Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen, #11)(91)

“Because then she could have worn a suit of armor, just in case.”



“You look great, Hannah!” Mike said, snagging a chocolate mini cream puff from her platter, popping it into his mouth, and swallowing it practically whole. “I just love these things. Do you have a minute? I need to tell you something.”

Hannah put her tray down on top of a low bookcase and let him lead her to the back of the library, as far away from the crowd as they could get.

“You have to hear this,” Mike said with a grin, pulling his copy of A Match for Melissa from his pocket. “Here’s what your mother wrote about me. The Duke of Oakwood was a fine figure of a man, dressed in exquisitely tailored clothing and boots that glistened from the attentions of his valet. That’s me, Hannah. I always polish my boots so they shine like that. And then she said, His deep eyes sparkled with humor and gleamed with a keen intelligence, and as he ran his fingers through his hair, a lock eluded him and dropped low to his forehead. I run my fingers through my hair a lot, and she must have noticed. What do you think of that, Hannah?”

Hannah’s mind flipped through the possibilities and came up with a winner. “It’s amazing,” she said, borrowing the phrase Michelle had used to describe their mother’s signing.

“That’s what I thought! Your mother must like me even more than I realized. She described me perfectly, and she made me the hero of her book!”

A few minutes later, Hannah was back at work. She’d just served Stella Parks, who’d come to the launch party to congratulate them all on a job well done, when Carrie came rushing up. “Would you care for a cream puff?” Hannah asked her.

“I’d love one, but I’ve already had three.” Carrie stepped a little closer. “Do you have a minute, Hannah?”

Off they went to the rear of the library, and Hannah had a feeling she was about to experience déjà vu. She knew she was right when Carrie pulled a copy of A Match for Melissa from her purse.

“Just listen to this, Hannah,” she said, flipping it open and starting to read. “Her soft, well-modulated voice was as music to the ear, and her lovely features were a delight to the eye. Isn’t that just wonderful?”

“It’s amazing,” Hannah said, resorting to the phrase she’d used with Mike.

“I never dreamed your mother would make me the heroine of her book. I’m just too flattered for words! And she even describes the hairstyle I wore when I first moved to Lake Eden. Just listen…Her shining tresses were neatly confined in the twist she had fashioned at the nape of her long and shapely neck. I’m just so thrilled, Hannah!”

“Of course you are,” Hannah said, grateful that the two descriptions, either correctly or erroneously attributed to Lake Edenites had been complimentary. “I’d better get back to work, Carrie. We don’t want the author to get mad at us.”

The next request for a private conference came only a few minutes later. Before Hannah could find a convenient place to set down her tray, Mayor Bascomb had pulled her to the back of the library.

“You know, I always thought your mother didn’t like me,” he said. “But I was wrong, Hannah. Just listen to this…”

Hannah had all she could do not to groan as the mayor pulled a copy of her mother’s book from his pocket. He flipped to a page he’d marked with a square pink sticky from Marge Beeseman’s desk, and began to read.

“His deep eyes sparkled with humor and gleamed with a keen intelligence. Now tell me that isn’t me!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Hannah said quite truthfully.

“And how about this? As he ran his fingers through his hair, a lock eluded him and dropped low to his forehead, giving him a boyish attitude and reminding her of a joyful childhood spent with boisterous friends. Your mother nailed it, Hannah. That’s exactly what my childhood was like, and she knows it because she used to be my summer babysitter.”

“That’s just amazing,” Hannah said, and it was. It seemed three people thought Delores had written about them!

“Well, I’d better let you get back to work. I just wanted to tell you how pleased I am that Delores acknowledged me by making me the hero of her book. Do you think I should thank her?”

“No! I mean…” Hannah thought fast. If Mayor Bascomb mentioned it to Delores, she might deny it, and then there’d be trouble. “I think Mother would be embarrassed that you unraveled her little secret. And she’d probably say it wasn’t you, just to throw you off the track.”

Mayor Bascomb thought about that for a moment and then he nodded. “You’re absolutely right. I won’t say anything about it.”

During the next hour, no less than five people came up to Hannah to tell her they were the heroine or hero of A Match for Melissa. They all had their own reasons. Claire Rodgers told Hannah, a trifle hesitantly, that she thought she might be the heroine because of the way Delores had described the color of her gown.

“Listen to this, Hannah,” she’d said. “The sea-green color set off her sparkling eyes perfectly, and the vivid hue accentuated her flawless skin. I wore a dress just like that to church, and your mother asked me to describe the color. And then she said it went perfectly with my eyes and my skin.”

“Amazing,” Hannah had said, for the fourth time.