32. Lottie
LOTTIE
“ Y ou both look so wonderful.” Venus Finnegan is quick to dole out the compliment right here in the conservatory of my mother’s B&B where a double wedding will go down in less than an hour’s time. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Thank you,” I tell her, pinching at the peach gown my mother ordered for me. It has a mesh layer across the chest and fitted arms, and oddly by some miracle, I think it might actually be flattering on me. “You look stunning yourself.” And I mean it. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a waterfall of curls, and she’s donned the most luscious emerald velvet dress. “Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too. I hope you have something special planned later with your husband.”
What am I saying? The woman is a killer, or at the very least a very strong prospect for the killer at hand. Unfortunately, the only thing she’ll have planned later is prison. And after that, more prison.
“I do have something special planned for later,” she says quickly. “Each year when the kids go to bed, my husband and I have a glass of bubbly and some very much needed alone time. Trust me, the more kids you have, the more of a precious commodity alone time becomes.”
“We’re aware,” Everett says. “Carlotta lives with us as well.”
The woman’s mouth falls open. “Well, you must laugh all the time. That woman is a hoot!” She glances over my shoulder. “And Shelly must think so, too. I didn’t think I’d see Shelly Everly here tonight. But I guess she and Carlotta are great friends.”
Everett tosses a glance over his shoulder. “Speaking of Everly.” His cheek twitches as he looks my way. “I’d better go see how she’s doing.” He leans in. “Please stay on the topic of dessert and children.” He closes his eyes a moment as if pleading silently with me. “Pardon me, ladies. I’ll be right back.”
He takes off, and I shake my head at her. “Our daughter Everly—who we call Evie—is going through a devastating breakup. And it all happened under twenty minutes ago. My mother is with her.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear it.” She presses a hand to her chest and looks equally crestfallen for Evie. “I know how painful a breakup at that age can be. Especially when it comes to first love.”
A clatter goes off behind her, and we look that way to see Carlotta and Sweetheart making quick work of my donut tower.
“Don’t worry, Lottie. I’m on it,” Effie calls out. Both she and Lily decided to wear matching powder blue dresses with an apron featuring the bakery’s logo on it, and they look perfectly professional and yet elegant at the same time. “I’ve got a van full of these glazed delights, and not even Carlotta can plow her way through all of them.” She salutes me as she ducks out the back of the building.
“Unfortunately, she has no idea what Carlotta is capable of,” I say and both Venus and I share a mournful laugh.
And well, Sweetheart is basically a bottomless pit. If she keeps up her donut spree, the entire state will be out of the confection in an hour.
I look Venus up and down. Speaking of what people are capable of…
“I’m sorry to bring this up, but I’d like to talk to you about Romeo and Juliette.”
“Sure, anything.”
“That night at the Heartstrings and Sweet Things Spectacular you were tense when they walked up to us.”
She lifts her chin. “Juliette wasn’t a big fan of mine. I’m not too sure she liked other women. I think maybe she was insecure in her relationship with Romeo.”
“Shelly was with us that night, too. And before she took off, she told you not to let those two ruin your night. She was talking about Romeo and Juliette. But they were interested in more than ruining your night, weren’t they?”
She shoots a glance to the right and her features harden to flint. “That may have been true,” she all but whispers to herself.
“And then the afternoon that Noah and I stopped off at your café, you were sure quick to point Noah and me to Shelly and Caudwell.”
My stomach rumbles at the memory of that Cupid’s own chocolate love potion cake, and I hope to high heaven there’s some sitting on that table behind her.
She blinks over at me and squints. “What’s going on here?”
“Venus, I know,” I say softly, and almost regrettably.
“You know what?” She tips her ear my way.
“That you were pretty darn good at archery in high school and that you’re a decorated arbalist as well.”
“Oh, I am.” She smiles with delight, but the more she studies my sober expression, the quicker she inches back. “Lottie?” She gasps. “Romeo and Juliette! Oh, I knew when they were shot with arrows, of all things, I wasn’t going to out my abilities, but that hobby was ages ago. Lottie, I don’t even have access to a crossbow now.”
