Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(36)

*

The coffee cake was every bit as good as it smelled, and Hannah and Norman were full of compliments for Michelle. “I especially like the pears,” Hannah said, accepting a second piece.

“So do I,” Norman held out his plate for his second slice. “It’s pretty, too. It’s almost like the pineapple and cherry upside down cake that my mother used to make.”

Michelle laughed. “Yes, except that my coffee cake doesn’t have pineapple and cherries?”

“That might be it,” Norman said with a laugh, and Hannah knew he was laughing at himself. “What made you decide to use pears, Michelle?”

“I thought about apple slices, but Hannah didn’t have any apples. Then I thought about peaches, but she didn’t have any of those either. I looked through her pantry, spotted a couple of cans of pears, and I decided to use them.”

“Do you think you could make them with fresh pears, too?” Hannah asked her.

“I think so if I peel, core, and slice them. That’s what I was planning to do with the apples. Let’s stop by the Red Owl and see if Florence has any fresh pears. If she doesn’t, I’ll use canned pears again. I want to make another couple of coffee cakes for The Cookie Jar to see how your customers like it.”

“Good idea. We can serve coffee cake at Sally’s convention too, if we get some small paper plates and plastic forks,” Hannah suggested. “The convention opens at nine and we could feature coffee cake as our breakfast treat.”

“And muffins,” Norman suggested. “You don’t need plates and forks with those and they’re good for breakfast, too.”

“And Michelle makes great breakfast muffins,” Hannah said.

“I’ve had the peach muffins and the strawberry muffins,” Norman remembered. “You could make mini muffins in mini cupcake papers and people could mix and match them.”

“Good idea,” Hannah said, turning to Michelle. “The next time you come home on vacation, let’s try it at The Cookie Jar.”

“That would be fun,” Michelle agreed. “Are you going to come out to help me pick out my car, Norman?”

“Yes, right after I take Cuddles home. Doc Bennett’s coming in to help me today so I have the day off. And I’d like to take both of you out to dinner tonight at the Lake Eden Inn to celebrate.”

“Thanks, Norman,” Michelle said, accepting for both of them. “I’m really glad you’ll be with us at Cyril’s. I value your opinion, and I want to make sure I choose the right car.”

Hannah could tell that Norman was pleased. “We can drink some of Cyril’s bad coffee while we wait for Michelle to test-drive the cars,” she told Norman. “That way, I won’t be standing in the car lot alone.”

“You’re not going to look at the cars with me?” Michelle sounded surprised.

Hannah shook her head. “No. You don’t need my help, and it’s your decision. You’ll be the one driving it.”

“But . . . how can I be sure I get the right car?”

“It’s easy,” Hannah said. “All you have to do is pretend you’re shopping for clothes. When you try something on, you know if it’s right for you. A dress might look wonderful on the rack, but if it looks awful on you, you won’t buy it. It’s the same thing with cars. They can look good sitting there in the lot, but you have to try them on by test-driving them. I’m sure you have a good idea of what you want. When you see it and when you drive it, you’ll know and you’ll make the right choice.”

*

An hour and a half later, Norman stood next to Hannah as Lonnie and Cyril showed the used cars they’d chosen to Michelle. “If you were the one buying a used car, which one would you choose?” he asked Hannah.

“Personally, I’d choose the blue one, but it’s up to Michelle.” Hannah was glad that Norman had arranged with Doc Bennett to take over his morning appointments. It was good to have company on a car-buying expedition like this.

Norman looked slightly worried. “She won’t go for the convertible, will she?”

“It’s really a nice-looking car, but I don’t think so.”

“Good. I had a used convertible when I was in Seattle, and it was awful in the winter. I was always cold, even when the heater was going full blast.”

“That’s why I’m glad it’s winter and Michelle is test-driving the cars now.”

“You’re right. She’ll get to test the heaters, too.”

“A car with a bad heater can be miserable,” Hannah replied, and that certainly wasn’t an exaggeration. The heater in her cookie truck had never worked properly until Mike and Norman had paid Cyril to fix it for her as a surprise present.

One by one, Michelle climbed behind the wheels of the cars that Lonnie and Cyril had selected. Lonnie went along on the test drives, and Hannah was glad to see that Michelle was shaking her head after she’d driven the convertible. She’d saved the blue car for last and Hannah found she was smiling as Michelle drove out of the lot.

“Do you think that’s the one?” Norman asked her.

“I hope so. She saved it for last, and Michelle tends to save the best for last.”

“How do you know?”