Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(22)

Hannah gave a little groan of dismay. “I wish he’d be a little less proud and a lot more silent. Now everybody in Lake Eden is going to ask me how my diet’s going.”

“So you are on a diet?”

“Yes, at least until Mother’s book launch party.”

“Have you eaten dinner yet?”

Hannah thought briefly about the skinless, boneless chicken breast waiting for her in the kitchen, and decided that Moishe could have it for breakfast. “No, not yet.”

“Then I’ll stop at The Corner Tavern and get us steaks to go. You want yours rare, right?”

“Extra rare. Tell them it’s for me. They know how I like it.”

“Can you have a baked potato on the side?”

Hannah hesitated and decided to skip it. For the calories she’d save, she could take one small bite of the cookies she was planning to assemble for Calvin’s birthday party. “I’d better pass on the potato. Just bring me a small dinner salad, no dressing.”

“You got it. Anything else?”

Hannah glanced down at the photograph in her lap and flipped it over to reread the list of ingredients that were written on the back in pencil. “Yes, but you can’t get what I need at The Corner Tavern. Do you have time for a stop on the way?”

“I’ve got nothing but time. Where do you want me to go?”

“Pull in at the Quick Stop and pick up a box of vanilla wafers and some chocolate-covered cookies.”

“Sure. What kind of chocolate-covered cookies?”

“It doesn’t really matter as long as they’re round and flat on the top and the bottom, and they’re covered in melted chocolate. I’m not sure what brand Sean and Don carry, but I know they’ve got them.”

There was a lengthy silence, and then Norman cleared his throat. “Am I helping you break your diet?”

“No, you’re not. I need to make something for a catering job, and they’re on the list of ingredients. I’m curious, though. Would you bring me the cookies if I told you I was going to break my diet and eat them?”

“That’s a difficult question.” Norman was silent for another long moment, and then he cleared his throat again. “Is this some sort of a test?”

“Maybe. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure it is.”

“Then there’s a correct answer?”

“I think so, but I’m not sure what it is. And if I don’t know the right answer, I won’t be able to tell if you get it wrong.”

“There’s an example of ironclad logic.”

“I’m nothing if not logical. Just think about it, Norman. If I said I was going to break my diet and I really needed you to bring me cookies, would you do it?”

Norman gave a deep sigh, a sigh so powerful that she imagined she could feel the air move next to her ear. “I’d do it, Hannah. I mean, you’re an adult and you know what you want. I trust in your ability to make your own decisions. And if you wanted to break your diet, I’d put on Sabrina and sit on the couch to eat cookies with you.”

“I love you, Norman,” Hannah said, a delighted smile spreading over her face. “You never try to tell me what’s good for me.”

“I love you, too. And I know telling you what to do is a lost cause. You never listen, anyway. I’ll see you in about forty-five minutes with steak and salad and two kinds of cookies.”



By the time Norman arrived, Hannah was hard at work doing some preparation work for Lisa Colleene’s Mini Cheeseburger Cookies. She’d used green food coloring to dye a bowl of shredded coconut the shade of green that came closest to the color of lettuce. She’d also mixed up a thick buttercream frosting that she’d split up into two small bowls. She’d already tinted the frosting in one bowl yellow, and now she was adding red food coloring to the frosting in the other bowl.

“What are you making?” Norman asked, taking two plates from Hannah’s cupboard and gathering the silverware they’d need.

“Cheeseburgers. That’s why I need the cookies.”

Norman turned around to stare at her and then he said, “I’m so hungry, I’m hearing things. I thought you said you needed the cookies to make cheeseburgers.”

Hannah grabbed a stack of napkins and a bottle of diet salad dressing. “I did, but I’ll explain it all later. Let’s go eat before Moishe decides to tunnel through the carryout packs and help himself to our steaks.”

Other than the infrequent request for the saltshaker, the pepper grinder, or another napkin, no conversation took place in Hannah’s living room until they’d become members of the clean plate club. Hannah tossed Moishe a final scrap of the filet Norman had brought for her and gave a satisfied sigh. “Thank you, Norman. That was just what I needed. How about some coffee? It’s all ready to go.”

“Sounds good. I’ll take care of the dishes while you make it.”

Hannah poured water into the well of the coffeemaker while Norman handled their dishes and silverware. After he’d rinsed them and stacked them in Hannah’s dishwasher, he walked over to examine the Kitty Valet that Mike had set up next to Moishe’s old food bowl. “So this is Moishe’s new self-feeding system. I wasn’t sure what Mike meant when he told me about it. Does it work?”