Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue's Blog, page 80
September 13, 2021
A Stepping Stone
buy nowBefore Ziggy Johnson was a member of Jems and Jamz, she struggled through several ups and downs in the heart of Chicago. Learn about what experiences brought her to where she is today and how her musical dreams came to fruition.
September 11, 2021
A Fan to Remember
buy nowWhen Spike takes over the band’s public relations, she is suddenly knee-deep in fan mail, and much to Jemma’s dismay, she spends most of her time on her new position. However, when threatening e-mails begin to come in from Fangirl38, Spike finds herself at odds, and before she knows it, the whole band is caught up in a mixture of suspense and terror.
September 10, 2021
The cost of service-now on medium
Photo by Benjamin Faust on Unsplashcheck it out
September 9, 2021
Book Bits: “A Bit of A Pickle” Chapter Twelve
Thank you for joining me for Book Bits. In this episode, we will begin to read the book “A Bit of a Pickle” by Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue. This is the second book in the Simmons Series.
Enjoy!
A BIT OF A PICKLE
WRITTEN BY NICOLE HIGGINBOTHAM-HOGUE
COPYRIGHTED BY NICOLE HIGGINBOTHAM-HOGUE
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
Chapter Twelve“Theodore,” Edna said, holding the phone close to her face so that she her quiet voice could be heard. “I need you to come right now.”
“Okay, Mrs. Simmons,” Theodore replied. “I was prepared for this call, and Jesse already hooked me up with a truck and a load of lumber.”
“Very good, please get here as soon as you can. This man is trying to stay in our house, and I need you to make it seem like the room is unlivable.”
“I can certainly do that,” Theodore mused.
“And Theodore,” Edna said.
“Yes, Mrs. Simmons?” Theodore replied.
“If I’m not here, please go over your plans with Gertie,” Edna said. “I have an errand that I have to run.”
“Will do,” Theodore said, and with that, Edna hung up the phone.
She walked into the living room, noticing that Fredrick and Gertie were sitting in silence and quickly made her way to the entry way to get her coat. “Well, I’m off,” she said, hoping that she would be able to sneak out the door without any issues.
“Where are you going now?” Gertie asked.
“I have another errand to run,” Edna said. “I’ll be back soon.” Edna didn’t wait for Gertie to answer. She just rushed out the door. She knew that her wife wouldn’t be happy that she was leaving, but she also knew that she needed to have a conversation with Bonnie before Fredrick took advantage of the other woman.
Edna hopped in the truck, pulled on the seat belt, and started the engine. She needed to get to Bonnie as soon as she could. She knew that Fredrick’s charm would allow him to wrap the other woman around his finger, and if Bonnie gave into the man’s delightful behavior, she might soon become the next victim.
Edna drove through down and down the familiar street to Bonnie’s house. The lights were on, but Bonnie’s car was nowhere to be seen. She parked the truck and walked up to the door, knocking lightly to get her friend’s attention. “Hello,” she called when the door was left unanswered. She could hear a distant rustling noise in the background, so she knew someone was there.
The door opened and a disheveled man answered the door. “Hello, Edna,” Jake Wilson said, a somber look on his face. “Is Bonnie with you?”
“No, dear,” Edna said, wondering why the other man was in Bonnie’s house. He and Bonnie had dated a while back, but from what she heard in town, they had called off their romantic escapades about a month ago.
“Dang,” Jake said, clearly defeated. “I’ve been looking for the woman all day. I saw her at the country club with some snooty-looking guy, and it just made my heart sink.”
“I thought that you and Bonnie were over,” Edna replied. “Are you telling me that you still have feelings for her?”
“Of course, I do,” Jake said. “I think about her every day, and if I could find a way and keep her in my life I would.”
“Well, it seems that you too need to talk,” Edna replied.
“Easier said than done,” Jake commented. “I’ve been looking for her since I saw her in the club. After seeing her with that other man, I thought that I would come by and talk to her for a bit, but she was nowhere in sight, so I used my extra key to get in, but she hasn’t come home.”
“Maybe, there’s a better approach,” Edna said, careful to consider the desperate man’s emotions. “Here let me call her.” Edna took out her phone to dial Bonnie’s number, but just as she did, a car pulled into the drive and her cellular device began to ring.
“Hello,” Edna said, looking at the familiar car in the drive.
“Hello, it’s me, Edna,” Bonnie said. “I’m at the end of the drive. Is that Jake with you?”
“Yes,” Edna replied.
“Well tell him that I have nothing left to say to him,” Bonnie told her. “If you don’t mind, I think that I am going to go to your house to give him a chance to clear out.”
“Well, Bonnie…” Edna began to protest, but the other woman had hung up and started to drive away.
“That was Bonnie?” Jake inquired. “I knew that I recognized that car. Where’s she going? I need to talk to her.”
“I don’t think this is the best time,” Edna said, trying to find a way to end the conversation and get back to her house before Bonnie did.
“There’s never a perfect time,” Jake said. “I think that is something that you have to make on your own.”
“Well, to tell you the truth, Jake,” Edna began. “I already have a lot of people at my house, so adding one more wouldn’t be in my best interest. Gertie is already going to be overwhelmed, especially since I left her alone with Fredrick.”
