Page 20 of Twice Baked Risky Whiskey Cakes

“Charlie,” I say, gripping my belly and inching back, just about losing my balance.

“Whoa, sister,” she says with a laugh as she does her best to keep me from tipping backward. “Why don’t we get you a seat? What are you in such a hurry for, anyway? If you’re looking for Keelie, she took the afternoon off. Apparently, there’s some ritzy birthday party for a three-year-old today. All the who’s who of Honey Hollow under five will be there, or so I’m told.” She wrinkles her nose at the thought.

And that nose wrinkling is pretty much Charlie’s take on motherhood, too.

Charlie and I are nearly identical in every way—same hair, face, eyes, and ability to see right through to the other side, but I’m older by a year.

It turns out, we’re something called transmundane, further classified as supersensual, which means we can see the dead. But not all the dead, mostly just those the man upstairs sends back to help solve a crime or two.

Mostly.

And bymostly, I mean just me. Charlie has yet to have a supernatural sidekick sent her way. I guess you could say I’m the unlucky one in the family who fate seems to have tapped as a supernatural sleuth. But there are other ghosts we see on the regular, too—like the happy family of ghosts taking up residence in my mother’s B&B.

Charlie wasn’t raised by the Lemons like I was, but pretty much my mother, Meg, and Lainey have all adopted her by proxy, too.

“I’m not here for Keelie,” I tell her. Even though I so have some serious tea to spill with her. She will never believe what Everett’s mother, of all people, has managed to tangle herself up in.

Keelie has been my bestie ever since preschool. We’ve shared all of our secrets with one another, with the exception of the fact I can see the dead. I couldn’t tell her. The girl is afraid of the dark. The last thing I wanted was for her to be afraid ofme. “I’m here for that cute little thing.” I nod to the precious white fox with ears almost the same size as its body.

Charlie gasps and takes me by the hand straight to a table for two right next to where the wily fox sits, shimmering away like a miniature galaxy of stars.

“Does this have something to do with that man Eliza hacked down last night?” Charlie asks as we quickly take a seat across from one another.

I shoot her a look for even thinking it, let alone saying it out loud in a public establishment.

“Never you mind,” I whisper her way before leaning toward the tiny specter in question. Upon closer examination, it not only has snow-white fur, but a cute little snout, and little pink lips that curve into what I swear is a smile. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

The tiny fox bounces from the trunk of the tree right onto our table, facing both Charlie and me.

“My name is Sebastian, but you can call meSebby,” he says in the cutest little masculine voice you ever did hear.

“Aww,” both Charlie and I coo in unison.

“Wait.” I shake my head at it. “Are you telling me that Sebastian named you after himself?”

The little cutie pie gives a quick nod. “And why not? A perfect name from one perfect gentleman to another. He always called me Sebby. After all, that’s what his own family called him.”

“Interesting.” I lean back and lift a brow at Charlie.

She shakes her head. “He named his pet after himself? That says everything I need to know about the man.”

“Oh, I was no pet.” The tiny thing inches back as if he were affronted. “I was family myself. Once Sebby took me in, well, his family took me in as well. What Sebby wanted Sebby got. And when he was a teenager, he wanted me as his friend.” He glances toward the window and sighs. “Of course, that meant never seeing my own family and friends ever again, but it was worth it in the end. I ate steak and French fries, along with Mama’s chocolate silk whiskey pie. The meals were plentiful and we stayed up far too late each night watching questionable television.”

Charlie perks up. “Ooh,that chocolate silk whiskey pie does sound good.”

“I am definitely putting it on the menu,” I tell him. “Sebby, you know you’re here to help solve Sebastian’s homicide, right?”

“That I do,” he practically sings. “And the sooner we land the killer behind bars, the sooner I can hit the bar with Sebastian in the sky.”

I make a face. “This is the first time I’ve heard anything about a bar up there.”

“Oh, there is one,” he insists. “In fact, there are several. And the wine most certainly does not taste like water, if you know what I mean. Miracles still abound.”

“Good to know,” Charlie says, looking as amused as I do.

“One more thing, Sebby,” I say, leaning in his way. “There’s a woman who is currently sitting at the top of the suspect list. Her name is Eliza Baxter.”

“At the top of the suspect list?” he practically squeals so loud both babies jump at once in my belly. I’m not sure if my twins will be transmundane like Lyla Nell is—and believe me, that’s been sort of a problem already. Or if they heard the little guysqueak because they’re touching me, or rather residing in me. As it stands, if anyone touches my flesh, they can hear straight through to the other side, too.

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