Apple Turnover Murder (Hannah Swensen, #13)(35)

“Are they ready to show us the wings and the dressing rooms?” Hannah asked, following the pair to the hallway.

“Yes. They’re going to take us in groups of five. The first ten have left, so we’d better hurry.” Perry turned to Sherri. “Ready?”

“You bet! I’m …” Sherri stopped and Hannah watched in horror as her face turned pasty white again. “I have to go back in. I’m so sorry. I’m sick again!”

Once the ladies room door had closed behind Sherri, Hannah turned to her twin. “Take her to the doctor,” she said. “I think this is more serious than mild food poisoning or the flu.”

“Me, too.” Perry said, looking more than a little frightened. “I should have taken her earlier.”

“It’s not your fault. She didn’t want to go. But you should take her now. And tell Doc Knight to put it on my bill.”

“That’s not necessary. You don’t have to pay our bill. I know Doc’ll let us pay him something every month until we can …”

“No,” Hannah interrupted him, thinking fast. It was obvious that Perry wouldn’t accept what he thought was charity. “I need a few things done at The Cookie Jar, and you can do them whenever you have a spare minute.”

“Like what?” Perry looked a bit suspicious, like he wasn’t quite sure if Hannah had real work for him or not.

“You can mix up concrete, can’t you?”

“Sure.”

“I need my back step repaired. It’s got a crack and it’s only going to get worse this coming winter. And then there’s the pantry.”

“What about the pantry?”

“We’re reorganizing it and we’ve got heavy bags of flour and sugar, and great big containers of various supplies. I don’t want to lift them, and Lisa shouldn’t lift them either.”

“How did they get in the pantry in the first place?”

“Most of our supplies are trucked in from a warehouse and the driver carries them into the pantry for us.”

“Okay,” Perry said, and he seemed to accept her explanation. “I can pour a new back step for you and help you move things around in the pantry. When does this have to be done?”

“The step should be finished by the end of September. The pantry can take longer, say by the beginning of November. We need to get everything set in place before our holiday rush.” Perry began to look suspicious again and Hannah figured she’d better not be so generous with her timelines. “Of course I’d like everything done before then, but that’s the longest I could wait.”

I’ve got Wednesday afternoons free,” Perry told her. “How about next Wednesday at one? I can do your back step then.”

“That’s just fine,” Hannah said, even though it wasn’t. There wasn’t a thing wrong with her back step and she’d have to figure out some way to crack it so that Perry could repair it. “I’d better get back to Herb. It’ll be our turn to go backstage pretty soon. Do you want me to tell someone that Sherri’s sick and you took her to the doctor?”

Perry shook his head. “I know this stage like the back of my hand and so does Sherri. I can’t even count the number of times we’ve danced here. If anybody asks, just say we’ll see them tonight.”

“Okay. Tell Sherri I hope she’s better soon.” Hannah gave a little wave and went back into the auditorium. As she walked toward her seat, she realized that now she’d have to take time out of her busy schedule to reorganize their perfectly organized pantry. It was time she really couldn’t spare, especially since it was an unnecessary task.

There was a low whistle and Hannah turned to look. Herb was standing at the rear of a line that had formed in the center aisle. She’d been so deep in thought she hadn’t even seen that the seats they’d occupied earlier were now vacant.

“Did Perry take her to the doctor?” Herb asked when Hannah had joined him in line.

“Yes. She was really sick.”

“With the flu?”

“I don’t know. I felt her forehead. I don’t think she was running a fever, but she said she’d taken aspirin.”

“How did you ever get her to agree to go to the doctor?”

“I didn’t. I told Perry I thought he should take her, and he agreed. I promised to pay for it.”

“Perry’s touchy about taking charity. How did you get him to agree to that?”

“I told him I had a job for him at The Cookie Jar and he should consider it an advance on his salary.”

“Do you have a job for him?”

“I do now.”

Herb reached over to pat her on the back. “That was a really good deed, Hannah.”

“Thanks.” Hannah gave a fleeting thought to all the extra work she’d created for herself in her attempt to manufacture a job for Perry. And as the line moved forward, she muttered, “I should have known that no good deed goes unpunished.”





Chapter Eleven


Hannah had barely had time to run home to feed Moishe and Cuddles before she had to drive back to Jordan High. She’d taken her designated seat at two minutes before the final call for contestants, and Herb, who’d looked a bit panicked at her late arrival, had given her a relieved smile.