Apple Turnover Murder (Hannah Swensen, #13)(53)

One sniff and Hannah felt almost alive. Another sniff and she sat up to reach for the mug. She took a sip of the scalding hot brew and gave a grateful sigh. “Coffee. Good,” she said.

“You sound like Frankenstein’s monster,” Marge said, chuckling at her own joke. “You’d better have more coffee before I send Norman back here to see you.”

Hannah took another sip. And then she took another. With each swallow, the curtain of sleep lifted slowly from her eyes. By the time she’d drained the coffee mug, she felt almost like her old self again.

“Ready?” Marge asked her.

“Ready. I didn’t burn any cookies, did I?”

“No. Do you feel better after your sleep?”

Hannah made a quick assessment. She felt more alert than she had all day, and other than the soreness in her neck, she seemed to be just fine. “I’m a lot better now. It’s amazing how refreshing a ten-minute nap can be.”

Marge laughed. “It wasn’t ten minutes,” she said. “It was more like an hour and a half. I looked in twice through the window on the door and you were sleeping like a baby.”

“I don’t understand. I distinctly remember setting the timer for ten minutes. If I really did sleep for an hour and a half, the cookies would be incinerated.”

“That’s true,” Marge said, and then she turned around to point to the sheets of unbaked cookies on the baker’s rack. “But you forgot to put them in the oven!”

“Hi, Hannah.” Norman walked into the kitchen. “I had an hour between appointments, and I thought I’d drop in to see you.”

“That’s nice. Do you have time for cookies and coffee?”

“Yes, thanks.”

“Which kind of cookie would you like?”

“Whatever you have handy will be fine. All of your cookies are great.”

Hannah went to the coffee pot to pour Norman a cup. They were being unbearably polite. It was almost as if they were strangers, and that was about as far from the truth as you could get.

“How’s Cuddles?” Hannah asked as she handed Norman his coffee mug and went to the baker’s rack to fill a small plate with cookies.

“She’s fine. I think she was happy to get home, but I’m pretty sure she misses Moishe. When we went to bed, it took her a while to get comfortable. And maybe I’m imagining things, but I thought she looked a little lonely. I figured that was because both cats slept with you and she missed the company.”

Hannah smiled as she delivered the plate of cookies. “You’re right. They both slept in my bed and there was barely room for me. I was absolutely amazed how much space two cats can take up when they’re all stretched out.”

“It’s pretty amazing, all right. I’ll bet you slept better last night.”

“I was so tired last night, I went to sleep the minute my head hit the pillow. But I did notice that Moishe seemed a little restless. Maybe it was a dream, but I thought he kept going back and forth into the living room.”

“That’s what Cuddles did!”

“Do you think she was looking for Moishe?”

“Maybe. And maybe Moishe was looking for Cuddles.” Norman gave a little chuckle. “We might have to arrange sleepovers for the cats. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and alternate Sundays, I get Moishe. And on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and alternate Sundays, you get Cuddles.”

“Do we need Howie Levine to draw us up an order for joint custody?” Hannah joked. And she was rewarded with a big laugh from Norman. Hearing him laugh made her feel better immediately. He seemed almost like his old self again.

“You’re going to investigate, aren’t you?” Norman asked, biting into a cookie. “I like these, Hannah. They’re not too sweet and they crunch. They’d be really good with a dish of ice cream.”

“Thank you. They’re Sesame Seed Tea Cookies. And yes, I’m going to investigate.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“I’m sure there is, but I don’t know what it is yet.” Hannah stopped and thought for a moment. “You could help me put together my suspect list. You’re good at things like that.”

“I’d be glad to help.”

“Good. Maybe we can do it at dinner before we go to the school.”

“The school?”

“You know. For Casino Night. I’ve never been to a fundraiser like that, but everyone says it’s lots of fun. You got the advance tickets, didn’t you?”

“Oh. Sure I did.”

“If you don’t mind, let’s not go all the way out to the inn for dinner. I really should help out for an hour on the apple turnover assembly line. If you pick me up at six-thirty, we’ll still have time to grab a hamburger at the cafe and get over to the school by seven-thirty.”

“Fine.” Norman said, finishing his cookies and standing up. “I’ll see you at six-thirty then.”

Hannah watched as he carried his mug to the sink. He gave a little wave as he went out through the swinging door to the coffee shop and she smiled and waved back. But the moment the door had swung closed behind him, her smile disappeared like one of Herb’s multicolored scarves. She supposed it was possible that she was mistaken, but she was almost positive that Norman had forgotten all about the plans they’d made for dinner and Casino Night before he’d left Lake Eden.