Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(39)

"I'll drive to Rhonda's apartment building," Andrea said, hurrying to keep up with Hannah's longer stride as they walked across the parking lot toward the back door of The Cookie Jar. "You don't have a hook in the back of your truck and I want to hang my new outfits so they won't wrinkle."

"Okay." Haimah opened the door, walked through the kitchen, and stashed her old pantsuit in the small cubicle that the owner called a bathroom. "Let's go. I have to be back here by one-thirty."

"No problem." Andrea led the way through the coffee shop and out to her car. She opened her car doors with a click and slid under the wheel while Hannah got into the passenger's seat. "I thought you were going to give me a hard time about wanting to drive."

"Why would I do that?"

134

Joanne Fluke

"Because I drive too fast and I don't keep my eyes on the road."

"That's true," Hannah said, reaching for her seat belt and buckling it. "It's a source of wonder to me that you haven't had an accident."

Andrea started her engine and pulled out into the street. "If I'm that bad, why are you letting me drive?"

"I'm an eternal optimist. I keep hoping you'll get better."

Andrea considered that a moment, then shook her head. "I don't believe it. There's some other reason you want me to drive. Come on, Hannah. Tell me what it is."

"You're my sister and you deserve another chance?"

"No way."

Hannah sighed. Andrea was persistent. She'd get it out of her sooner or later. "I love your air conditioning. Mine isn't working right."

"I knew there was something!"

Hannah glanced out the windshield and pushed her foot against a nonexistent brake pedal. "Slow down, Andrea. That light's turning."

"I've got plenty of time," Andrea argued, whizzing through the intersection. "See? I told you. It was yellow almost all the way through."

"Tell me when we get there." Hannah leaned back against the leather seats, reminded herself again that Andrea had never been involved in an accident, and shut her eyes. It was the coward's way out, but she knew she'd feel a lot safer if she didn't watch.

Chapter Twelve

It was noon by the time they finished canvassing Rhonda's neighbors and Hannah was depressed. They hadn't learned anything of value, but that wasn't the cause of her depression. Not every lead in a murder investigation panned out and she knew it.

"Are you upset that nobody saw Rhonda leave?" Andrea asked, noticing Hannah's dejected expression as they walked down the sidewalk and headed toward her car.

"No."

"Then what's the matter?"

"Nothing."

Andrea stopped and put her hands on her hips. "There's something wrong when your sister looks like she just lost her best friend. Now tell me what it is."

"I thought I looked good in my new outfit."

"You do."

"Then why did all Rhonda's neighbors tell you that you looked adorable, and then say, And you look very nice too, Hannah."

"That's because I'm wearing maternity clothes. You know how people treat you when you're pregnant."

"No, I don't."

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Joanne Fluke

"Well I do. I've been through it before." Andrea unlocked the doors to her car and climbed in. She waited until Hannah had buckled her seat belt before explaining, "Pregnant women look like blimps. It's a fact of life. Rhonda's neighbors were just saying I looked nice to make me feel better."

Hannah knew that Andrea was trying to spare her feel-bigs. She appreciated the effort, but it wasn't working. Usually Hannah didn't mind when people complimented Andrea lavishly and then threw her a bone to be polite. Today it had gotten to her. It was a rerun of high school and the comments their teachers and friends had made when they saw tall, gangly Hannah with beautiful and dainty Andrea.

"You're taking things too personally," Andrea chided her gently. "I think it's because you're on a diet. That'll get anyone's spirits down."

Hannah realized that Andrea was right. "I hate it when you're more mature than I am."

"So do I. Being mature isn't what it's cracked up to be." Andrea started the car and pulled out from the curb. "Is there anywhere else you want to go? We've got almost two hours before we eater."

"Let's go out to the Quick Stop."

"Why?" Andrea asked.

"I want to pick up a toy for Suzie Hanks, and then I thought we could drive out to see Luanne's mother. Norman found out that she cleaned the Voelker place for Rhonda."

"She could know something," Andrea mused. "Cleaning ladies notice all sorts of things. But we don't have to go out to the Quick Stop first. My place is closer and I've got a whole bag full of toys I picked out for Suzie."

"Tracey's things?" Hannah asked, knowing that Andrea had given Suzie cartons of clothing and toys that Tracey had outgrown hi the past.

"No, they're new. The toy store at the mall had a huge sale last month."

"If they're new toys, you'd better have some sort of excuse for giving them to Suzie. You know how Luanne and