Apple Turnover Murder (Hannah Swensen, #13)(44)

Andrea took a seat at the table and thought it over for a few seconds. “I guess that makes sense, in a way,” she said.

“Is there any news about Bill’s job offer, dear?” Delores asked.

“Yes. They called him again this afternoon. I told you that Tachyon wants to fly us both to Fort Lauderdale first class so that Bill can meet their top executives and take a look at their operation?”

“You told us that yesterday,” Delores said.

“Well, Bill was pretty definite about refusing them yesterday. I heard every word he said.”

“Did he know you were listening?” Michelle asked.

“Of course not. I didn’t want him to think that I was eavesdropping.”

“But you were, weren’t you?” Michelle asked.

“No, I wasn’t eavesdropping. I stopped by the sheriff’s station to ask him what time he thought he’d be home. When I approached his office door, I heard him talking on the phone. The problem was, I wasn’t sure whether it was a private conversation or not. I knew that if it was private, it would have been rude for me to go in, so I stood there politely to wait until Bill was through.”

Hannah bit back a grin. If she ever needed a good spin doctor, Andrea would be her first choice.

“Anyway, I could tell Bill was talking to the man at Tachyon in Fort Lauderdale because he said it was really nice of them to offer to fly both of us there, but he really didn’t think it was fair to leave me alone in a hotel room all day with nothing to do in a strange city while he toured their headquarters and met with their top executives.”

“That was considerate,” Delores commented.

“Yes, it was. And I only had to point it out to him once last night.” Andrea stopped and shook her head. “They must want him really bad.”

Badly, Hannah mentally corrected her sister, but she didn’t say a peep. This was not the time for a grammar lesson.

“Anyway, he just listened for a few minutes and then he told them he’d think it over. And it turned out that it was really smart of him to say that about not wanting to leave me alone at the hotel.”

“They offered him something else?” Hannah guessed.

“And how! They said they’d introduce me to one of the executives’ wives my age and she’d show me around Fort Lauderdale. They said she’d take me to lunch at a wonderful restaurant where I could meet the other wives, and then the next morning a car would pick us up and we’d all spend the day at the most exclusive spa in town. They even mentioned a shopping spree to show me Fort Lauderdale’s upscale boutiques. Can you believe it? It seems like the more Bill says no, the more they want him.”

“I’m going to keep that in mind when I’m out there looking for jobs,” Michelle said.

Andrea was silent for a moment, and then she gave a wry laugh. “I think that only works if they come to you. If I’d tried that with Al at the realty office, he would have told me to get lost. And then he would have turned right around and hired someone else.”





WACKY CAKE


Preheat oven to 350 degrees, rack in the middle position.

First set of ingredients:

1 and ? cups all-purpose flour (don’t sift—just scoop it up and level it off)

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

? teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 heaping Tablespoons cocoa powder (about a quarter cup)



Choose a pan. Suzy’s cousin used a round cake pan about 2 inches high, her mother used a rectangular cake pan 8 inches by 12 inches, and her aunt used a square 9-inch by 9-inch cake pan that was two inches high. (Suzy says that opinions vary, but she doesn’t think the cake cares.)

Hannah’s Note: Suzy didn’t say to spray the pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, but I figured it couldn’t hurt, so I did.

Put the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a bowl. Suzy says to sift all the ingredients together, but Michelle and I just stirred them with a fork until everything was well blended.

Make three “pukas” (Suzy says those are holes or wells) in the mixed dry ingredients, just as if you were making a well in your scoop of mashed potatoes to hold the gravy.

Gather the second set of ingredients.

Second set of ingredients:

6 Tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon vinegar (we used raspberry vinegar—it was good!)

1 cup cold water



Put the vegetable oil in the first puka, the vanilla extract in the second puka, and the vinegar in the third puka.

Pour the cup of cold water all over the top of the cake.

Mix everything up with a fork or a wooden spoon. Continue to beat (or fork) until the batter is smooth.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Serve warm.

Suzy’s cousin says you shouldn’t remove the cake from the pan—just put the pan on the table and serve it that way. Suzy’s aunt says you should serve it with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream. Suzy’s mother frosts it in the pan. She sifts 2 cups of powdered sugar with a dash of salt in a bowl, and stirs in a teaspoon of vanilla extract and enough cream to bring it the right consistency.

Hannah’s Note: This is a great dessert for a novice baker to make!