Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(79)

“And then all we have to do is go through the official class pictures, find her there, and we’ll know her real name!” Michelle gave Hannah a huge smile. “You’re brilliant, Hannah! Let’s go see Marge.”

The two sisters gathered their things and got out of Hannah’s cookie truck. They walked together to the back of the building, and Hannah opened the back kitchen door. As they stepped in, they wiped their feet on the mat just inside the door and hung their parkas on the hooks on the wall. But before they could make their way to the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the coffee shop, Aunt Nancy pushed it open and rushed into the kitchen.

“Oh, good!” she said. “I thought I heard you come in. Do you have a minute, Hannah? I really have to talk to you!”

“I’ll go find Marge,” Michelle told Hannah, making herself scarce by hurrying through the swinging door that Aunt Nancy had just entered.

“Coffee?” Hannah asked, noticing that Aunt Nancy looked worried about something.

“Yes, thanks, but I’ll get it,” Aunt Nancy offered. “You sit down. I’ll be right with you.”

Hannah took her usual stool at the work station and watched Aunt Nancy rush to the kitchen coffeepot. As she poured two cups, Hannah noticed that her hands were shaking. Something was wrong with Aunt Nancy and Hannah hoped that it wasn’t anything serious.

Once Aunt Nancy had added cream and sugar to her coffee, she carried both cups back to the work station. “Here you go,” she said, setting one cup down on the stainless steel surface in front of Hannah. Then she went to the opposite side, put down her coffee cup, and sat down.

“What’s the matter?” Hannah asked her, not waiting for Aunt Nancy to broach the subject that was bothering her. “You look upset.”

“I am! I’ve never had a situation like this before in my life, and I don’t know what it means.”

Hannah smiled to set her at ease, and took a sip of her own coffee. “Tell me about it,” she invited.

“It’s Heiti. He dropped by to see me a few minutes ago. He said that Bill had offered him a job at the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Station. Bill said that they really need him and they want Heiti to start right away.”

“But that’s good, isn’t it?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t know! Heiti told me all about it, how he’d be working to update some of their equipment and maintain it, and then he asked me if I wanted him to take the job and stay in Lake Eden.” Aunt Nancy gave a quivering sigh. “Why did he ask me that, Hannah?”

Before she answered, Hannah had something she wanted to know. “Do you want Heiti to stay here?”

“Of course I do!” The answer came without hesitation and emphatically. “I like Heiti very much, and I’d miss him dreadfully if he left town. But why did he ask me, Hannah?”

“I suspect it was because he wanted to hear you say exactly what you told me. Heiti needed reassurance that you wanted him in your life.”

Aunt Nancy thought about that for a moment and then a smile spread across her face. “Really?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Really. I can’t think of any other reason why he would ask you.”

“Then . . .” Aunt Nancy stopped and took a deep breath. “Then do you think that Heiti really likes me?”

“Without a doubt. A man doesn’t ask a woman if she wants him to stay unless he’s hoping she’ll say she does.”

“That’s . . . well . . . it’s wonderful!”

Hannah noticed that Aunt Nancy looked as if she’d pulled the handle on the giant slot machine in the lobby of the Twin Pines Casino and won the million-dollar prize.

“Thank you, Hannah!” Aunt Nancy said, jumping up from her stool. “I’d better get back to work.”

Hannah smiled as Aunt Nancy ran to the swinging door and pushed through without even looking through the diamond-shaped window to see if anyone was coming from the other side. She’d obviously heard precisely what she’d hoped to hear and even though Hannah could no longer see her, she knew that Aunt Nancy was smiling from ear to ear.

Her coffee was fresh and hot, and Hannah decided to finish it. She would need a little energy to get through the rest of the day.

“I’m back!” Michelle announced, coming through the door and hurrying over to the work station. “Marge gave me the keys. She said the lights are on the wall, on our right as we come in and we should be sure to lock the door when we leave.” Michelle sat down on the stool that Aunt Nancy had just vacated and when she noticed the almost full cup of coffee, a puzzled expression crossed her face.

“What happened with Aunt Nancy?” she asked. “She came back in the coffee shop with a huge smile on her face.”

“I told her what she wanted to hear,” Hannah said.

“What was that?” Michelle looked curious.

“I don’t have time to go into it now, but I’ll tell you all about it on the way to the library.”

*

“Here it is,” Michelle said, handing Hannah the slim volume with the words Clarissa High on the front in gold lettering. This is the year that P.K. was a junior, and he told me that he started dating Pinkie after they were in the junior play together.”

“Did he have a part in the play?”