Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(106)

When she climbed up the covered staircase to her condo on the second floor, Hannah noticed that Moishe was perched on the living room window sill. That was a good sign. It meant that the RoboVac hadn’t tired him out too much today. She waved at him, and to her delight, he raised his paw to wave back.

Hannah unlocked the door, braced herself, and pushed it open. Moishe hurtled out, just as she’d anticipated, and landed in her outstretched arms. And then he did something new, something he’d never done before. He extended his paws, claws retracted, and patted both of her cheeks at once.

“That’s sweet,” Hannah said, smiling at him. And then, just as she was about to step inside, Moishe licked her cheeks with his rough tongue and started to purr.

Hannah hugged him to show that the feeling was mutual, and carried him inside. She placed him on the back of the couch in his favorite spot and rubbed the base of his ears. Only then did she turn to greet Norman and Mike.

“Hi, guys,” she said, still smiling from Moishe’s unexpected show of affection.

Mike nodded to acknowledge her presence, and then he said, “Sit down, Hannah.”

Alarm bells clanged in Hannah’s mind, and she hurried to sit down on the sofa. Norman took the seat next to her, and she was glad he was here. Mike had used his command voice, and that meant something was happening. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

“We found Ross,” Mike told her. His voice was flat, and that didn’t bode well. “It’s bad news, Hannah.”

Hannah could feel her tightly controlled composure slip alarmingly. “Is he . . . ?” she stopped to swallow, her throat suddenly dry. “Is he . . . dead?” She managed to force out the word.

“No.”

Hannah drew a deep breath of relief, but then another dreadful possibility occurred to her. “Injured?”

“No, he’s perfectly okay.”

Hannah started to smile, but Mike wasn’t smiling and neither was Norman. That left her completely puzzled and her fear began to build again. “But . . . if Ross isn’t dead, or injured, why did you tell me that it was bad news?”

Mike nodded to Norman and Norman sighed. “Mike meant that it’s not bad for Ross, but it is bad news for you, Hannah.”

“What? Mike needs an interpreter?” Hannah felt her irritation grow by leaps and bounds. Getting bad news should be like ripping off a Band-Aid. If you dragged it out, it hurt more than if you gritted your teeth and yanked it off quickly. She turned to look directly at Mike. “What is it, Mike?”

“Well, Hannah . . .” Mike winced slightly. “I’m not quite sure how to tell you this . . .”

“Just spit it out, Mike!” Hannah’s irritation took wings. “Don’t drag it out! Tell me!”

Norman reached out for her hand, and even though she had the urge to yank it back, Hannah let him hold it. She knew that Norman was only trying to help her get through whatever it was that Mike was about to tell her.

“It’s like this, Hannah . . .” Mike stopped and an expression of pain crossed his face. “The reason Ross left you is because. . .” Mike took a deep breath and let it out again. “Ross went back to his wife.”

Hannah shut her eyes. Of course she was dreaming. She must be dreaming. It had to be another crazy nightmare like Florence and the oranges and the perfect pear, and . . . but she could feel Norman holding her hand. She could actually feel it. And Michelle wasn’t baking because Michelle wasn’t here. She had to wake up somehow. This couldn’t be happening to her. It didn’t make sense. It was a dream and she had to open her eyes and wake up!

Through a supreme effort of will she hadn’t known she possessed, Hannah managed to open her eyes. But they had been open all along, hadn’t they? There were tears on her face and they were falling from her eyes. Was it raining in her living room? That’s where she was. She could see it. She was sitting on the couch and Norman was holding her hand. And her whole face was wet. It must be raining. And that meant this was just another crazy dream.

“Wha . . . what did you say?” Hannah asked Mike.

“I said Ross went back to his wife,” Mike repeated.

Oh yes, Hannah decided, this was definitely a dream because that was crazy. She had to tell Mike she knew that she was dreaming. Then she would wake up from this nightmare.

“That’s not right,” she said. “It’s just not right, Mike. It makes no sense at all. Ross couldn’t go back to his wife because I’m his wife!”

“Hannah. Please listen to me and try to understand.” An expression of sympathy crossed Mike’s face and for one brief moment, Hannah thought she saw unshed tears in his eyes. “Hannah . . . you’re not married. Ross was never your husband. He’s married to someone else.”





Raspberry Danish Murder Recipe Index





Raspberry Danish 10

Cherry Chocolate Bar Cookies 22

Neverfail Fudge Frosting 26

Pineapple Crunch Cookies 36

Mixed Berry Muffins 54

Chili-Cheese Omelet Squares 58

Pineapple Raisin Whippersnapper Cookies 75

Oatmeal Lemon Cookies 86

Irish Potato Cookies 98

Jambalaya 106

Cheesy Garlic Crescent Rolls 110

Ultimate Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake 117