Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(6)

“Nothing’s wrong with Lisa,” Delores Swensen answered, coming up behind her eldest daughter and giving her a none-too-gentle tap on the shoulder.

Hannah gasped, whirling around to face the matriarch of the Swensen clan. As usual, Delores Swensen was dressed in the height of fashion. Today she wore a cherry red wool suit with jet black buttons, and a cherry-red-and-black silk scarf draped artistically around her neck. The effect was one of sleek elegance and beauty. No one meeting her for the first time would ever guess that she was approaching her sixtieth birthday.

“Mother!” Hannah gulped, not failing to notice that her mother’s lovely visage was hampered by the scowl between her perfectly shaped eyebrows. The two spots of bright color just below her cheekbones, obviously caused by anger at her daughter, didn’t help, either.

“Yes, Mother,” Delores answered, glaring at Hannah. “Now I want you to explain exactly what you meant when you said I was hypercritical and I had no tact!”

If backpedaling were an art form, Hannah would have been hailed as the next Rembrandt. Hannah had insisted that she’d never intended to hurt her mother’s feelings, and Delores had readily conceded that she wasn’t as practiced as she could be in the diplomacy department. The air was clear again.

“So what shall I do?” Delores asked the daughter who’d only moments before been her nemesis.

“I don’t know,” Hannah replied, not willing to risk a reply that might make her into her mother’s adversary again.

“I hate to back out now, not when I promised Claire, but do you think I should tell her I can’t do it?”

“No. All we have to do is think of someone who can help you.”

“Who?” Delores looked completely mystified. “It has to be someone who’s up on fashion trends. I’m sure Carrie would agree to do it, but she really doesn’t know that much about fashion. We could spare Luanne, but she doesn’t pay that much attention to fashion, either. And it has to be someone who’s got a good eye.”

“A good eye?”

“For size and for what will complement the customer’s shape. For instance, you couldn’t recommend that Laura Vavra dress in something severely tailored. It’s much too harsh a look for her. She’s all gentle curves and swirls. And Rose McDermott has to be careful of large bright flowers. It makes her look like a buffet for a bumblebee.”

Hannah burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. And after a moment, Delores joined in. When the image of Rose and the bumblebees had faded, Hannah turned serious again. “I think maybe I was wrong. You’d be really good at recommending the right dress, Mother.”

“I know. I’d be good at it, but no one would buy it, because I’d say something to spoil the sale. Don’t forget, I have no tact.”

“Maybe I was wrong about that, too.”

“You weren’t wrong. I know that’s one of my failings, but when anyone asks for my honest opinion, I give it. And I don’t mince words. That isn’t a good trait to have if you’re in retail sales.”

“True,” Hannah agreed. “So we need someone with fashion smarts, plenty of tact, and good salesmanship. That really doesn’t sound like anyone I know.”

“I can’t think of anyone, either.”

Mother and daughter turned as the kitchen door opened and Hannah’s sister, Andrea, stepped in.

“Brrr! It’s got to be way below zero with the wind chill.” Andrea walked over to hang her coat on the hooks by the door. “Hi, Mother. Hi, Hannah. I came in for a quick cup of coffee.”

Delores and Hannah exchanged glances. Hannah’s glance said, Andrea knows more about fashion than any other woman in Lake Eden. With the possible exception of you, of course.

And Delores’s glance said, She’s got tact and she’s a super salesman. Bill always said she could sell kitty litter to a nomad.

“What?” Andrea asked, reacting to the long glance that her sister and mother exchanged and the nods they gave to each other.

“Coffee,” Hannah said, fetching it quickly and settling her younger sister on a stool at the stainless steel workstation.

“And new business,” Delores declared, taking the stool directly across from Andrea.

“Cookies?” Andrea queried.

“Chocolate,” Delores suggested.

“Coming right up.” Hannah wasted no time in placing a half-dozen Brownies Plus cookie bars on a plate and serving her mother and sister.

“I’m so glad you’re here, dear,” Delores said, reaching out to pat Andrea’s hand.

Andrea looked wary. “Why? What’s going on?”

“The opportunity of a lifetime. How would you like to increase your wardrobe by twelve Beau Monde dresses in the next two weeks?”

Andrea’s wariness quickly turned into suspicion. “What do I have to do? Kill somebody?”

“Not at all.” Delores gave her a wide smile. “Just listen carefully. I’ve got a real deal for you!”





Chapter Three

Hannah had no doubt that Andrea would take their mother up on her offer, and Andrea proved her right. Once Hannah’s sister had agreed to join their mother at Beau Monde and help to deal with Claire’s customers, Delores got up from her stool.