by Joanne Fluke
“Are you cold?” Mike asked, and not waiting for her answer, slipped an arm around her shoulders.
Not at all was the answer on the tip of Hannah’s tongue, but Mike’s embrace felt wonderful and rather than speak, she smiled.
“There’s the cookie shop.” Mike leaned out the side of their sleigh to see. “And there’s the flocking tent. I’m really glad Andrea didn’t go for one of those.”
“So am I!” Hannah’s reply was heartfelt. A flocked tree was fine for the lobby of a hotel, or the front window of the First Mercantile Bank, but school kids should experience a real tree that wasn’t sprayed all over with plastic and adhesive and whatever else the Crazy Elf used for flocking material.
“They really swing up high on that Yule Log.” Mike leaned out the side of their sleigh to take a better look. “I think there’s one point where you stop and you’re perfectly suspended before you go on the downswing again.”
Hannah thought about being suspended with Mike’s arm around her. That would be nice, but only if they could just stay there and not go on the downswing again.
“There’s Larry’s headquarters,” Mike pointed from his side of the sleigh. “See it?”
Hannah glanced down in time to see a man entering Larry’s trailer. He must be arriving for the business meeting Larry had told them about. As the man passed through the doorway, Hannah realized that he looked a bit like Earl Flensburg. Of course that was about as likely as snow in July. The Winnetka County tow truck and snowplow driver wasn’t the type to attend a business meeting, especially a one-on-one meeting with a high-powered executive like Larry Jaeger.
“It’s funny, isn’t it, how there wasn’t a single Christmas thing inside?” Mike asked.
For a moment Hannah was puzzled and then she realized that Mike was referring to Larry Jaeger’s trailer. “Not really. If you were around something every waking minute, you’d probably want to get away to something completely different.”
“Careful, Hannah,” Mike said, giving her the devilish grin that always made her toes tingle. “I think you just gave me the guy’s argument for infidelity.”
And naturally you recognized it, Hannah thought, but of course she didn’t say it. “I prefer to think of it as an argument for going camping after a hard week at work,” she countered, “or the reason someone who lives in Minnesota likes to vacation in Hawaii.”
“You’ve got a point. I wouldn’t mind a little fun in the sun in the dead of winter. Say, Hannah…I’ve got two weeks of vacation coming at the end of January. I was thinking about flying to St. Thomas and I…isn’t that Andrea?” Mike leaned out even farther and waved his arm. “It’s her, all right. Andrea’s down there waiting for us.”
Saved by the sister, Hannah thought, not quite sure if she was grateful or disappointed that Mike hadn’t finished what had sounded like an invitation to come along on his winter vacation.
The sleigh began to descend and their time for privacy was over. Hannah leaned out to smile at her sister as they came to rest and an attendant rushed over to help them out.
“Did you have fun?” Andrea asked when they were both on the ground.
“It was nice,” Hannah answered.
“Nice,” Mike teased her. “I thought it was more than nice.”
“Okay, it was fun.” Hannah turned to Andrea. “You can go on this one with Tracey. It won’t make her sick. You could even take Grandma McCann and Bethany if you want to. But watch out for the Yule Log.”
“I know. I walked past it on the way over here, and the Yule Log is definitely out.” Andrea led them toward the entrance. “We’re all through shopping and Norman’s out in the parking lot helping them tie on the trees.”
“I’ll go help him,” Mike said, striding forward and leaving the two Swensen sisters alone.
“You said trees,” Hannah reminded her. “Did you get more than one tree?”
“Did I say trees? I didn’t mean to. I just hope mine doesn’t scratch the roof of my Volvo.”
“Yours?” Hannah asked. “Does that mean there’s a tree that isn’t yours?”
“Of course there is. My tree is mine. It’s the one I bought for Tracey’s class. It’s mine as opposed to somebody else’s. My tree is mine. Their tree is theirs. I didn’t mean anyone else’s tree in particular. I just meant somebody else’s tree in general. This is a tree lot and there are other people here. Some of those people are buying trees, right?”
Hannah turned to stare at her sister, who immediately averted her eyes. Andrea was dissembling and that meant something was up. She moved a little closer to her sister and asked the question. “Do you want to tell me now? Or do you want to tell me later?”
“Later,” Andrea said with a sigh. “I promised I wouldn’t say anything and I already blew it. Don’t ask me anymore questions, okay?”
“Okay.” Hannah capitulated. Andrea looked completely chagrinned. “Just tell me if you happened to go into the toy shop. I’m curious.”
“Yes, I did.” Andrea looked very relieved. “I was looking for a toddler’s globe for Bethany, but they didn’t have one.”
“What’s a toddler’s globe?”
“It’s a globe filled with soft squishy padding. Toddlers can grab it, and roll it, and squeeze it, and throw it. It’s a really great early learning tool. They can learn about the world, and the oceans, and the continents, and the countries before they even go to school.”
