Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(5)

Shortly after she’d helped Claire serve coffee and cake, Hannah excused herself and hurried back to her downtown cookie shop. Once she’d parked her candy apple red Suburban in her regular parking spot in back of the bakery and had plugged in the heater that kept the fluids from freezing on this cold winter day, she dashed into the kitchen and almost upended her diminutive partner, Lisa Herman Beeseman.

“Sorry,” Hannah said, reaching out with both arms to steady Lisa, who’d been taking cool cookies from the baker’s rack.

“That’s okay. I’m just glad I didn’t spill any cookies. We’re running low today.”

“Then I’ll bake more.” Hannah grabbed her apron, tied it on, and went to the sink to wash her hands. “What’s the favorite today?”

“Butterscotch Bonanza Bars. I’ll go get out the butterscotch chips.”

“But there aren’t any butterscotch chips in Butterscotch Bonanza Bars.”

“I know there aren’t usually, but we need to add them to this batch. I made a mistake this morning when I mixed up the bars, and I put in two cups of butterscotch chips without thinking. Bertie Straub liked them so much, she wants to buy a whole batch for her clients at the Cut ’n Curl.”

“Okay. Whatever Bertie wants, Bertie gets.”

“That’s what I figured. Do you want to go up front while I bake? Or would you rather do it the other way around?”

“The other way around. I’ll bake and you wait tables.”

“That’s fine with me. Marge and Dad are probably ready for a break anyway. Did you get the recipe from Grandma Knudson?”

“Yes. I’ll test it tomorrow afternoon. I had a slice up at the parsonage, and it was even better than I remembered from the last church supper.”

“How’s Grandma Knudson doing?”

“Really well. She’s completely recovered from the stroke, and she’s as sharp as ever. She’s especially excited about Claire and Bob’s honeymoon. They’re leaving on Sunday, right after church.”

“But I thought they couldn’t go until the church sent someone to fill in for Bob.”

“They’ve got someone. While Claire and Bob were making rounds at the hospital, they ran into another Lutheran minister, Matthew Walters. It turns out he lived with Grandma Knudson and her husband for a whole year while his parents were doing missionary work. When Reverend Matthew found out that Bob and Claire had just gotten married and they were waiting for the seminary to send a substitute minister so that they could go on their honeymoon, he offered to take over for Bob so that they could leave now.”

“How nice! Where are Bob and Claire going?”

“Hawaii. When I left the parsonage, Bob was making reservations for a fourteen-day cruise. They leave at noon, drive to the airport, fly to Los Angeles, and hop on a cruise ship that sails that night.”

“But how about Claire’s shop? Who’s going to mind it while she’s gone?”

“Mother.”

Lisa, who’d picked up the cookie jar she’d filled and was heading toward the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the coffee shop, turned back with a shocked expression. “You mean…your mother?”

“That’s right. It’s only three doors down from Granny’s Attic and Carrie and Luanne can handle that. Mother’s completely psyched about choosing the right outfits for Lake Eden women.”

“She does have good fashion sense,” Lisa said, but she didn’t sound very confident. “Do you think that asking your mother to take over for Claire is the right choice?”

“Heavens no! It’s the completely wrong choice. When Claire told me she’d already called and asked Mother, I just about had a cow!”

“You don’t think your mother can do it?”

“Mother? Are you kidding? She’s hypercritical and she has no tact. I predict that Beau Monde’s business is going to fall off drastically unless Mother wears a muzzle.”

Lisa’s eyes widened, and then she shook her head slightly. “Come on, Hannah. You know you don’t mean that. You’re just kidding around, aren’t you?”

“I’m not kidding around.” Hannah began to frown. Now Lisa was winking with one eye and then the other as if she were some kind of blinking traffic signal. Had her business partner suddenly developed a facial tic? “Let’s be serious, Lisa. You know Mother. Just think about what would happen if Mother was behind the counter at Beau Monde and Betty Jackson walked in to buy a dress.”

“I’m sure your mother would do her best to find something that looked good on Betty.”

“Maybe, but if Betty dared to say anything about how Claire didn’t carry much of a selection in her size, Mother would be all over it like a duck on a June bug.”

“But I’m sure she wouldn’t …”

“Yes, she would,” Hannah interrupted. “Mother would say that nobody made anything stylish in Betty’s size and Betty would look a lot better if she lost some weight.”

“Your mother wouldn’t be that mean!”

“Oh, she wouldn’t say it to be mean. It’s just that Mother believes in saying exactly what’s on her mind.” Hannah stopped speaking and stared hard at Lisa, who was making all sorts of strange faces at her. “What’s wrong with you, Lisa?”