Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)(68)

"Hold on," Hannah said, trying not to grit her teeth. "You told Shawna Lee you'd take her home after your date with me?"

"Sure. I knew it wouldn't be a late night since I have to get to work early tomorrow and so do you. I just told her to call when she was through with her filing and I'd pick her up."

"You're obviously unclear on the concept of dating," Hannah muttered, glaring at Mike.

"What's wrong? I'm just giving her a ride home, that's all."

"Consider this," Hannah said, placing both hands on her hips and turning to confront him squarely. "Not all that long ago, we were in each other's arms right here on the couch. I thought it meant something."

Mike reached out for her hand. "It does mean something, Hannah."

"But you let Shawna Lee interrupt us."

Mike thought about that for a split second and then he gave her one of his killer smiles, the ones that made Hannah feel like she'd just stepped on a roller coaster. "Are you inviting me to stay with you?"

"Not on a bet!" Hannah retorted. "You made a promise to Shawna Lee and you'd better keep it!"

Mike was silent for a moment and then he gave a deep sigh. "What would have happened if I hadn't made that promise?"

"You'll never know." Hannah felt like screaming at him, or slapping him across his handsome face, or beaning him with the heaviest object that was handy, but she did none of those things. She just stood up with all the cool dignity that she could muster and handed him his jacket.



"At least I come first with you!" Hannah said, motioning for Moishe to follow her into the living room. She set one of the expensive cut glass dessert dishes Delores had given her for Christmas three years ago on the coffee table and filled it with a generous scoop of yogurt. "Yogurt's health food. It's bound to be good for you."

Once Moishe was lapping happily, Hannah went back to the kitchen to put the yogurt container back in the refrigerator and fetch a glass of white wine for herself. She needed to relax and let her anger at Mike and Shawna Lee fade into something less dangerous than thoughts of double-homicide. She took her customary place on the couch, curling up at the end with her favorite pillow under her arm, sipped her wine, and channel surfed for something to numb her senses.

Hannah had just settled on watching a program about sea otters when there was a knock on the door. If it was Mike, he was playing musical apartments and she wouldn't let him in. There was no way she'd allow him to take her home, take Shawna Lee home, and then come back to her.

"Who's there?" Hannah called out, her hand on the deadbolt.

"It’s me. I'm back. Open the door, Hannah."

The voice sounded a lot like Norman's and Hannah put her eye to the peephole before she remembered that it wouldn't do any good. Since the light on the staircase was directly across from the peephole, all she could see was a bulky silhouette.

"Norman?" Hannah asked, throwing open the door. And there stood Norman in all his dependable, huggable glory. Norman was as far from Mike as a woman could get and Hannah was glad. One palm-sweating, breath-catching, heart-thudding encounter was enough for one evening.

"Hi, Hannah," Norman said with a grin and Hannah's heart gave a joyful bound. Norman was just the person she wanted to see.

"Come in, Norman." Hannah held the door open wide.

Norman blocked Moishe with a quick step to the side and stepped into Hannah's living room. Then he scooped up her resident feline, turning him tummy up like a baby in his arms, and tickled him under the chin. "I missed you, big guy."

"How about me?" Hannah couldn't resist saying. "Did you miss me, too?"

"That goes without saying. It's not too late for you, is it?"

"It's never too late," Hannah said, wondering if she should adopt that as her personal motto as she took Norman's jacket and hung it over the back of the chair by the door. "Can I get you something to drink? I've got coffee, wine, soft drinks, whatever."

"A diet anything will be fine. I drank enough coffee on the plane."

Hannah rushed to the kitchen to get Norman's drink and when she came back, he was sitting on the couch with Moishe cuddled in his lap. Her cat definitely had his priorities straight this time around. She set Norman's soft drink on the coffee table and took her usual seat at the opposite end of the couch. "So what are you doing back in Lake Eden so early?"

"Andrea paged me at the convention to tell me about Sheriff Grant's murder. When she mentioned that Doc Knight had confined her to the house, I decided to come back right away in case you needed me."

"I'm glad you did. I do need you," Hannah said, smiling widely.

"Great." Norman looked pleased to hear that. "What do you want me to do?"

Hannah took a deep breath and blurted out what she'd been thinking ever since Mike had told her about the empty briefcases in Sheriff Grant's home office. "You know Nettie Grant, don't you?"

"Yes. She had some trouble with an impacted molar last year."

"Well, she went to visit relatives in Wisconsin and I need to break into her duplex to search Sheriff Grant's home office for clues. You'll help me, won't you?"