“Fredrick is over there?” Jake asked, his expression now turning into one of anger. “Now I have to go to your house.” Jake shut the front door of Bonnie’s house and locked it, ignoring Edna’s protests.
“Jake, come back,” Edna called as the man ran to his vehicle and backed out of the drive, but Jake was gone, and Edna could only predict the chaos that was about to go down at her house.
EDNA HAD SPED THE WHOLE way home, hoping to get there before any major issues occurred, but as she pulled up in the driveway, she realized that she was already too late. A group of vehicles lined her driveway, and she could clearly hear yelling coming from the inside of her house. Edna quickly parked her truck and ran towards the house, noticing that Jake’s vehicle was not yet there.
“What’s going on?” Edna asked as flew through the front door and into the living room, but she let out a sigh of relief when she saw Bonnie sitting on the couch, talking to Gertie.
“I was just telling Gertie about Jake,” Bonnie said with a shrug.
“I could hear you from the street,” Edna replied. “It sounded like someone had gotten into an argument.”
“No, arguments here,” Gertie sighed. “Your friend is just very vocal when she talks about her ex.”
“Where’s Fredrick?” Edna asked, noticing that the man wasn’t sitting in the spot that she had left him in.
“He’s helping Theodore,” Gertie smiled. “They’re in the spare room.”
“I see,” Edna said, wondering what the source of her wife’s amusement was. “I’m going to go check on them.” Edna walked out of the room and down the hall, opening the door to the spare bedroom. Theodore smiled as she walked in, and Edna noticed a pile of lumber in Fredrick’s arms.
“How’s it going, Mrs. Simmons?” Theodore smiled.
“Just fine,” Edna replied, looking over at Fredrick, who was red in the face and clearly struggling with the heavy load that he was carrying. “What are you guys doing?”
“Well, I was just getting ready to clear out this room,” Theodore commented. “So, I told old Freddy here to hold the extra lumber. There’s no reason for me to trip on it while I’m moving furniture.”
“Couldn’t you just set it…” Edna began, but she saw Theodore quickly give her a warning look and stopped what she was saying.
“Maybe next time I will call before coming,” Fredrick croaked. “I didn’t know that I was going to get wrapped into this renovation project.”
“I told you, Freddy,” Theodore said. “You owe it to your sister to help her with this, and if you want this done quickly, I’m going to need an extra set of hands. Don’t be such a baby. We haven’t even gotten to the hard part yet.”
“The hard part?” Fredrick inquired. “This isn’t the hard part?”
“Not even close, my man,” Theodore replied, taking his time to move the items in the room out into the hall.
Fredrick groaned, and Edna turned around to go back down the hall. It seemed like Theodore had a good handle on Fredrick, and if hard labor didn’t make the man want to go back home, she wasn’t sure what was. Edna made it down the hall and into the living room, preparing to sit down in her chair, when a heavy knock sounded at the door.
“Who is that?” Gertie asked, clearly overwhelmed by the amount of company that they were seeing.
“At this point, who knows?” Edna replied, walking into the entry way and opening the door to an anxious-looking Jake.
“Is she here?” Jake asked, looking behind Edna as if to spot Bonnie.
“She is,” Edna replied. “But…”
However, before she could get the next sentence out, the man had pushed past her and into the living room. “Bonnie,” Jake cried. “I’ve been looking for you all over.”
“Well, keep looking, Jake,” Bonnie said.
“I just want to talk,” Jake pleaded. “Can’t we talk?”
“No,” Bonnie replied. “And if you keep bugging me, I’m going to get my boyfriend out here, and he is going to take care of you.”
“Where is he?” Jake asked angrily.
“Down the hall,” Gertie replied, pointing.
“Gertie,” Edna lectured as Jake stomped down the hall and made his way into the extra bedroom.
“Oh,” Gertie said with mock innocence. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”
Edna shook her head at the other woman and rushed down the hall. She needed to make it down there before the situation between the two men got heavy, but as Edna got to the door, she realized that she was already too late. Jake had Fredrick pinned down on the floor, and Theodore was doing his best to pry them apart.
“Stop it,” Edna yelled, but neither man was listening. Edna turned around to go get Gertie, but the other woman had already made it down the hall with Bonnie at her side. Edna turned her attention back to the two men on the floor, trying her best to think of a way to get them apart.
“I didn’t take your girlfriend,” Fredrick said, trying his best to get Jake’s weight off his chest. “Honest. I don’t even like the woman.”
“Don’t feed me that line,” Jake replied. “I know that you two went out. I saw you at the club.”
“Please, sir,” Fredrick implored. “I have no interest in your girlfriend. In fact, I have no interest in anyone around here. I’m a hacker. Please don’t hurt me. I don’t want anything to do with Bonnie.”
“A hacker?” Jake asked, pushing the man down harder on the floor. “What does that have to do with Bonnie? You better explain yourself, or if I need to, I can pound it out of you.”
“No need for that,” Fredrick replied, his face turning red. “I’ll explain. Please don’t hit me.”
“Well, you better start saying something relevant then,” Jake warned him.
