Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(62)

After Barbara left, Hannah baked the rest of the cookies. And while she baked, she thought about how she could get into Nettie's house to search Sheriff Grant's home office. By the time she was finished with the baking, she hadn't come up with a single possibility, and she sighed as she picked up the platter of cookies to carry them out for Lisa and their customers to taste.

The phone rang just as Hannah was heading for the swinging door and she put the platter down on the counter again to answer it. "The Cookie Jar. This is Hannah speaking."

"Oh, I'm so glad I caught you, dear!"

Hannah came close to groaning. It was Delores and she wasn't really in the mood to talk to her mother. Still, Delores was her mother and that entitled her to preferential treatment. "Hi, Mother. What can I do for you?"

"That's a presumptuous question, Hannah. You're assuming that I want something from you. What if I don't want anything at all?"

"Then I apologize," Hannah said quickly.

"That's better," Delores said, and her voice sounded much friendlier. "But as it turns out, you were right. I did call to ask you a favor."

"Then what can I do for you, Mother?"

Hannah burst out laughing and so did Delores. It was a rare moment when mother and daughter were on the same wavelength, appreciating each other's sense of humor.

"I was wondering if you'd have time to pick up Tracey from Kiddie Korner at five and take her out to The Pumpkin Patch to pick up her costume. I promised Andrea I'd do it, but something came up."

"I can do it," Hannah said, jotting a note so she wouldn't forget. "Which costume is she getting?"

"The pirate. Andrea called and put it on reserve for her. And while you're there, you might want to pick up a costume for yourself, since you're taking Tracey around on Halloween."

"I might just do that," Hannah said, knowing that saying this would please her mother. She had no intention of renting a costume, not when she had a perfect good sheet with holes cut out for ghostly eyes.

"Thank you, Hannah. I really appreciate you doing this for me. It would have been a terrible time crunch if I'd tried to get out there and back before six. And I never would have had time to dress!"

"Dress for what?" Hannah was curious. As far as she knew, her mother didn't have any club meetings on Wednesday nights.

"Ballroom dancing with Winthrop."

"Winthrop?" Hannah's voice was not entirely steady as she echoed the name. "Who's Winthrop?"

"Oh, the most marvelous, sophisticated man! He reminds me of Kenneth Branagh. And he's such a talented dancer."

"Winthrop?"

"Yes, dear. I've never danced with Kenneth Branagh."

"But you've danced with Winthop?"

"Of course. We waltzed last Wednesday night."

"Where?" Hannah asked.

"At the Red Owl."

That stopped Hannah in her tracks for a moment, then she drew a deep breath. "Let me get this straight, Mother. You went dancing at the Red Owl?"

"That's right, dear. Winthrop is simply a master at the waltz. I don't know when I've had so much fun!"

"Okay…" Hannah paused, trying to think of a reasonable response. When one didn't occur to her, she decided to wing it and tell her mother exactly what she was thinking. "I know they play music for shoppers over the loudspeakers, but I really can't believe you actually waltzed up and down the aisles with another customer. I'm surprised you didn't knock down that pyramid of soup cans they put up as a display in the middle of the store!"

There was silence for a moment. Then Delores started to laugh. She laughed so hard she didn't seem to notice that Hannah wasn't joining in.

"I didn't dance in the grocery store, Hannah," Delores said, when she had calmed down a bit. "I danced above the grocery store in Danielle's studio. That's just so funny, dear. I can hardly wait to tell Winthrop."

Hannah felt like a first-class fool. She'd completely forgotten that Danielle had named her studio the Red Owl Dance Studio. No doubt Delores would have a laugh fest with Winthrop about Hannah's misconception, but her embarrassment wasn't the issue here. "You still haven't told me who Winthrop is, Mother."

"He's another student, dear. Carrie and I signed up for Danielle's ballroom dancing class and our first lesson was last Wednesday. Poor Carrie got stuck with Earl Flensburg, but I got Winthrop for a partner. Isn't that just wonderfully lucky for me?"

"Lucky," Hannah repeated, suspecting that luck hadn't had anything to do with it; some kind of dirty dealing had to have gone on. If Winthrop really was as handsome and fleet of foot as her mother had described, Delores would have pulled out all the stops to have him as her partner. Hannah wanted to ask how she finagled that feat, but Delores wouldn't tell her anyway, so she sighed and settled for saying, "Okay, Mother. You go have fun dancing the waltz with Winthrop tonight."

"Oh, it's the tango tonight, dear. That's why I need time to get dressed. I bought a darling outfit with slits on both sides of the skirt. I'm going to be the envy of every woman there."

"Mmm," Hannah murmured, settling for the most impartial comment she could make. But after she said goodbye and hung up the phone, she realized that she had the answer to Andrea's question. Their mother was involved with a man, at least in dancing class. As Hannah pushed open the door to the coffee shop and headed in to rejoin Lisa, she couldn't quite shake the vision of her mother dancing a sultry tango with a rose held between her teeth.