Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(54)

“Shall I take you?” Andrea offered.

“No, you can stay. I’ll catch a ride out with one of the other guys.” Bill patted her shoulder. “Have a good time for me, okay?”

Reading the glum expression on Andrea’s face, Hannah doubted that she was going to have a good time without Bill, but her sister nodded. “Okay, honey. Be careful and I’ll see you at home.”

After Bill left, they all trooped back to the party. Hannah had seen Norman rewind the film and drop it into his pocket, and she was curious. “Are you going to put the film in the night drop at the drugstore, Norman?”

“No.” Norman shook his head. “I’ll develop it myself when I get home. I just finished setting up my darkroom.”

“You’re a photographer?”

“Just an amateur. I caught the bug when I was in Seattle. It’s a great hobby. I’ll bring the prints by The Cookie Jar on my lunch break tomorrow so you can see them.”

The orchestra was playing by the time they reentered the ballroom, and Norman asked Hannah to dance. She couldn’t refuse without seeming rude and Hannah found herself suffering through an agonizingly slow waltz. Norman was, at best, a tentative dancer and Hannah really wanted to lead. But she didn’t want to hurt Norman’s feelings and she endured their dance with a smile on her face.

When the dance had ended, Norman escorted her back to Andrea and their mothers. As they were standing there talking, Hannah spotted Betty Jackson. She wanted to ask Betty if she knew about Max Turner’s early meeting, but Bill wouldn’t like it if she dragged Norman along.

“Would you like to dance again, Hannah?” Norman offered, holding out his arm.

Hannah tried not to flinch at the thought. There was no way she wanted to dance with Norman again. She was just trying to think of a tactful excuse when she had a brilliant idea. “Why don’t you ask Andrea? I heard her tell Bill that she wanted to dance.”

“Good idea.” Norman turned to Andrea with a smile. “How about it, Andrea? Would you like to dance?”

Andrea shot Hannah a wounded look as she danced off with Norman, and Hannah knew she’d have some explaining to do. She’d point out that dancing with Norman, no matter how painful, was better than getting stuck with the mothers.

Betty was standing near the orchestra, tapping her foot in time with the music. She looked as if she wanted to dance, but it was doubtful that any of the local men would ask her. Betty was what Hannah and her friends in high school had unkindly called “heavy-duty.” She weighed close to three hundred pounds and she wasn’t known for her grace on the dance floor. Hannah’s father had once quipped that a man needed steel-toed boots to dance with Betty, and more than one man in Lake Eden had nursed an injured foot after an obligatory turn around the floor with her.

As always, Betty was dressed in vertical stripes. Someone must have once told her that they were slenderizing and they might have been, for someone less bulky. Betty’s stripes were wide tonight, and they were dark green and burgundy. The colors were pretty, but that didn’t stop Betty from resembling the side of a circus tent. As she walked closer, Hannah made a mental vow to go on a diet and shed the ten extra pounds she’d been carrying around since last Christmas.

“Hi, Betty,” Hannah called out a cheerful greeting. Since there was no one else around, it was obvious the local males feared for their insteps, and Hannah knew she’d never have a better chance to interview Betty about Max’s meeting.

Betty reached out to pat Hannah’s arm. “You look gorgeous tonight, Hannah.”

“Thanks.” Hannah knew it was only polite to return the compliment, but what could she say? Then she spotted Betty’s shoes and she had her answer. “Your shoes are great. They match your dress perfectly.”

Betty smiled, apparently satisfied. “Is there any news about poor Ron?”

“Nothing yet. I’m glad I found you, Betty. I need to talk to you about Max.”

Betty swallowed and her face turned pale. “I knew it! There’s something wrong, isn’t there?”

“Wrong?” Hannah was puzzled. “Why do you think there’s something wrong?”

“Max hasn’t called in yet and that’s not like him at all. He’s a very hands-on manager. Last year he called me three times a day.”

“There’s nothing wrong as far as I know,” Hannah reassured her. “I just wondered if he knew about Ron, that’s all.”

Betty fanned her face with her hand. “You practically gave me a heart attack. I’m probably just imagining things, but it’s just so strange that Max hasn’t called. Shirley, over at the Mielke Way Dairy, said Gary’s called in every morning.”

“Did Gary mention seeing Max at the convention?”

“No. And Shirley can’t call him to ask, because Gary won’t tell her where he’s staying.” Betty’s face crinkled in a huge smile and she moved closer. “Gary’s a bachelor and this is his big chance to live it up a little, if you know what I mean. At least that’s what Shirley thinks.”

“Shirley’s probably right. Do you think that Max is doing the same thing?”

“Max?” Betty looked utterly astounded. “If you knew him as well as I do, you wouldn’t even think it. Max has only two pleasures in life: money and more money.”