My lips invert because my heart breaks for the woman. “Your poor sweet children.” One of the twins gives me a swift kick, and I close my eyes for a moment. “I’m so sorry. If only you had been able to control your temper.” A thought comes to me. “Maybe we can have Everett find you the very best defense lawyer on the planet? You could do a plea bargain, and they’ll give you less time if you confess right now. I just know Everett would do everything to make sure you could get back to your family as soon as possible.” I can’t help my lenient stance with her. Not only is she a baker, but she’s a mother . And I can’t imagine being separated from my children for any length of time, let alone years—or worse yet, a lifetime.
“Lottie, what are you talking about? I didn’t kill Romeo and Juliette if that’s what you’re implying.”
I squint her way and inspect her features.
If she’s lying, she deserves an Oscar.
“Venus, I know all about the lawsuit. They were trying to stop you from using your company name because it was too close to theirs. They were out to ruin you.”
She inches back. “Who told you that?”
“I can’t reveal my sources.” I bite down on my lip in an effort to keep it zipped.
“Well, it’s not true,” she says, pulling out her phone and holding the screen my way. “All I got was a cease and desist letter, and I immediately texted Romeo. It was Juliette who wanted me to change my name, and I kindly explained in this text message that I didn’t think it was necessary. And look, he even replied and said he was fine with it as long as I didn’t do anything else that might be mistaken for co-mingling our brands.”
I read through the message thread, and sure enough, she’s telling the truth.
Huh . I guess Shelly must have misunderstood.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell her, suddenly sick that I went off half-cocked. And I can’t even blame my hormones on this one. “I just thought since you were into archery, and then that connection with your lawsuit…”
“Archery and crossbows, yes, albeit that was a while ago. But there was no lawsuit.” She sighs hard. “Please don’t worry about it, Lottie. I would have drawn the same conclusion with that information. I’d better let Sean know what we discussed in the event Noah approaches him. In truth, I should have told Noah that first night that I was a whiz with a bow and arrow, but it felt crass to do so.”
“And I can see why.” I give a mournful sigh just as a thought comes to me. “Wait, Caudwell mentioned something about a lawsuit that Romeo and Juliette were up against. Something about they couldn’t structure their company the way they wanted until it was through.”
“What does that mean?” She shakes her head at me.
“I think it means someone was taking them to court. It certainly doesn’t sound like they had the upper hand.”
“Well, if they didn’t have a corporate structure because of it, that means someone at the core of it was holding them back.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” I say, pulling out my phone and looking up the website for Cupid’s Confections, going straight to their ‘About Us’ page. “For all intents and purposes, it looks as if this is a normally structured business.”
Venus shakes her head. “Why is Romeo’s name listed as president, but Juliette’s name isn’t anywhere on the page? It’s just her picture there with him.”
“That is strange,” I say.
Her phone chirps, and she sighs at the screen. “I’m sorry, Lottie. I need to take this. It’s my oldest. She likes to do a mommy check-in every twenty minutes. She only gets a phone to use while they’re with the sitter, so it’s sort of a novelty. I’ll be right back.”
She darts out of the conservatory just as Charlie comes in with her crew, bringing in the appetizers in sparkling silver chafing trays. And by the looks of it, Carlotta and Shelly are helping, too. And on their heels is Sweetheart sniffing at Charlie’s delicious offerings, and I don’t need to be a pooch myself to smell trouble. If we’re not careful, Sweetheart might just out-eat us all—me included, and that’s no small feat.
Wait, Shelly used to work for Romeo when the business was just getting started. She might know exactly what’s going on. Although she did mix up those details regarding Venus’ non-existent lawsuit.
There has to be something on this website that can give me a clue. I scroll through the tabs at the top before hitting one called ‘Cupid’s Community,’ and in it are pictures from every office party and outing, including a few from some charity gigs they did.
And just before I give up and scroll away, I see a rather incriminating picture.
I have a feeling I know why Romeo wasn’t allowed to move forward with his partnership with Juliette.
I look up and nod.
And if I’m right, I know exactly who the killer is.