Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(14)

“That sounds great,” he said with a smile, but then his smile faded. “Will dinner have calories?”

“Yours will, mine won’t.”

Mike took a moment to digest that before answering. “Okay then. See you at six at your condo.”



Hannah was sadly out of breath by the time she arrived at the Lake Eden Community Center. She’d obeyed her fitness guru’s maxim and walked instead of driving her cookie truck. She pushed open the outer door, crossed the small enclosure that accommodated double doors and kept the temperature of the lobby constant in both summer and winter, and entered the lobby. As she walked down the hallway toward Janice’s classroom, she caught sight of herself in one of the mirrors that dotted the walls. Her cheeks were rosy red, but that wasn’t from exertion. A cold north wind was blowing. It had picked up snowflakes from the light, loosely packed blanket that had fallen during the morning and showered them against her face. That really hadn’t bothered Hannah at all. It was quite refreshing. But during the last five minutes of her walk, the wind had picked up in velocity to bombard her with what had felt like icy needles.

“Hi, Hannah.” Janice Cox stepped out into the hall as Hannah approached. “Does that box contain what I think it does?”

“Of course it does. I couldn’t come into a classroom of kids without cookies, could I?”

“No, I don’t think you could. But you didn’t come over just to bring us cookies. What’s up?”

“I need to talk to you about that teacher’s assistant position. Is it still open?”

“It sure is. I can’t afford to pay very much, and the two people I interviewed wanted more hours than I could give them. It’s only from noon to four, Monday through Friday.”

“That’s just perfect!”

Janice cocked her head to the side and stared at Hannah. “Perfect for you?”

“No, not for me. It’s perfect for Sue Plotnik. Phil works the swing shift at Del Ray, and he sleeps until midafternoon. She’d get home about the time he was getting up.”

“I’d love to hire Sue. She’d be absolutely perfect, but she’s way overqualified. Most of her time would be spent reading to the kids, helping them blow their noses, and cleaning up messes.”

“She’s the mother of a two-year-old. That’s what she does now.”

“You’ve got a point.” Janice took a couple of steps toward the table where six children were busily tracing around their hands. “Linda? Please get a tissue from the box on my desk and give it to Bradley before he drips on the paper. And Heather? Don’t color your thumb. That’s the head.”

“Thanksgiving turkeys?” Hannah guessed.

“That’s right. We tried pilgrims last year, but the kids really like the turkeys better.” Janice gave a little sigh. “Do you really think Sue would be interested in something like this? I talked to her after church on Sunday, and she mentioned that she was only a few credits short of her teaching degree.”

“That’s true, but she can’t go back to finish college until Kevin’s in school. She doesn’t want to leave him with a babysitter, and Phil wouldn’t like that either. Could she bring him along with her if she worked for you?”

Janice took a minute to think about that. “I don’t see why not. I’m not set up for kids who need two naps a day and aren’t potty trained, but it’ll only be for four hours, and the older kids will love having a toddler coming in every afternoon to visit. Shall I call Sue tonight and make her an offer?”

“Yes. Do it before Phil leaves for work. And I’ll stack the deck by talking to him when he drops by The Cookie Jar this afternoon.”

“I hope Sue decides she wants the job. It would be just…” Janice stopped in midsentence and rushed across the room to rescue a container of paint that was about to tip over. “Leave the paints in the center of the table, honey.” She gave the little blonde at the easel a smile to show that she wasn’t angry, and then she hurried back to Hannah. “…great,” she said, picking up right where she’d left off. “It would be just great to have Sue here for four hours every day. If you talk to her, tell her that unless I grow another pair of arms and learn how to be in two places at once, I really need her here to help me out!”



“Good afternoon, dear!”

Hannah looked up to see the perfectly coiffed, perfectly poised woman who’d just taken a seat at the counter. Delores Swensen was wearing a buttercup yellow wool suit with a white silk blouse under the jacket, and the combination was stunning with her dark brown hair and flawless makeup. Even though Delores admitted to being over fifty and Hannah knew for a fact that she was a decade older than that, she was still one of the most attractive women in Lake Eden. “Hi, Mother,” she said.

“Do you have time for coffee, dear? I have something I need to discuss with you.”

“Yes, if you can wait. Lisa’s due back from her coffee break in five minutes.”

Delores glanced at the dainty silver watch on her wrist.

It was decorated with diamonds around the face, and Hannah knew it was from Cartier. Her father had presented it to her mother on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, and he’d joked that it cost almost as much as the first house they’d bought in Lake Eden.