Apple Turnover Murder (Hannah Swensen, #13)(75)

“I mentioned that to my friend, Brandi Archer, when she called me from Chicago. I said I told you I didn’t think watermelon cookies would be very good anyway, and she said she had a recipe for watermelon cookies and they were delicious. Of course I asked for the recipe. It came in the mail yesterday, and I baked them this morning for you.”

“That’s really sweet of you,” Hannah said, vowing never to admit that her story had been a complete fabrication. “Are they good?”

“I think they’re excellent. Try one and see what you think.”

With that said, Marguerite lifted the lid of the box to expose its contents. Nestled there in wax paper were several dozen pink cookies.

“They’re pretty,” Hannah said, and then she reached out for one. Although she agreed with Marguerite’s initial assessment that watermelon cookies couldn’t possibly be good, her neighbor had gone to all this trouble and she simply had to try one.

Marguerite continued to smile her smile as Hannah bit into the cookie. She waited until Hannah had taken the second bite, and then she said, “What do you think of them?”

“Good!” Hannah said, completely shocked at the layers of flavor she’d just experienced. “Crisp like a sugar cookie, sweet and satisfying, and they taste like sun-ripened watermelon.” She stopped and took another bite, swallowed, and asked the important question. “How did you do that?”

“Watermelon Kool-Aid. Brandi said you can make them in any flavor. She’s really fond of lime. Would you like the recipe?”

“I’d love to have the recipe. Are they difficult to make?”

“Not at all. You have to roll them out like Christmas cookies, but that’s not hard. And you have to be careful not to let them brown. Brandi warned me not to overbake them.” Marguerite opened her purse and pulled out a recipe card. “I copied the recipe for you. Are you going to bake them here for The Cookie Jar?”

“Does Reverend Knudson stand behind a pulpit?” Hannah asked, making up her own church reference on the spot.

Marge and Patsy were waiting on customers, Lisa was handling the cash register, and Hannah was in the kitchen feeling like a fifth wheel when there was a knock at the back door.

“Hi, Hannah,” Michelle said when she opened it. “I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Tim Pearson. Tim and I are dying for coffee.”

“You’ve come to the right place.” Hannah opened the door a bit wider and motioned them in. She poured them coffee while they took seats at the workstation, and then she asked, “Cookies?”

“I’ve heard about your cookies,” Tim said. “I’ve been meaning to get here, but I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had a chance.”

“How about something with chocolate?” Michelle suggested, and Hannah noticed that Tim’s face lit up in a smile. Another chocoholic. She liked him already.

Hannah turned around to look at the contents of the baker’s rack. “I’ve got Triplet Chiplets.”

“Perfect!” Michelle turned to Tim. “You’re really going to love these cookies. It’ll give you another reason to celebrate.”

Hannah delivered the cookies and picked up Michelle’s cue. “What are you celebrating, Tim?”

“My new job as assistant professor in the English department at Lake Eden Community College. I found out on the way here with Michelle. Professor Sidwell called me on my cell phone to tell me that the selection committee had reconsidered and I got the job.”

“Good for you!” Hannah said.

“It’s all because Professor Sidwell stuck up for me. You have no idea how depressed I was when he called me on Wednesday afternoon to tell me that I’d lost the job to Tiffany. What he didn’t tell me was that he was going to pull Tiffany’s academic records and reconvene the committee. I think he didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

Michelle turned to Hannah. “Poor Tim was so upset after Professor Sidwell’s call on Wednesday, he drove to Minneapolis to be with his fiancée. They had dinner with her parents that night and Tim stayed over until the next morning. I talked to Judy on the phone right after Tim called to give her the good news, and she was really excited. She told me that both of them had been really sad on Wednesday night because they thought they’d have to wait to get married.”

“I’m really happy everything worked out for you, Tim.” Hannah said, catching on to the fact that Michelle had checked out Tim’s alibi with Judy.

“Tim starts teaching fall session, and the wedding’s set for the middle of August,” Michelle told her. “Professor Sidwell’s sure he can find a job for Judy at the college.”

“Wonderful!” Hannah said, giving Tim a warm smile as she went to get him two more cookies. She’d known from the get-go he wasn’t the killer. Anyone who finished two chocolate cookies in less than a minute couldn’t possibly be capable of murder.

She was just crossing Tim’s name off her suspect list when her sister barreled through the door separating the kitchen from the coffee shop. “This is it!” she said. “I’m finished!”

Hannah took one look at her usually immaculate sister and knew chocolate was in order. Andrea’s eyes were wild, her hair was escaping the neat French knot she’d fashioned at the nape of her neck, and she’d chewed her lipstick half off. Since Andrea would never appear in public this way unless she were dying or a crisis was on the horizon, Hannah led her to a stool at the workstation, poured her a soothing cup of coffee, and set a whole plate of Brownies Plus within easy reach.