Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(92)

“That’s okay, Norman. I didn’t want anyone else to see them, so I just…uh…”

“Appropriated them?” Norman grinned as he supplied the word.

Hannah grinned back. “That’s right.”

“Will you have dinner with me next Friday night? We could drive to that steak place out by the lake. I really need to talk to you in private, Hannah. It’s about my mother.”

“Sure,” Hannah agreed without a second thought. “That’d be really nice, Norman.”

It wasn’t until Hannah was back in her chair that she realized Delores had won fifty percent of the bet. Norman had asked her to dinner and that counted as a date. She glanced at Mike. There was no way he’d ask her out. Her favorite shoes were secure.

The party broke up about ten. Bill and Mike had to report in at eight and Norman had an early appointment. They walked Delores out to her car, and Hannah lingered to help Andrea toss the paper plates and pizza boxes in the trash. When the cleanup was finished and Bill had set out the garbage cans for pickup the next morning, she slipped into her boots, said good night to her sister and brother-in-law, and walked through the soft white snow to her truck.

“Hannah?”

“Hi, Mike.” Hannah was surprised to see Mike Kingston leaning up against the hood of her truck. “I thought you’d left.”

“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you, Hannah.”

His voice sounded stressed and Hannah began to frown. “Sure. What is it?”

“I like you, Hannah.”

Hannah was confused. What did liking her have to do with anything? “I like you, too, Mike.”

“And I’d like to get to know you better.”

Hannah began to suspect that something she hadn’t thought would happen was happening. “I’d like to know you better, too.”

Mike grinned and his whole face lit up. “That’s a relief. I just moved here, so I don’t know what there is to do on the weekends, but if I can come up with something good, how about going out with me on Saturday night?”

Hannah was so stunned her mouth dropped open. “You’re asking me to go out this Saturday night?”

“That’s right. We can find something to do in Lake Eden, can’t we?”

“Sure, we can.” Visions of satin sheets and feather pillows flitted through Hannah’s head for a split second, but she pushed them firmly out of her mind. It was just that Mike was so handsome and sexy. And she was so…available.

Mike grinned again. ‘’I guess I’d better hit the road. Six o’clock comes pretty early.”

“Six?” Hannah’s eyebrows shot up. “I thought you didn’t have to be at the station until eight.”

“I don’t, but my new place has a gym and I like to work out in the mornings. Do you want me to follow you home?”

Hannah pushed another image from her mind. She didn’t think Mike had meant that. “Why would you want to follow me home?”

“I can think of several reasons, but we’d better not get into that now. I just meant that I was concerned for your safety. You’re all alone and it’s dark.”

“I’ll be perfectly safe, Mike. This is Lake Eden. We don’t have any crime here.”

“You don’t count a double homicide as a crime?” Mike started to laugh.

Hannah laughed too, even though the joke was on her. “You’ve got a good point, but that was the exception rather than the rule. I’ll be just fine. You should go home and get some sleep.”

“I will.” Mike turned to walk to his car. He climbed in, started the engine, and then rolled down the window. “I’ll call you at work tomorrow and we’ll set a time for our date.”

“I’ll be there all day.” Hannah waved as he drove off. She was sliding in, behind the wheel of her Suburban, when his last words sank in. She’d just accepted a date with Mike Kingston.

“Uh-oh!” Hannah frowned as she reached out and grabbed the sneakers that she’d tossed on the passenger seat. She got out of her truck, marched over to one of the garbage cans that Bill had set out for the morning pickup, and hoped that Delores would appreciate what she was about to do. She had a date with Norman, and she had a date with Mike. They’d both asked her out before the night was over, and she’d never welshed on a bet in her life.

Two dates in one night—not bad at all! Hannah’s frown changed to a grin as she lifted the lid and dropped her very favorite five-year-old pair of Nikes inside.





Lovely Lemon Bar Cookies




Preheat oven to 350° F, rack in the middle position.

2 cups flour (no need to sift)

1 cup cold butter (2 sticks, ? pound)

? cup powdered (confectioners’) sugar (no need to sift, unless it’s got big lumps)



4 beaten eggs (just whip them up with a fork)

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

8 tablepoons lemon juice (? cup)

1 teaspoon or so of zest (optional) (zest is finely grated lemon peel)

? teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 Tablespoons flour (that’s ? cup—don’t bother to sift)



Cut each stick of butter into eight pieces. Zoop it up with the flour and the powdered sugar in a food processor until it looks like coarse cornmeal (just like the first step in making a piecrust). Spread it out in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan (that’s a standard sheet cake pan) and pat it down with your hands.