Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(37)

Hannah knew she should keep her mouth shut, but she couldn’t do it. “Herb was hired to enforce Lake Eden’s traffic regulations, not to patrol the streets hunting for would-be killers.”

“She’s right, Delores,” Carrie said and then she turned to Hannah. “It must have been terrible for you, dear. Imagine something like that happening right in back of your shop!”

Delores didn’t look very sympathetic. “Hannah can handle things like that. She’s always been strong. She gets it from me. Isn’t that right, Hannah?”

Hannah managed to keep her lips pressed firmly together. This from the woman who’d fainted when she’d found a dead squirrel on her back doorstep!

“We’d better move along, Delores.” Carrie nudged her. “You know how upset these older women get when someone holds up the line.”

Hannah came very close to losing it. With the exception of Mrs. Priscilla Knudson, the Lutheran minister’s grandmother, Carrie was the oldest lady in the group.

After Hannah had served the remaining women in line, she picked up her cookie tray and stepped out to mingle. She had quite a few takers. Her Regency Ginger Crisps were going over big. She’d just finished serving Bertie Straub, the owner-operator of the Cut ’n Curl, when she overheard part of a conversation that Maryann Watson, Coach Watson’s sister, was having with one of the secretaries at DelRay, Lucille Rahn.

“You have no idea how generous my brother is when it comes to Danielle,” Maryann confided. “He paid an absolute fortune for her birthday present.”

Lucille took a dainty bite of her cookie. “Really? How could he afford to buy something that expensive on a teacher’s salary?”

“He’s been saving all year. It’s her thirtieth, you know, and he wanted to get her something special. He asked me to meet him at the Mall of America on Tuesday night to help him shop. I swear we went to every single jewelry store in the entire mall before he found something that he wanted.”

Hannah slipped into her invisible caterer mode, setting her tray down at the far end of their table and busying herself by rearranging the stacked cookies on her tray. Neither woman seemed aware of her, but Hannah could hear every word they spoke.

“What did he buy?” Lucille looked very curious. “You can tell me, Maryann.”

Maryann leaned forward, about to confide the delicious secret. She seemed perfectly oblivious to Hannah. Waiters, maids, and caterers were always treated to all the gossip, whether they wanted to hear it or not. “He got her a perfectly gorgeous ruby ring, but you can’t tell a soul. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

Lucille raised her eyebrows. “A ruby? That does sound expensive.”

“It was,” Maryann confirmed with a nod of her head. “It cost him over a thousand dollars. And Boyd even paid extra to have it engraved on the inside of the band.”

“Is that why you missed the Dorcas Circle meeting on Tuesday night?”

“Yes, we had to stay over because the ring wasn’t ready until the next morning. Boyd asked me to take it home with me for safekeeping, and you know what that means.”

Lucille looked thoroughly puzzled. “What does it mean?”

“Danielle must snoop through his things.”

“That doesn’t really surprise me. Jill Haversham was Danielle’s third-grade teacher, and she said that all the Perkins girls were nosy.”

“I’ll never understand why Boyd married her.” Maryann sighed deeply. “He could have had anyone, and it wasn’t like he had to, you know. But I guess there’s no accounting for taste.”

“That’s what they say. Did you stay over with your mother?”

“Yes, and she was so glad to see us. Boyd went out to get doughnuts for breakfast the next morning and he came back with a huge box. That’s so she’d have leftovers. We’re not sure she’s eating right, now that she’s all alone.”

Hannah stifled a grin. She didn’t think that doughnuts for breakfast fell into the realm of “eating right,” but she wasn’t one to talk. A lot of her customers ate cookies for breakfast.

“She’s lonely, now that Dad’s gone,” Maryann continued, “and she just rattles around in that house of hers. The neighborhood’s turning industrial, and that’s not good, either.”

“Where is it?” Lucille asked.

“Right off the Anoka exit on the ninety-four. It used to be a nice quiet suburb before they put in the freeway, but it’s going downhill in a handbasket. Boyd and I think she should sell and move into one of those nice apartment buildings for seniors.”

Lucille raised her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t she rather move in with you or Boyd?”

“My place isn’t big enough. You’ve seen my apartment. I barely have room to turn around. Boyd’s got plenty of room, but I don’t think that Danielle wants her. Not that he’s said anything about it. He wouldn’t, you know. Boyd’s as loyal to that woman as the day is long. He treats her like a princess, dressing her up in expensive clothes and buying her everything she could possibly want. He even bought her that house, you know, and let me tell you, that’s got to be a real drain.”

“Financially?”

“Their mortgage payments must be sky-high, and there’s always something that needs to be fixed. Boyd tries to do it all himself, but heaven knows he’s not a plumber or an electrician. I swear Danielle doesn’t appreciate how hard he works, but what else can you expect, coming from a family like hers?”