Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(19)

“I’m sure they will,” Hannah reassured her. “Tell us about your class, Marguerite. What subject are you studying?”

“I have a poetry class. We’re working on writing poetry and the professor is teaching us about word choice. We bring in the poems we’ve written during the week and he reads them in class. Everyone discusses them and suggests ways that we can improve them.”

“I’d love to read some of your poems,” Hannah said.

Marguerite began to smile. “That’s good because I wrote one for you. Our last class was about how to capture the essence of meaning with an elegance of words. Our professor said that if we can find the best word to describe what we mean, we won’t have to use two or three adjectives to convey it.”

Hannah was impressed. Marguerite’s professor sounded like a very good teacher.

“Here.” Marguerite pulled a folded sheet of paper from her pocket and handed it to Hannah. “After I heard your speech in church yesterday, I went straight home and wrote this. Its message is that one small bit of time can completely change a person’s life.”

Hannah unfolded the paper and read what Marguerite had written.



It only takes a moment

A baby’s first cry

A lover’s lie

A kiss goodbye

And a dream’s dying sigh.

It only takes a moment.





“Oh, my!” Hannah said, handing the paper to Michelle. “It’s wonderful, Marguerite! Are you taking this one to class?”

“Yes, I think it’s what our professor was talking about.”

Hannah nodded. “So do I.”

“It’s really very good, Marguerite,” Michelle commented.

Marguerite looked pleased at their praise. “I’m so glad you like it. I hate to drink coffee and run, but Clara’s waiting for me. It’s my turn to make breakfast this morning.”

Michelle jumped up and wrapped four scones in a piece of foil. “Take these home with you. They’re Peach Scones and I just made them this morning.”

“Thank you!” Marguerite stood up and accepted the package with a smile.

“Would you and Clara like to join us for dinner this evening?” Hannah asked as she walked Marguerite to the door.

“I would, but Clara can’t. Her allergies are worse and I don’t think she can handle being in a place with two cats, even if she doubles up on her allergy pills.”

“You’re right, of course. We understand. Would it work if I send one of the guys over with a plate of dinner for Clara so that you can come over here and see Cuddles again?”

“That would be perfect!” Marguerite was clearly delighted with Hannah’s suggestion. “What time is dinner?”

“We’ll eat dinner at seven, but we’ll have wine and appetizers at six,” Hannah told her. “Please join us for those, too.”

“I’d love to.” Marguerite waited until Hannah had opened the door and then she reached out to give her a little hug. “Thank you for being my friend, Hannah.”

“And thank you for being mine,” Hannah said, watching as Marguerite walked across the bridge between the two buildings, entered the second-floor condo she shared with Clara, and closed the door behind her.

“I thought of something,” Michelle said, as Hannah came back to the kitchen.

“What?”

“I’ve been thinking about how to make the baked egg dish and I checked to see if you had any other ingredients we could add.”

Hannah was curious. “What did you find?”

“Sliced ham, Pepper Jack cheese, mustard, red onions, and sliced black olives.”

“Those are all good incredients.”

“Yes, and we can make Country Egg Bake.”

“I’ve never heard of that before!”

Michelle laughed. “That’s because I just made it up, but I’m sure it’ll work.”

“I’ll trust you on that. The recipes you make up always work.”

“Thanks, but no, they don’t.”

“Really? Name one recipe you just made up that didn’t work.”

“That’s easy. It’s tuna hotdish.”

“But . . . that’s so easy. It’s just a casserole with tuna and cream of mushroom soup! Why didn’t our tuna hotdish work?”

“Because I started putting it together and I didn’t have any cream of mushroom soup.”

Hannah shrugged. “You could have used any cream soup. I’ve used cream of celery, cream of chicken, and even cream of asparagus.”

“I know that, but I didn’t have any of those, either.”

“So what did you do?”

Michelle gave a little laugh. “I used cream of tomato. And the tuna hotdish was so bad, we had to call out for pizza.”





PEACH SCONES

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F., rack in the middle position.



3 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

? cup brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

2 teaspoons cream of tartar (important)

1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon ? teaspoon salt ? cup salted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, ? pound)