Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(91)

Hannah laughed at the mental picture that popped into her head, and Delores joined in. When they stopped laughing, Hannah gently admonished her. “If you stop trying to set me up with every man in town, we’ll get along much better. You’ve already got a grandchild and she’s perfect. And your son-in-law just solved a double homicide and got promoted to detective. Let’s just have a good time tonight and celebrate all the good things that have happened.”

“You’re right, Hannah,” Delores agreed. “But I still think both of those men are competing for you.”

There was no stopping Delores, and Hannah was almost ready to give up the fight, but not before she fired a parting shot. “If they’re competing for me, why hasn’t either one of them asked me out?”

“Oh, they will.” Delores sounded very confident. “Before the night’s over, you’ll have two dates.”

“You think so?”

“Want to bet?”

“I don’t know. What’s in it for me when I win?”

“If you win,” Delores corrected her.

“All right, if I win.”

“I’ll buy you a new outfit. Claire has a stunning green silk suit that’ll look just lovely on you.”

Hannah had seen the green silk in Claire’s window and Delores was right: It was stunning. “You’ll never win this bet, Mother, but just for form’s sake, what do you want if you win?”

“I want you to stop wearing those awful old tennis shoes. They’re disgusting!”

“But I love them.” Hannah glanced down at her old Nikes, the most comfortable shoes she owned.

“You’ve loved them for the past five years and it’s time to give them a decent burial.” Delores gave her a challenging smile. “What are you so worried about? You just told me that I couldn’t win.”

Hannah thought about it. The probability that both Norman and Mike would ask her for a date before the night was over was too astronomical for her to calculate without using numbers with strange names like googol and googolplex. “Okay, Mother. You’ve got a bet.”

“Good.” Delores beamed at her. “Let’s put that salad together before someone comes in to ask what we’re talking about.”

When the salad was ready, Hannah carried it out to the table. Delores started bending Mike’s ear about collectible toys, and Norman and Andrea got into a discussion about textured walls and the sponge method of applying paint. That left Hannah with Bill and she knew she’d never have a better opportunity to talk to him about Coach Watson.

“Will you show me where you keep the recycle bin?” Hannah picked up her diet Coke can.

“You know where it is. It’s that yellow box in the kitchen, under the sink.”

Hannah glanced around. No one was paying any attention to them, so she grabbed Bill’s arm and leaned close. “I need to talk to you alone.”

“Oh,” Bill whispered. “Sorry, Hannah. Let’s duck into the living room.”

Once they were out of earshot, Hannah turned to him. “I need a favor, but it’s tricky.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“This isn’t official, Bill. And you can’t let anyone know that I told you.”

“I won’t say anything.”

“I know that Coach Watson has been battering Danielle. I talked to her about it, but she won’t press charges.”

“There’s nothing I can do if she won’t file a report.” Bill sighed deeply. “It’s really a shame, but my hands are tied.”

“I know. Boyd’s in therapy, but I’m still worried. I just wondered if you could keep an eye on him unofficially.”

“I can do that.”

“You can’t say anything to him. If he thinks that Danielle told anyone, he might just snap.”

“That’s been known to happen. Can I ask Mike for some advice on this?”

“Good idea.” Hannah smiled. “He must have dealt with this type of situation before. But don’t mention Boyd or Danielle by name.”

“I won’t. It’s a good thing you told me now, just in case something happens.”

Hannah shivered as she walked back into the dining room with Bill. She hadn’t known Danielle very well before Ron had been killed, but she did now, and she liked her a lot. She wished that she’d been able to do more to protect her, but Danielle was in denial and the system couldn’t work if she wouldn’t let it.

Hannah’s mood improved as they rejoined the group around the table. The conversation was lively and there was a lot of good-natured ribbing. It was one of the best parties they’d ever had, and Hannah wondered if they should always invite some extra guests to their family affairs.

Several times, as they were eating dessert and drinking coffee, Delores winked at her. Hannah winked back. Her favorite old Nikes didn’t seem to be in any danger.

Dating was the furthest thing from Hannah’s mind when she went into the kitchen to fetch the extra pan of bar cookies she’d brought and found Norman already there, waiting for her. “Hi, Norman. Are you sneaking bar cookies behind our backs?”

“No.” Norman looked very serious as he shook his head. “I was waiting for a chance to talk to you alone, Hannah. I wanted to thank you for those loan papers. My mother would thank you, too, if she knew.”