Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(6)

“That’s right. I’m going to bake them again tonight and I’ll bring some in tomorrow morning. They’ll be perfect for Valentine’s Day.”

“Hannah, I need a private moment with you please.”

Hannah turned to the man who had come up behind Aunt Nancy. There was no mistaking the authoritarian voice or the imposing figure of Mayor Bascomb.

“Yes, Mayor Bascomb?” she greeted him once Aunt Nancy had hurried off.

“You have no need to worry about Ross coming back to Lake Eden. He won’t get more than a block inside the city limits before he’s ticketed and arrested.”

“Ticketed for what?” Hannah asked him.

“We’ll start with a parking ticket and go on to failure to stop at a stop sign. And if he goes past Jordan High, we’ll nail him for speeding through a school zone.” Mayor Bascomb looked proud of himself for citing all these violations. “We don’t want liars like Ross Barton in our midst. I’ve ordered Marshal Beeseman to pick him up if he comes back. That’ll give you plenty of time to take cover.”

Take cover? Hannah almost asked, but she quickly thought better of the idea. It was quite obvious that Mayor Bascomb had been watching late-night war movies again.

“Thank you, Mayor Bascomb,” Hannah said instead. “I appreciate your efforts on my behalf.”

The mayor looked pleased as he walked away, and Andrea nudged Hannah. “I heard that,” she said in a barely audible voice. “I’m proud of you, Hannah. You handled him perfectly. And just for your information, Bill planned a little surprise for Ross, too.”

Good heavens! Does everyone in town think I need protection? Hannah thought, but instead of asking that question, she substituted another. “What surprise did Bill plan?”

“He went out to the courthouse and got a warrant for Ross’s arrest for bigamy.”

“Good heavens!” Hannah exclaimed, thoroughly shocked.

“That’s right. Bill and Mike talked to Howie Levine and he drew up the paperwork for them.”

“But . . . I wasn’t legally married to Ross.”

“I know, but all they need is intent. Bill got a copy of the marriage certificate that you and Ross signed from the county records office. It’s true that you’re not legally married, but the intent to defraud was there. And that’s why the judge signed off on the warrant.”

“Did you know about this?” Hannah asked Michelle, who was sitting on the other side of her.

“No. I figured they’d do something like that, but I didn’t know it had actually happened. Ross did do something illegal, you know.”

“I know.”

“And you were hurt by it!” Andrea pointed out. “It can’t have been easy to give that speech in front of the congregation. And you wouldn’t have had to do that if Ross hadn’t been such a louse.”

Hannah couldn’t argue with that. Ross had been a louse. He’d put her through the charade of a wedding when he was married to someone else.

Grandma Knudson came up to the table and put her arms around Hannah. “We love you, Hannah. Everyone here loves you and we want the best for you. You believe that, don’t you?”

It took Hannah a moment to find her voice past the lump in her throat. “Yes, I do believe that.”

Grandma Knudson gave her another little hug. “You’ve been through a lot, Hannah, and we all want to help you through this.”

“Please tell everyone that I appreciate that,” Hannah managed to say. And then her eyes filled with tears and she knew she had to leave. “I have to go, Grandma Knudson.”

“I understand. I’ll tell everyone that you’re grateful for their support.” Grandma Knudson waited for Hannah to push back her chair and get to her feet. “I’ll walk you to the stairs, Hannah.”

Hannah gave everyone the best smile she could muster, and walked to the door with Grandma Knudson. When Grandma Knudson pulled open the door to the stairs, Hannah gave her a tremulous smile and headed up the steps to the cloakroom. Once there, blinking back tears, she put on her parka and boots. Then she opened the outside door to the church and hurried across the parking lot to her cookie truck.

The snow was beginning to fall as she drove back to her condo, but Hannah barely noticed. And once she got home, she scooped up Moishe, no easy task with her twenty-three-pound feline, and carried him to the bedroom. She placed Moishe on a pillow, waited until he had made a nest for himself, and then she changed into sweatpants and a warm turtleneck sweater.

“It’s naptime, Moishe,” she said, stretching out on the bed to pet him.

Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked them away. It was nice to know that everyone in Lake Eden wanted the best for her and wished her well, but that didn’t help one iota when it came to fixing her shattered dreams or mending her broken heart.

Moishe seemed to know that something was wrong and he reached out with his paw, claws retracted, and patted her cheek. Then he snuggled closer and Hannah, comforted at last, fell asleep.

*

Snow came down in big, icy flakes that fell faster and faster to cover the drifts that already existed in an irregular, lumpy blanket of white. Children who were out playing in Lake Eden backyards, released for good behavior in Sunday school and church, began to form snowballs to throw at their friends.