“Right,” Hannah said. It was a sweet idea and Bethie would love a globe ball, but it would be hopelessly out of date by the time she could read the names. Proof of that pudding was at the Olympics. Every year new countries were formed, old countries were dissolved, and other countries were renamed. The parade of nations was never the same from one Olympics to the next.
“It was just a thought and I found something else for her,” Andrea said, approaching the gate to the parking lot.
“What?”
“They had these darling crocheted animals. The clerk said they were handmade by someone in Lake Eden, and I bought an elephant for Bethie. Then I noticed a lion and I got that for Tracey. She’s into big jungle cats this year.”
“Were they expensive?”
“Yes, but they were really well made and they’re washable. I don’t think twenty dollars is too much to pay for a handcrafted stuffed animal, do you?”
“No, especially not if you’re supporting a local cottage industry. That’s important.” Hannah remembered what Larry had told her and turned to look at her sister. “Did you happen to notice the woman who was running the toy shop? Her name is Courtney and she’s Larry Jaeger’s fiancée.”
Andrea thought for a moment. “She was probably the short brunette wearing the red velvet jumper and white lace blouse. She had on a Santa hat and all the rest of the cashiers were high school girls dressed like elves.”
The two sisters walked down the row until they came to Andrea’s car. Norman and Mike had loaded the tree on top and tied it down securely. Hannah turned to look at Norman’s car and she saw that he also had a tree tied to the top. “You got a tree?” she asked him.
“No, you got a tree.”
“Me!?” Hannah looked up at the huge Scotch Pine and then she turned back to Norman. “This is really nice of you, Norman. But cats and Christmas trees don’t get along.”
“Have you ever tried it?”
“Well…no, but I’ve heard it doesn’t work out. Cats do things like climb up the branches, bat all the ornaments to the floor, and swallow the tinsel.”
“You won’t know that for sure unless you try it,” Andrea pointed out. “Barbara Donnelly has a cat and she always gets a Christmas tree.”
“That’s right,” Mike said. “Barbara told me that her cat never even notices her tree. I think you should try it. Moishe’s a nice cat. He’s always been a good boy and he probably won’t bother your tree at all.”
Hannah turned to stare at Mike in disbelief. He’d just described the cat who’d run laps in her bat
htub at two in the morning as a nice cat. This same good boy had torn all of the stuffing out of her couch pillows, emptied his litter box on the laundry room floor, chewed a hole in the side of her kitchen broom closet, and dragged her underwear out of the laundry basket to scatter over the living room rug as a display for any company she might bring home with her. Moishe was a funny cat, a great companion, and a well-loved roommate. But not by any stretch of the imagination could he be accurately described as a nice cat, or a good boy.
“Just try the tree overnight,” Norman suggested in an attempt to overcome her lack of enthusiasm. “I’ll set it up for you and everything. I just hate to think of you without a Christmas tree. It smells good, and it’s pretty, and it’ll make your whole condo feel like Christmas.”
“Well…” Hannah hesitated. She’d really missed having a Christmas tree.
“I tell you what,” Norman went into his closing argument. “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll come and take it away.”
“How can I refuse an offer like that?” Hannah stepped closer to hug him. Buying a Christmas tree for her was a sweet thing to do. “But I want you to have a heart-to-heart talk with Moishe tonight, right after you set it up.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Just tell him that my tree isn’t really a tree.”
“What?”
“I mean…it’s a tree, but it’s not a regular outside tree. It’s an inside tree and it’s a decoration for Christmas.”
“Do you think Moishe can tell the difference?”
“I think so, especially if you give him an example. You might want to explain that his kitty kondo is entertainment for kitties, and the Christmas tree is entertainment for people.” Hannah stopped and shook her head. “On second thought…never mind.”
“But why?” Andrea asked her. “I thought that sounded perfectly reasonable.”
“It did and it is. It’s just that the distinction won’t work on Moishe.”
“Why not?” This time it was Mike who asked the question.
“Because Moishe doesn’t recognize the difference between people things and cat things. He thinks he’s a four-legged person in a fur suit. He has no idea that he’s a cat.”
WHITE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN DREAMS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
This recipe is from Michelle’s roommate, Susan, and it’s a real winner!
1 cup softened salted butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound)
½ cup white (granulated) sugar
½ cup brown sugar (pack it down in your cup when you measure it)
1 large egg, beaten (just whip it up in a glass with a fork)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cardamom (or an extra half-teaspoon of cinnamon, but cardamom’s really a lot better)
1 cup canned pumpkin***(I used Libby’s)
2 cups flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
2 cups (12-ounce package) white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (measure after chopping)
You can either spray your cookie sheets with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper. Either way will work fine.
Mix the white sugar with the brown sugar. Stir until the mixture is a uniform color.
Add the sticks of softened butter and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the beaten egg and mix it in thoroughly.
Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix them in thoroughly.
Mix in the nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. (Susan uses pumpkin pie spice instead of the freshly ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom.)
