by Joanne Fluke
Andrea looked positively shocked. “So your wedding reception was ruined?”
“Not really. Both men fished Aunt Muriel out, wrapped her in a towel, and took her home to change clothes. By the time they got back, Lars and I had finished visiting with everyone in all the cabins and we all went across the road to the pavilion for the dance.”
“So it all worked out all right?” Hannah asked her.
“Yes, except that it was the night that I discovered your father was a terrible dancer. We had a live band and he almost danced me right into the bass drum.”
Both Hannah and Andrea laughed, and Delores looked pleased. “Lars knew that he couldn’t dance and he apologized and offered to take dance lessons.”
“Did he?” Hannah asked her.
“No. He would have, but I told him that it didn’t matter to me, that I wasn’t planning to go to dances after we were married, anyway.” Delores looked down at her plate. “Enough talking, girls. I didn’t have time for breakfast this morning and I want to try Andrea’s new cookie.”
Both Hannah and Andrea watched as their mother took a sip of coffee and then picked up the Easter Bunny Whippersnapper Cookie. Andrea looked a bit nervous, and Hannah gave a little nod of encouragement. She knew that Andrea still needed their mother’s approval and actually, if she was totally honest, she did, too.
Delores bit into the cookie and began to smile. Immediately, both sisters exchanged relieved glances.
“Even better than the last one, dear,” Delores said, taking another bite. “I think these are my very favorites and they’re not even chocolate.”
Both sisters laughed. “I’m really glad you like them, Mother,” Andrea told her. “Would you like another?”
“One more, please. And then I have to deliver my news and run off to meet Carrie at Granny’s Attic. She’s minding the antique store this morning because Luanne had to take her daughter to the doctor for shots.”
“Suzie’s sick?” Hannah asked.
“No, it’s just that she’s registering for Kiddie Kamp this summer and all the children have to provide a current inoculation record.”
“How old do you have to be for Kiddie Kamp?” Andrea asked.
“Four. Luanne told us all about it yesterday. She said that Suzie really likes to be around other kids, and she thinks that a day camp would be perfect for her.”
“I’ve never heard about Kiddie Kamp before,” Andrea said, and Hannah noticed that she looked very interested. “Do you know any more about it, Mother?”
“Yes, the children are at camp from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon. Luanne says it’s a bit like preschool, but they do all sorts of activities that Janice can’t teach in regular preschool.”
“Which activities are those?” Hannah asked her.
“Swimming, for one. Janice can’t do field trips to the lake with her class. And they do other field trips, too. They go out to the sheriff’s station, and the deputies give them little fake badges and take them on rides in squad cars. And they visit Rod at the newspaper office to see how the newspaper is printed. They get a ride on one of the school busses to a dairy farm and see the cows and the henhouse. And they go to the school playground to play on the big swings and the slide.”
“That sounds like something Bethie would like to do!” Andrea said. “She always gets lonely when Janice closes Kiddie Korner for her vacation. Who’s in charge of Kiddie Kamp, Mother?”
“Sue Plotnik. She finished all the classes she needed for her degree, and she graduates spring semester. Janice is helping her this year, but after that Sue will be running Kiddie Kamp on her own.”
“You’re thinking of enrolling Bethie?” Hannah asked Andrea.
“Definitely. Tracey has all sorts of activities in the summer with the other kids her age, and I know Bethie would love to go to Kiddie Kamp.”
“Why don’t you talk to Janice Cox about it?” Hannah suggested. “Bethie’s a little young for day camp, but Janice let her attend Kiddie Korner when she was under the age limit.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to Janice today when I take Bethie there.”
“And I’ll talk to Sue Plotnik when I see her,” Hannah promised. “If both of them agree, I think Bethie should go.”
“Perfect,” Delores said, standing up. “I have to run, girls. Carrie and I have a customer from Hibbing coming in with an antique today.”
“From that far away?” Hannah asked, surprised that Granny’s Attic would have clientele from northern Minnesota.
“Yes, she called Carrie last night and she wants our opinion on a sewing machine that belonged to her grandmother. It’s a real oddity, a portable. I’ve never seen a treadle machine that’s small and portable before. She called Carrie on the phone and told her that her father used to make leather clothing with it.”
“I’d like to see that,” Hannah said. “Great-Grandma Elsa used a treadle sewing machine, and I was always fascinated by how it worked.”
“I’ll be by later, girls,” Delores said, standing up and walking toward the door. “Don’t bother getting up. I’ll let myself out.”
When Delores had left, Andrea turned to Hannah. “I wonder why she dropped by this early. Do you think it was to check up on me?”
Hannah shrugged. “Probably. I know she was worried about you when you left last night.”
There was another knock on the door and Delores stuck her head back in. “I almost forgot to tell you. Stephanie called me this morning and wanted to talk to both of you this afternoon. She said she had some things to tell you.”
Hannah exchanged glances with Andrea, who gave her a slight nod. “Does she want us to call her?” Hannah asked.
“No, Stephanie is coming by my place at noon, and she asked if both of you could be there. She said it was important.”
Again the two sisters exchanged glances. “Then we’ll be there,” Andrea promised.
