett helps me gather another armful of the tasty pumpkin pies I’ve been asked to cater for the event and Noah follows along as we head inside.

  The kitchen is light and bright and that’s exactly where I find both Naomi and her twin, Keelie, who happens to be my very best friend.

  Ironically, Naomi is a far cry from even a friend. Back in high school, she tried to steal my boyfriend, Otis Bear Fisher, and yet she was the only girl he wouldn’t cheat on me with. And now fast-forward a million years later, we’re all in our mid to late twenties and Keelie is engaged to Bear and they’re very much looking forward to getting married. Lucky for Keelie, Bear has cleaned up his cheating ways and we’ve long since mended fences.

  Keelie sashays over and helps off-load the pies onto the expansive counters.

  “Geez, Lot, you’ve outdone yourself. You must have baked at least a hundred pies.” Keelie’s blonde curls are swept up and she’s donned an emerald green velvet dress. Keelie is so beautiful she could be walking every runaway the world over.

  “What about the whipped cream?” Naomi snaps. “Tell me you have that. There is no pumpkin pie without whipped cream.”

  Naomi is beautiful, too—on the outside, that is. She and Keelie are twins. But Naomi has decided to eschew her blonde locks and has dyed her tresses a striking jet-black. It only seems to sharpen her beauty and makes her all that much more stunning.

  “Relax,” I say. “Everett already helped me put it in the refrigerator. We’ll dole out most of the pie with whipped cream and a few without. There’s always someone in the crowd who doesn’t want anything to do with it.”

  “Speaking of crowds”—Keelie ticks her head toward the ballroom next door—“have you seen the bodies lining that room? All of Honey Hollow has turned out tonight.”

  “All of Vermont,” I counter.

  Alex and Lily wander into the kitchen and both Keelie and I freeze.

  “Alex, my man.” Everett heads over to Alex and offers him a quick pat on the back. Alex is Noah’s brother and his doppelgänger in every way, with the exception of those blowup muscles of his.

  I’ll admit, it’s been downright painful for me to be around Alex ever since Noah’s accident. He’s a constant reminder that Noah isn’t well enough to be out and about in the world and may never be. Alex assured me just yesterday he’s still trying to get ahold of their mother. She’s off on some grand worldly adventure and can’t be reached. I’m sure the poor thing will be shaken when she hears about her son. That’s news no mother wants to hear.

  I glance around the room to look Noah’s way, but I can’t find him anywhere. A viral panic strikes me, and my body shakes at the thought of missing out on my chance to spend some alone time with him.

  Lily speeds over. “What’s the matter, Lottie? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Lily Swanson is a pretty brunette who works for me down at the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery. I’ve known Lily forever. She and Naomi were the very best of friends up until a couple of months ago when Alex rode into town and tore their friendship apart without meaning to by way of dating both of them. Lily and Naomi have been warring for Alex’s affection ever since and he’s yet to choose which side of the estrogen fence he’d like to land on.

  “No, I don’t see a ghost.” And that’s exactly the problem.

  Lily and I haven’t always gotten along. Since Naomi has held a lifelong general dislike for me—due to the fact Bear wouldn’t have her—Lily held the grudge as well, simply by proxy.

  Alex and Everett are quickly embroiled in a heavy conversation about finance. Alex is a numbers guy, an investment banker by trade. He was in the Marines a while back, and that just seems to up his value with the ladies.

  Naomi struts over to Lily, and Keelie and I gird ourselves as if a war were about to break out.

  “Nice dress,” Naomi says it with that dead look in her eyes, her smile tight and manufactured. “I didn’t know the morgue was offering their selections to the living.”

  Lily gasps. “Oh yeah? How about you return that fake hair to the llama it came from? That’s right.” She looks to Keelie and me. “Naomi has been wearing hair extensions for years!”

  Now it’s Keelie and me gasping. However Naomi is getting her long luscious locks, I wouldn’t beat her down over it. She has some of the best hair in Honey Hollow.

  My sisters, Meg and Lainey, head into the kitchen.

  Speaking of hair, Lainey and I share the same caramel-colored waves and hazel eyes. She married the love of her life last summer, a fireman by the name of Forest Donovan, and has been walking on air ever since.

  Meg, much like Naomi, dyes her hair a raven’s wing black. Her eyes are pale, icy blue, so the combination looks striking on her. She’s dating Hook Redwood of Redwood Realty, and together they make an adorable pair. But adorable isn’t exactly a word I’d use to describe my little sister. She’s as tough as they come. She spent years on the Las Vegas female wrestling circuit under the moniker Madge the Badge. Now she teaches strippers their sultry moves down at a gentlemen’s club called Red Satin.

  Meg
looks to Lily and Naomi and grunts, “Don’t tell me it’s the same old song. How could the two of you let a man destroy your friendship like that?”

  Lainey scoffs. “Because he won’t choose! Don’t you remember when Hook was seeing both you and Keelie? The two of you weren’t exactly getting along that great either.”

  “Fox.” Meg wastes no time calling Alex over. Both he and Everett look a little unnerved by Meg’s harsh bark. “Pick a lane and stick to it. What you’ve done to these ladies isn’t fair. They used to actually speak to one another, in the event you weren’t aware of the fact.”

  Alex pumps out a dry laugh as if it were funny. “Wait. Are you serious?”

  “Yes,” Lainey answers for her. “They were best friends. Sure, they were a couple of mean girls, but they liked each other. But now they’re just plain old mean girls.”

  Everett takes a breath. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but they’re right. You should decide who you think you mesh better with and get on with building a relationship. Unless, of course, you’re not in a relationship stage of life. And if that’s the case, let them know that, too.”

  Naomi grunts, “Of course he’s in a relationship stage. We’re practically there. If it weren’t for the fact Lily has latched to his side like a barnacle, we’d be engaged by now.”

  Lily growls as if she’s about to attack. But before she can get to it, a tall redhead, the district manager of the Evergreen Manor, Trisha Maples, comes in with her orange lips twisted into a serious scowl. Her hair is piled in a bun and she’s wearing a crimson gown with sequin leaves sewn across the front of it, looking as festive as can be. She barrels in and begins barking at Naomi to stop navel gazing without thought as to who else might be listening to her berate her coworker.