Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(16)

Mayor Bascomb’s mouth dropped open, and he turned to stare at Hannah. “Wow! That was brilliant, Hannah. Have you ever thought about going into politics?”

Delores joined in the laughter at the counter, and after it was over, she was still smiling. “You talked me into it. We’ll serve mini cream puffs at the launch party.” And then she turned to Hannah. “You can do that, can’t you, dear?”

“Yes, Mother.” Hannah hoped she didn’t look stressed. Her To Do list was growing longer and longer. In addition to doing her own work at The Cookie Jar, she had to re-create the cheeseburger cookies for Calvin Janowski’s birthday party, find a good mini cream puff recipe for her mother’s book launch party, attend class at Heavenly Bodies with Andrea each morning, stick to her diet and lose enough weight to fit into the dress her mother had given her, and talk Sue Plotnik into going to work for Janice at Kiddie Korner. It was more than most people had to do in a month, and she had to accomplish it all in only two weeks. It was a good thing there hadn’t been any murders in Lake Eden lately. She was way too busy to help Mike investigate, even if he performed an about-face and asked her!





Chapter Five




“My mom used to make cream puffs.” Lisa looked sympathetic after Hannah had told her about the book launch party.

“Do you have her recipe?”

“It’s probably in one of her recipe boxes. I’ll look tonight, I promise.”

“And I’ll look for that photo of those cheeseburger cookies,” Hannah exchanged promises, “right after I make dinner for Mike.”

“You’re fixing dinner for Mike?” Andrea, who was sitting at the counter talking to them both, looked confused. “I thought he was pulling a double.”

“He is,” Hannah told her. “He called me a couple of minutes ago and said he’d only have forty-five minutes once he got to my place.”

“That’s not much time for dinner,” Lisa commented.

“What are you making?” Andrea asked, and Hannah noticed that she looked a bit worried.

“Something quick and easy. And something substantial with plenty of calories. Whatever it is, it’s got to carry him through another eight-hour shift.”

“Substantial? Calories?” The worried expression on Andrea’s face intensified. “And you’re going to eat dinner with him?”

“Of course. But stop looking so worried. I’m having a diet meal. I promise I won’t even touch anything that’s left on his plate when he leaves.”

“That’s good!” Andrea gave her an approving nod. “Did he tell you why he’s pulling a double?”

“No. I just assumed that somebody was out sick.”

“Not exactly. Bill called me earlier and told me all about it. Rick Murphy’s taking compassionate leave, and everybody’s taking turns filling in for him.”

“What’s wrong?”

“His wife’s in the hospital. She went into labor last night, and she almost lost the baby. Doc Knight’s got her on strict bed rest.”

Lisa sighed deeply. “I hope they weren’t fighting about Ronni Ward.”

“You heard about that,” Hannah commented. She wasn’t surprised, but if the news had reached The Cookie Jar, people were definitely talking. No wonder Bridget had been so angry with Ronni at Bertanelli’s!

“Of course I heard. All I have to do is walk around with the coffee carafe and I hear everything that’s happening in Lake Eden. I heard all about Bridget confronting Ronni only ten minutes after it happened.”

“How?” Hannah was curious.

“A couple of Jordan High seniors were talking about it. The girls were here, and one of the boyfriends was texting his girlfriend on her cell phone.”

Hannah winced. She wasn’t sure which offended her more, the fact that all the Jordan High kids were sending text messages with improper spelling and no punctuation, or the fact that texting was fast becoming accepted as a word.

“I heard her telling her friends about Mrs. Murphy and Ronni,” Lisa went on. “There was something about a food fight and how they’d better not go out there for pizza for a while, but I’d been standing there for too long and I had to move on.”

“Invisible waitress trick,” Hannah said to Andrea. “It works every time.”

The bell on the door jingled, and all three of them turned to see who’d come in. Hannah gave a little wave as she recognized the man under the hooded parka with fur that hid most of his face.

“Hi, Phil.”

“Hi, Hannah. It’s snowing again, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Phil hung his parka on the coatrack by the door, but before he could take an empty seat at the counter, she hurried over to take his arm.

“Follow me, Phil. I’ve got something special boxed up for you in the kitchen.”

Once she’d settled Phil at the stainless steel workstation and presented him with a cup of coffee and two Minty Melts, she poured coffee for herself and joined him. It would take a bit of finessing, but it was the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject of Janice’s job opportunity at Kiddie Korner.

“These are really good cookies, Hannah.” Phil wiped his mouth with the napkin. Then he picked up his second cookie and took a large bite. “They remind me of peppermint schnapps.”