“Fine,” Fredrick complied. “I am a computer hacker. I hacked Edna’s computer after she filled out a DNA application online. You see, there’s a little advertisement on the same page, and when people click it…”
“I don’t need to know all of that,” Jake said. “Just tell me why you are here.”
“Okay, okay,” Fredrick said fear in his eyes. “Well, like I said, I’ve been tracking Edna’s computer, so after she filled out the DNA form, I sent her an email that made her think that I was her long-lost brother. I knew that would be an excellent way to get to know her and possibly get a little financial assistance from the old gal.”
“So, you were planning to steal our money,” Gertie said, summing it up.
“In a sense, yeah,” Fredrick replied. “But it’s not like you two need it for anything. Look how old you are. What would you do with it?”
“I think that’s up to us to decide,” Edna retorted, giving the man a hard look. “I can’t believe you Fredrick. I trusted you. I can’t believe that you would go as far as to try to trick us.”
“What can I say?” Fredrick replied. “It’s my job.”
“I know what you can say,” Bonnie smiled, holding up her phone. “Why don’t you say ‘I confess’ because that’s all you will be telling the police officers once they get here?”
“What do you mean?” Fredrick inquired, wide-eyed. “You were recording all that?”
“Yes, and I already called the police,” Bonnie smirked. “Don’t mess with my friends.”
Edna looked up at Bonnie and over at Jake who still had Fredrick pinned down. “Did you know about this too?” she asked Jake, noticing that the man’s expression had suddenly eased into one of humor.
“Yes,” Jake replied. “Bonnie told me what was going on, and I knew that I had to help.”
“So, you two aren’t really fighting?” Edna inquired looking at Bonnie and then at Jake.
“No,” Bonnie blushed. “We actually got back together a few days ago, but given the situation, I didn’t think that it would be the proper time to say anything.”
“Wow,” Edna replied. “So, this whole thing was set up?”
“Yes,” Bonnie said. “I knew when you hung up on me that night that we were talking about the scam that something was going on, and after talking to Jesse and Theodore, I found out about Fredrick’s arrival, so I talked to Jake, and we came up with a plan to get Fredrick to confess. I couldn’t let him scam you two. I know that I’m not perfect, but you are my friends.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t see all that coming,” Edna commented, a look of surprise on her face. “Why don’t we get this fool out of the bedroom and ready for his ride to the police station, and I’ll put on some coffee. I’m very interested in the details of this situation.”
About the Author
Growing up in a small town, Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue spent a majority of her time reading and writing, so when she was granted the opportunity to write full-time, she didn’t have to think twice. Since beginning her writing career, she has managed to pen several lesbian romances, while adding a little action and adventure to spice things up. As a newly graduated MBA student, she plans to use her recently discovered free time to craft the art that she loves. For more information on Nicole’s new releases or to find out what she has been working on, sign-up for her newsletter at higginbothampublications.com.
Also by Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue
Jems and Jamz
Don’t Tell Me Twice
A Second Chance
To the Beat of Their Own Drum
Finding a Voice
A Fan to Remember
Aspiring Affection
A Stepping Stone
The Jems and Jamz Series: Books 1-2
The Jems and Jamz Series: Books 3-4
The Jems and Jamz Series: Books 5-7
The Jems and Jamz Series Boxset
Simmons Series
A Brief Debacle
A Bit of a Pickle
The Catnip Conundrum
The Simmons Series: Books 1-2
The Avery Detective Series
Sentiment to the Heart
Heart’s Content
Complicated Heart
Thank you for joining me for this episode of Book Bits. I look forward to seeing you next time.
Sleeping on Couches
buy nowAfter breaking up with her long-term girlfriend, Jai decides to take a break from life and work on a friend of the family’s farm. While learning to appreciate herself and the things that she loves again, Jai meets one of the farm help, Sam. She and Sam grow close quickly, but Jai soon finds out that Sam is hiding dark secrets about her past. Will Jai figure out who this woman really is before she falls in love with her, or will it be too late?
Finding a Voice
buy nowZiggy Johnson has been through one of the worst years of her life, but when she is roomed with Lana Waverly, a pompous woman with no concept of empathy, things take a turn for the worst. Ziggy does her best to cope with her roommate’s undesirable behavior, and in the process, she learns that there is much more to the other woman than she thought.
September 8, 2021
To the Beat of Their Own Drum
buy nowBefore becoming members of Jems and Jamz, Spike Bianchi and Jemma Rodriguez were just two lost individuals, trying to find their way in life. Find out how one trip to Texas changed the course of their lives and spurred the evolution of the band known as Jems and Jamz.
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The Flood Between Us
buy nowWhen a flood hits Grant’s Landing, Jack is one of the first to respond by bringing her construction company to the town to rebuild houses. The town is suffering from lack of supplies, lack of business, and lack of housing, so members of the town are required to call in further assistance. Jill, a member of Hope’s Integrity, decides to drive supplies to the small town, meeting the bruiting Jack who both challenges and excites her. The two women grow into each other’s worlds despite the great differences that they have, but when conflicts from their pasts come to light, will they be able to stick together, or will the floods of differences that they have sweep them apart?