“Good. I’ll see you later then, and thank you for the cookies, Andrea. They were delicious.”
“What do you think Stephanie wants?” Andrea asked the moment their mother had left.
“I don’t know, but it’ll give us a chance to ask where Mayor Bascomb went to college.”
“That’s true. And we can ask her about the mayor’s affairs, too.”
“We’ll have to tread carefully on that subject,” Hannah warned her.
“You’re right,” Andrea agreed. “In spite of his faults, I think Stephanie loved her husband and she’s probably grieving for him.”
Hannah nodded, but the thought she’d had the previous evening ran through her head. Yes, Stephanie’s probably grieving. . . unless she’s the one who finally got fed up with his infidelities and murdered him!
EASTER BUNNY WHIPPERSNAPPER COOKIES
DO NOT preheat the oven yet. This dough needs to chill before baking.
1 cup pecans (buy the bits and pieces of pecan— they’re cheaper than pecan halves)
1 box (approximately 18 ounces) carrot cake mix, the kind that makes a 9-inch by 13-inch cake (I used Betty Crocker)
½ cup milk
¼ cup carrot juice (substitute orange juice or pineapple juice if you can’t find it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, beaten (just whip it up in a glass with a fork)
2 cups Original Cool Whip, thawed (measure this— a tub of Cool Whip contains a little over 3 cups and that’s too much!)
½ cup powdered (confectioners’) sugar (you don’t have to sift it unless it’s old and has big lumps)
Jelly beans to decorate the top of the cookies, 3 jelly beans for each cookie
Use a food processor with the steel blade to chop the pecans into small pieces.
Transfer the contents of the food processor to a small bowl. You will add the nuts to the batter after everything else is mixed.
Pour HALF of the dry carrot cake mix into a large mixing bowl.
Add the milk and mix it in with a rubber spatul
a.
Add the carrot juice or substitute and mix that in.
Add the vanilla extract and mix that in.
Whip up the egg in a glass with a fork until it is frothy and well mixed.
Add the contents of the glass to the mixing bowl and mix until everything is well combined.
Measure the Cool Whip and add it to the mixing bowl.
Stir gently with a rubber spatula until everything is well combined. Be very careful not to stir too vigorously. You don’t want to stir all the air out of the Cool Whip.
Sprinkle in the rest of the cake mix and gently fold everything together with the rubber spatula. Again, keep as much air in the batter as possible. Air is what will make your cookies soft and give them a melt-in-your-mouth quality.
Gently and carefully mix in the chopped pecans. Make sure you don’t mix too vigorously.
Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough for at least one hour in the refrigerator. It’s a little too sticky to form into balls without chilling it first.
When your cookie dough has chilled and you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F., and make sure the rack is in the middle position. DO NOT take your chilled cookie dough out of the refrigerator until after your oven has reached the proper temperature.
While your oven is preheating, prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick baking spray, or lining them with parchment paper.
Place the powdered sugar in a small, shallow bowl. You will be dropping cookie dough into this bowl to form dough balls and coating the balls with the powdered sugar.
When your oven is ready, take your dough out of the refrigerator. Using a teaspoon from your silverware drawer, drop the dough by rounded teaspoonful into the bowl with the powdered sugar. Roll the dough around with your fingers to form powdered sugar – coated cookie dough balls.
Hannah’s 1st Note: Work with only one cookie dough ball at a time. If you drop more than one in the bowl of powdered sugar, they’ll stick together. Also, make only as many cookie dough balls as you can bake at one time. Cover the remaining dough and return it to the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake more.
Place the coated cookie dough balls on your prepared cookie sheets, no more than 12 cookies to a standard-size sheet.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you coat your fingers with powdered sugar first and then try to form the cookie dough into balls, it’s a lot easier to accomplish.
If you decide you want to decorate your cookies, press 3 jelly beans on top of each cookie before you bake them.
Bake your Easter Bunny Whippersnapper Cookies at 350 degrees F., for 10 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. (This is a lot easier if you line your cookie sheets with parchment paper—then you don’t need to lift the cookies one by one. All you have to do is grab one end of the parchment paper and pull it, cookies and all, onto the wire rack.)
Once the cookies are completely cool, store them between sheets of waxed paper in a cool, dry place. (Your refrigerator is cool, but it’s definitely not dry!)
Yield: 3 to 4 dozen soft, delicious cookies that everyone, especially the kids, will love to eat.
Chapter Ten
“What did you bring?” Andrea asked as Hannah retrieved a bakery box from the back of her cookie truck.
“Cocktail Quiche. These have Cheddar cheese and bacon bits.”
“Are they hard to make?” Andrea asked.
Hannah shook her head. “Not at all. They’re baked in muffin pans.”
“And those are the same as cupcake pans, right?”
“That’s right. I lined the muffin cups with puff pastry. You just press them into each cup, and then you fill them with the ingredients and pour an egg and cream mixture over the top before you bake them.”
“I wonder if I could do that,” Andrea said, as they walked toward the renovated hotel.