Measure out one cup of pumpkin and add it to your bowl. Stir it in until the mixture is smooth.
Add the flour in half-cup increments, stirring the batter smooth after each addition.
Add the white chocolate chips. Mix them in and then add the chopped pecans. Stir everything in thoroughly.
Use a teaspoon to scoop out some dough and drop it on your cookie sheet. These cookies will be small, but they spread out when they bake. Place the cookie dough balls 3 to a horizontal row, 4 rows to a cookie sheet.
Bake the White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams at 350 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they’re firm. (Mine took 13 minutes.)
Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let the cookies set up for 2 minutes. Then use a metal spatula to remove the cookies from the cookie sheets and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
When all the cookies are baked and cooled, it’s time to frost them. The following is a wonderful brown sugar frosting that will go well with White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams.
Susan’s Frosting:
½ cup brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
3 Tablespoons salted butter***
1/4 cup milk (I used half and half)
1 to 1½ cups powdered (confectioner’s) sugar (no need to sift unless you have big lumps)
Combine the brown sugar and butter in a saucepan and bring it to a boil on the stove over medium-high heat.
Boil the mixture for 1 minute or until it’s slightly thickened.
Pull the saucepan off the heat and cool the mixture for 10 minutes.
Add the milk (or half and half) and beat the mixture until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar by half-cup increments, stirring after each addition. Keep adding the powdered sugar until the mixture reaches spreading consistency.
Frost the cookies. If you’d like to dress them up a bit, place a half pecan on top of each cookie before the frosting hardens.
Hannah’s Note: I just want to point out that since these cookies are made with pumpkin and pumpkin is a variety of squash, the kids may try to convince you that eating several White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams takes the place of a serving of vegetables.
Lisa’s Note: Sometimes I don’t have the time to make this frosting, especially when Dad and Herb are standing right there, waiting for the White Chocolate Pumpkin Dreams to come out of the oven. They won’t wait for me to cook frosting, so I just sprinkle the cookies with powdered sugar and serve them that way.
Yield: approximately 6 dozen yummy cookies, depending on cookie size.
Chapter Seven
Mike was waiting for them when they pulled into the garage and Hannah noted with some amusement that he’d parked in her second spot right behind her cookie truck. It was another example of the rivalry that still existed between the two men. Mike had probably thought that if Norman had to move his car to the guest parking lot once they’d unloaded the tree and carried it upstairs, he probably wouldn’t stay. But what Mike hadn’t known when he’d taken the prime parking place was that Hannah’s neighbors, Marguerite and Clara Hollenbeck, had offered the use of their second spot whenever Hannah needed it.
“You can park behind Marguerite and Clara’s car,” Hannah told Norman.
“Perfect.” Norman pulled into the adjacent spot. “It’ll be easier to unload the tree from here. Your spot is right next to the post.”
As they got out of the car, Hannah turned to look. Norman was right. If he’d parked in her second spot, the one behind her cookie truck that currently held Mike’s cruiser, they would have had to work around one of the big concrete pillars that held up the garage.
“I’ll take it from here,” Mike said, walking over to the driver’s side of Norman’s car.
Norman walked around the back of the car and stood by the passenger door. “I’ll get it on this side,” he said.
Hannah watched as the two men worked in tandem. Norman loosened the rope from his side and threw it over the top of the car to Mike, who untied it and tossed it back. They did this a half-dozen times before the rope was off and her tree was free.
“Your side or mine?” Norman asked.
“Yours. There’s more room over there. We’ll pull it off and stand it up. Then you take the top and I’ll take the base, and we’ll carry it up the stairs.”
“Wait a second,” Norman gestured to Hannah. “There’s a tree stand in the backseat on the floor. Will you get it out and loosen the screws? We’ll put your tree in the stand down here and then we’ll carry it upstairs. You won’t have as many needles on your rug that way.”
“Thanks!” Hannah said, opening the back door to retrieve the tree stand. As her mother and sisters were so fond of telling her, Norman was a real find. Most men wouldn’t have given her living room rug a second thought, but he was always planning ahead to make her life easier.
The tree stand was a challenge as they soon discovered. There were four long screws protruding into the center ring that could be cranked in or out to tighten the base of the tree in the stand. At the present, they were in all the way and it took longer than Hannah thought it would to loosen them. Both Norman and Mike knelt down to help and the three of them turned the cranks until their wrists were sore.
“Is that in far enough?” Hannah asked, pointing to her screw.
Norman looked over at what she’d done and nodded. “It looks good to me. Just let me work on this last screw for a minute and I’ll see how much room we’ve got.”
“When you’re through, we can try to put the tree in.” Mike straightened up and rubbed the small of his back. “I don’t like this tree stand.”
Norman looked up from his crouched position on the garage floor. “Neither do I, but this was the best they had. The problem was, I didn’t know if Hannah had one and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise by asking.”
