Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(46)

Hannah closed her eyes and thought about it for the space of several seconds. Then her eyes popped open again, and she began to smile. She’d make bread pudding with apricot bread. She’d never heard of anyone doing it before, but there was no reason why it couldn’t work. But there should be a second ingredient, something that went well with apricots. And that second ingredient should be…chocolate! Chocolate and apricots were a natural. Everyone loved them. Cream cheese would be a good addition, too. It would give it a little zing without adding sweetness.

It didn’t take long for Hannah to write out her recipe. It would have to be tested, of course, and there was no time like the present.

Less than five minutes later, she’d made the syrup, sliced the apricot bread, and was preparing to assemble her dessert. She poured her syrup, a combination of brown sugar, butter, and apricot pancake syrup in the bottom of her baking pan. Then she spread half the slices of apricot bread with whipped cream cheese and sprinkled them with mini chocolate morsels. There was no reason to think it wouldn’t work…was there?

She was just spreading the last slice of apricot bread with cream cheese when the phone rang. She glanced at the clock, saw that it was four-thirty in the morning and frowned. Who could be calling her this early? Thoughts of critical illness, car accidents, and broken limbs ran through her mind as she reached out to answer it.

“Hello?” she asked tentatively.

“Hannah. I figured you’d be up by now. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You’re right,” Hannah said with a smile. It was Norman, and she was glad to hear from him. “What are you doing up this early?”

“I was doing a little research online. I woke up with an idea, and it panned out.”

“How so?”

“I’ll tell you when I see you. How about breakfast at the Corner Tavern?”

Hannah glanced over at the preparations she’d made. Everything would keep, but she hated to stop now before she’d even tested her new recipe. “I’d love breakfast, but I really should get down to The Cookie Jar. I’m testing a new recipe.”

“Okay. You go test your recipe and I’ll bring you breakfast. How about bacon and cheese scrambles?”

Hannah’s stomach gave a little growl of hunger before she could even say that it was her favorite breakfast dish. “Sounds good to me!” she said instead.

“How about Lisa? Will she be in early?”

“I think so. She usually is.”

“I’ll get one for her, too. And a big order of hash browns to go with it. Maybe a side or two of bacon, extra crispy, too. Is anybody else likely to be there that early? I can pick up more.”

Hannah thought about that for a moment. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure.”

“Okay. If anyone else comes in, call me on my cell phone.”

“Will do.”

“What time shall I meet you?”

“Let’s see…I’ll just finish up here, take a quick shower, and you can meet me there in …” Hannah stopped and looked up at her apple-shaped kitchen clock. As she did so, her eyes grazed the top of the refrigerator. Another sock ball! What in the world was going on?

“You cut out for a minute there,” Norman told her. “What time shall I meet you?”

Hannah quickly calculated the time it would take her to drive to town, and how many batches of cookies there were to bake from the dough she’d mixed up last night with Lisa. She could be through assembling the bread pudding in ten minutes, done with her shower in another ten, at The Cookie Jar twenty minutes after that, another ten minutes for the oven to come up to temperature, and even allowing for traffic that shouldn’t be present at this hour of the morning, car trouble she hoped would not occur, and other delays that might happen to slow down her departure or her arrival, she could be ready to eat breakfast with Norman by six-thirty.

“Hannah?”

“It took me a while to figure it out. How about six-thirty?”

“I’ll be there. It’s going to be great to see you, Hannah.” Hannah was smiling as she echoed his sentiment and hung up the phone. Norman had spent hours with her last night, and he still thought that it would be great to see her this morning. What woman could ask for more than that?

“It smells incredible,” Lisa said, mixing up one of her favorite recipes, Raspberry Vinegar Cookies.

“It should be okay. They’re all good ingredients, and they go together, I think.”

“So do I, especially the chocolate and the apricots. Don’t worry, Hannah. It’s bound to be good.”

“I’m not worried that it won’t be good. I’m worried that it won’t be spectacular.”

Lisa laughed. “Good will suit me just…is that somebody at the back door?”

Hannah stopped chopping nuts in the food processor and listened for a minute. Lisa was right. Someone was knocking. But it was much too early for Norman. Unless he just couldn’t wait any longer to see her and he’d rushed right over here and …

“I’ll get it,” Lisa said when Hannah didn’t move from her spot. She hurried to the door, pulled it open and greeted whoever was standing there. “Hey! What are you doing up this early?”

“Working. Is she here yet? There’s one more thing I need to ask her.”