She’s bound to mess it up unless you stand right next to her and teach her exactly what to do, the suspicious part of Hannah’s mind told her.
That’s not very nice! the rational part of Hannah’s mind argued. Hannah can’t come out and say something like that!
Okay, but you have to admit that it’s true, the suspicious part of her mind countered. Remember the eggshell fiasco?
Hannah sighed, remembering that only too clearly.
“Hannah?” Andrea looked slightly worried. “Don’t you think I could learn to bake them?”
“I think you could if I help you,” Hannah told her.
“Oh, thank you, Hannah!” Andrea said, smiling happily. “If you help me, I won’t make any mistakes and Bill will be so impressed!”
Hannah really stepped in it this time, the suspicious part of Hannah’s mind commented.
That’s probably true, Hannah’s rational mind admitted, but look how happy Andrea is. Hannah is such a nice person!
Nice and gullible, the suspicious part of Hannah’s mind commented. Andrea played this just right so Hannah practically had to help her.
“Do you think if I have brunch at the house you could help me try that recipe?” Andrea asked, as they rode up to the top floor on the refurbished elevator.
“Sure,” Hannah agreed. She knew she was being railroaded, but Andrea looked so eager, she simply couldn’t resist.
The elevator door opened and both sisters stepped out. But before they walked to the penthouse door, Andrea reached out to give Hannah a little hug. “You’re always so good to me,” she said, pressing the brass doorbell.
Hannah gave her a smile, grateful that Andrea hadn’t heard the two halves of her mind arguing.
“Hi, Mother!” Andrea said when Delores opened the door. “Is Stephanie here yet?”
“Not yet, but she’ll be here in a couple of minutes. I moved our chairs to a shady spot next to the pool.” She turned to greet Hannah and noticed the bakery box she was carrying. “What do you have there, Hannah?”
“Cocktail Quiche. All Andrea and I have to do is heat them up a bit in the microwave and we’ll join you in the garden.”
“That sounds lovely.” Delores was clearly pleased. “I’ll open the champagne and pour everyone a glass while we are waiting for Stephanie.”
When Delores left them to go back to the penthouse garden, Andrea followed Hannah to the kitchen. “Can I do something to help you?” she asked.
“Not with the Cocktail Quiche, but there’s something else you could do for me.”
“What’s that?”
“First, find a pretty platter in Mother’s cupboard to hold the quiche. Then take my murder book out of my purse, find a pen, and let’s talk suspects.”
Andrea smiled. “I know the perfect platter for the quiche. I found it at the mall and gave it to Mother for Christmas. It’s delft blue glass, and I know that she loves it.”
“Perfect,” Hannah said, opening the cupboard over the microwave and taking out a sturdy paper plate. “I’ll heat the Cocktail Quiche six at a time on this plate. Then, when they’re warm, I’ll put them on the serving platter and cover it so they won’t get cold while I’m heating the rest.”
Andrea hurried to the cupboard and took out the platter she’d described to Hannah. “Where do you want me to put this?”
“On the counter. And tear off a sheet of foil that I can use to cover the platter, please.”
“Got it.” Andrea pulled out several drawers and found the aluminum foil. She tore off a sheet and laid it next to the platter. “I’ll get your murder book and pen now,” she said.
“Great. When you get my notebook, flip the suspect pages until you come to Stephanie.”
“You listed her as a suspect?”
“Yes.” As Hannah arranged the pieces of quiche on the paper plate, she wondered if she should say anything about the first suspect in her book. Perhaps she should warn Andrea so that she wouldn’t . . .
“You listed me as the first suspect?!” Andrea asked, lo
oking up with a shocked expression on her face.
“Yes, I know you didn’t do it, but you’re the one who found him and if the person who discovers the body has any sort of motive, I list them first.”
“That’s . . . unnerving!”
“I know. I’ve had to list myself a couple of times.”
Andrea gave a little laugh. “Did you unnerve yourself?”
“You bet I did! I didn’t like doing it, but I did have a reason to want the victim out of my life.”
Andrea turned to give her a curious look. “Are you talking about Ross?”
“Yes, I didn’t exactly discover his body, but the spouse and family of the victim are always suspects until you can establish an alibi for them.”
Andrea thought about that for a moment. “Did you list Stephanie’s sister?”
“Her sister?”
“Yes, the one who lives with Stephanie’s father and takes care of him.”
“I didn’t even think of her.”
“Mother told me that Stephanie is close to her sister and she calls Margaret to talk whenever she gets upset with the mayor.”
“Very good!” Hannah complimented her sister. “Write Margaret down, will you, please?”
Andrea looked very pleased with Hannah’s compliment. “I’ll do that right now.” She flipped back to Hannah’s list of suspects and gave Margaret a page at the end. “What other questions did you want to ask Stephanie about the mayor?”
“I want to know exactly when she married him.”
“I’ll write that down.” Andrea wrote for a moment or two and then she looked up. “Okay. I’ve got it. What else?”
“I’d like to know if Stephanie was dating anyone before she dated the mayor.”
“Smart,” Andrea said. “You’re thinking there might be a boyfriend who’s still hurt that the mayor stepped in?”
