24
Joanne Fluke
"Now that's a good reason for a diet," Lisa said, heading for the door to the coffee shop. "I'll go start the coffee so you can fill up on something that doesn't have any calories."
The stove timer sounded and Hannah rose to take her pies out of the ovens. By the time she'd set them all out on racks to cool, Lisa was back with a fresh hot cup of coffee.
"Here you go." Lisa handed her a white mug with the cookie jar printed in red block letters on the side. "This'll get you going. And once you increase your energy level, you'll burn more calories. Gorgeous, as always."
Hannah, who had been about to take her first sip of coffee, looked up at the apparent non sequitur and found Lisa eyeing the row of baked pies.
"I think lemon is your prettiest pie. Of course your cherry pies are nice, too. They look yummy with all that bright red juice bubbling up through the latticework crusts. And your apple pies are gorgeous, golden brown on top and they smell so good. And your blueberry pies are just..."
"Stop!" Hannah interrupted her, holding up her hands in surrender. "I'm on a diet, remember?"
Lisa looked embarrassed. "Sorry, Hannah. Forget what I said about your pies. Are the wedding cookies cool enough to decorate?"
"They should be."
Lisa went to the counter and began to sift confectioner's sugar into a bowl. "I'll mix up the frosting and do the initials first."
"Good planning. They should be dry before you draw the purple hearts around them."
"Violet," Lisa corrected her, measuring the sugar into another bowl. "The bride wants the initials to be the same light blue as a summer sky just after daybreak. And the hearts are supposed to match the color of the first wild violets of spring."
Hannah's eyebrows shot up. "That's positively poetic, but it all boils down to light blue and light purple, doesn't it?"
"You're right," Lisa said with a grin, stirring in the butter and then reaching for the heavy cream.
LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER 25
While Hannah mixed up another batch of cookies and began to bake them, Lisa finished the frosting and filled a pastry bag. Hannah glanced over at her several times as she piped the light blue initials on the face of the cookies. At first Lisa had been noticeably shaky in her attempt to decorate cookies, but she had practiced with a perseverance that Hannah envied. Lisa was now an expert and that meant The Cookie Jar could offer personalized cookies for any event they catered.
They completed their work at the same time and Harmah walked over to admire Lisa's handiwork. "They're perfect," she said, smiling at her young partner. "Follow me. I think we deserve a coffee break."
The first thing Hannah did when she stepped into the coffee shop was to turn on their new ceiling fans. They created a slight breeze as their blades revolved lazily, stirring the air and the red, white, and blue streamers that Lisa had hung from the ceiling in honor of the Fourth of July.
"Go sit down. I'll get our coffee," Lisa said, heading for the big urn behind the counter.
Hannah chose her favorite table. It was in the rear of the shop, but it still had a nice view of the street through the front plate-glass window. Sitting at a table in the rear had one big advantage. The shop looked empty unless someone approached and pressed a nose to the window. And if the customers couldn't see them, they wouldn't knock on the door and expect them to open early.
Lisa's streamers looked nice and Hannah was glad she'd decorated. Lake Eden residents took their patriotism seriously and the Fourth of July was one of their small town's biggest holidays. There would be a parade in the morning, political speeches and events throughout the day, a huge pot-luck picnic and barbecue on the shores of Eden Lake, and a fireworks display at night.
"What's wrong with that fan?" Lisa asked, setting their mugs of coffee on the table.
"Which fan?"
26
Joanne Fluke
"The one directly over your head."
Hannah glanced up and saw that the blades weren't turning on the fan in question. "I don't know, but Freddy and Jed are coming in this morning to install the new shelves in the pantry. I'll point it out to them."
"Freddy looks good," Lisa remarked, sitting down next to Hannah. "He told me that Jed makes him take a shower every morning and dress in clean clothes."
"That's a plus. I can remember a couple of times when I had to stand upwind."
As they sipped their coffee, Hannah thought about Freddy Sawyer. He was mildly retarded and he did odd jobs around town, supplementing the income from the small trust fund his mother had set up for him before she died. Freddy had to be in his early thirties, but his naive manner and boyish grin made him seem much younger than that. He lived just outside the Lake Eden town limits on Old Bailey Road in the house his mother had owned for years. His cousin, Jed, had moved in with him last month, and it seemed Jed had been a good influence on Freddy.
"People underestimate Freddy," Lisa said, looking rather fierce. "They think he can't learn new things, but they're wrong. Janice Cox told me that she taught him to tell time."
"That's good," Hannah said, turning to look as a car drove up and parked in front of the shop. "There's Andrea and she's early. She isn't supposed to meet Norman here until nine-thirty."
Lisa jumped up from her chair. "I'll go let her in. Just sit there and relax. I know you were up late last night catering that bridal shower."
Hannah sat. She was tired. The shower had been a big event, over forty guests. Andrea had been invited, but she'd stayed only long enough to deliver her gift, congratulate the bride-to-be, and give Hannah a message from Mike. Mike was out of town, attending a five-day conference in Des Moines on intervention techniques for youthful offenders. When he hadn't been able to reach Hannah on the phone, he'd called
27
Andrea to say he was staying over on Sunday night, but he'd be back in Lake Eden at noon on Monday and he'd drop by The Cookie Jar to see her.
The two sisters hadn't had time to exchange more than a few words before Andrea had to leave. She'd told Hannah that Bill had turned into a regular mother hen now that she was pregnant. He urged her to rest when she wasn't tired, he was forever bringing her afghans and pillows she didn't need, and just recently he'd taken to making her high-energy snacks that played havoc with her prenatal diet.
"Hi, Hannah." Andrea breezed in through the door, the picture of chic. She was wearing a light green skirt that swirled gracefully when she walked and a matching hip-length top. There was a turquoise scarf around her waist, a color combination Hannah would never have thought to attempt, and a silver and turquoise pendant around her neck. Andrea's light blond hair was pulled up in a complicated twist. She could have stepped from the pages of a glossy magazine.
"You're looking gorgeous this morning," Hannah said with only a small stab of envy. Andrea always looked fashionable and Hannah often felt like a frump beside her.
"Mother called you about Michelle, didn't she?"
"Yes, I'm meeting her bus. It's going to be great having her home."
"I know. We haven't seen her in ages." Andrea pulled out a chair and sat down. "Why didn't you call me last night? I left a zillion messages on your answer machine."
"I forgot to check it. I didn't know about Norman's new house until he called me this morning."
Andrea looked disgruntled. "Well, don't blame me for not telling you. You really need a cell phone, Hannah."
"I don't want a cell phone."
"Everyone who's anyone has one."
"Then I guess I'm not anyone. I know it's the age of technology, but I don't like the idea of being on an electronic leash."
"It's not like a leash. Anytime you don't want to answer it, you can just turn it off."
28
Joanne Fluke
"That would be all the time." Hannah began to grin. The end of the argument was in sight. "And if I never answer my cell phone, why have one in the first place?"
"Coffee, Andrea?" Lisa called out, holding up an empty mug.
"No, thanks. Doc Knight limited me to one cup a day and Pve already had it."
"How about a glass of orange juice?"
"That sounds good." Andrea smiled at Lisa, then turned back to Hannah. "I had to get up at the crack of dawn. The only time Doc Knight could see me was at seven-thirty."
"Seven-thirty isn't exactly the crack of dawn."
"For me it is. I'm fine, by the way. I turned down the ultrasound. We don't want to know the baby's sex until he's born."
"Until he's born?"
"I'm just saying he as a concession to Mother. She's positive it's a boy this time."
Hannah was amused. "What makes her so sure?"
"She says if you carry the baby in front and your stomach sticks out, it's a boy. If you're big all over, it's a girl."
"That sounds like an old wives' tale to me. Besides, your stomach is still as flat as a board."
"No, it's not. I've been dressing to hide it, but nothing fits me right anymore. I'm going to start wearing maternity clothes the minute Claire's shipment comes in."
"You asked Claire to order maternity clothes for you?" Hannah was surprised. Claire Rodgers owned Beau Monde, the dress shop next door to The Cookie Jar, and her clothes were expensive.
"I know it'll probably cost an arm and a leg, but Bill wants me to have the best. He says it might even be tax deductible. After all, I'm a real estate agent and I have to be well dressed for my job."
"You'd better check with Stan about that." Hannah curbed her impulse to laugh. Stan Kramer was the best tax man in
LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER 29
Lake Eden. He was pretty liberal about what was and what wasn't a tax deduction, but Hannah didn't think he'd go quite that far.
Andrea looked up as Lisa brought over a plate of cookies. "Thanks, Lisa. These look wonderful and I didn't have time for breakfast. What are they?"
"We call them Apricot Drops and they're Hannah's invention. They're Oatmeal Raisin Crisps made with chopped dried apricots instead of raisins."
The phone rang and Lisa rushed off to answer it. Hannah watched as Andrea took a bite of her newest cookie and she relaxed as her sister started to smile. "You like them?"
"These cookies are winners, Hannah." Andrea took one more bite, then leaned forward. "So? What do you think about Norman's plans?"
"They're great. I can hardly wait to see our dream house."
"Then you said yes?"
Hannah bit back a grin, knowing full well what her sister was asking. "Yes to what?"
"To marrying Norman, of course!"
"No."
"Then you said no?"
Hannah shook her head. "I didn't say anything. Norman didn't ask me."
"He didn 't? I thought for sure he would." Andrea began to look anxious. "He's not dating anyone else, is he?"
"Not that I know of."
"Well... that's good. Maybe you should give him a little nudge in the right direction. You're not getting any younger, and if you want to have kids ..." Andrea stopped in mid-sentence and sighed. "Sorry, Hannah. I'm beginning to sound like Mother."
"Yes, you are."
"But at least I stopped before I got to your biological clock ticking down."
"No, you didn't. You just said it."