Blackberry Pie Murder (27 page)

“I don’t know, but he really seems to like it. I wonder what’ll happen if I speed up the machine a little.” Michelle reached forward to the console and turned a switch.

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The treadmill began to go faster. Hannah could tell because Michelle had to jog to keep up. So did Moishe, but he stuck with it, running along and wearing what Hannah thought of as his kitty-grin. “I think he likes it faster,” Hannah said.

“Maybe he does, but I’m not ready to jog that fast. I’m going to slow it down all the way and then I’ll shut it off.”

Michelle turned the machine to a slower speed for a few seconds. When she lowered the speed even more, Moishe turned around to glare at her. He gave a yowl that would have curdled milk, and jumped off in a huff to stalk past Hannah and down the hall.

“I don’t think he liked that,” Michelle said quite unnecessarily.

“I don’t think so, either. I’ve got to check with Doc Hagaman and Sue. I’ve never heard of a cat exercising on a treadmill before.”

“Maybe you won’t have to put him on a diet,” Michelle said, stepping off the machine and wiping her face on a towel.

“If he exercises every time I do, he’ll lose weight on his own.”

Hannah was thoughtful as she walked back to the living room and her iced tea. Perhaps Michelle was right and Moishe would lose weight without dieting. And if Michelle was right about Moishe, perhaps
she
should try the fancy exercise machine to see if
she
could lose weight without dieting.

It was worth a try. Nothing was worse than being on a diet, and everyone said that exercise was good for you. She’d ask Michelle to show her just how the exercise machine worked and give it a try.

Five minutes later, Hannah was using the treadmill with Moishe walking in front of her. His tail was swishing back and forth and Hannah could tell he was having a wonderful time. On the other hand, she was getting tired even though she’d only been walking for a minute or two. That meant BLACKBERRY PIE MURDER

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that she was really out of shape and she simply had to find time to use her grand prize every day.

“That’s enough, Moishe,” Hannah said, lowering the speed until the machine stopped.

“Rrowwww!”

Hannah glanced at her feline roommate. There was no doubt in her mind that Moishe was protesting her action.

“We’ll do it again tomorrow,” she told him. “I promise. And Michelle will, too. And don’t forget that Michelle works out twice a day. As long as she’s visiting us, you’ll have at least three opportunities to ride on the treadmill every day. And Norman’s bringing Cuddles over for dinner tonight. If you didn’t get enough exercise walking the treadmill, I’m sure you can talk her into playing chase.”

That information seemed to appease Moishe, at least tem-porarily, and Hannah went off to take her shower. Ten minutes later, she was dressed in clean jeans and a summer top, and sitting in her favorite spot on the couch, drinking the small glass of wine that Michelle had poured for her.

“So how do you like your new exercise machine?”

Michelle asked her.

“I like it, at least the treadmill part. It’s the only thing I’ve tried so far. And Moishe obviously loves it.”

Moishe, who was sitting on top of his Kitty Kondo, turned around to regard her solemnly. He was perched on the top tier so that he could peer out the picture window that over-looked the outside staircase, and he was obviously waiting for Norman to arrive with Cuddles.

“Who would have guessed that any cat of mine would turn out to be an exercise buff,” Hannah commented to Michelle.

“It’s certainly not behavior that he learned from me!”

Michelle laughed. “Maybe it’s behavior that you’ll learn from him. Exercise makes you feel good, Hannah. It’s fun if you don’t overdo it. You have to set realistic goals, goals that aren’t out of your reach.”

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“Four times a week on the treadmill,” Hannah said.

“That’s how often I’ll do it. There are some days that I just want to come home and collapse after work. That’s why I won’t say I’ll exercise every day.”

“Exactly right,” Michelle said, smiling at her. And that was when they both heard an excited yowl from Moishe.

“Norman must be here.” Michelle got up to look out the window. “I don’t see him yet.”

“Moishe must have heard Norman’s car pull into the garage. He always gives me an early cat warning.” Hannah got up from her spot on the couch. “I’ll pour some iced tea for him.”

“Better wait. It might be somebody else’s car.”

“It’s not. Moishe hasn’t ever been wrong. He loves Norman and now that Norman has Cuddles, he positively adores Norman.”

There was another yowl from the top tier of the Kitty Kondo and then Moishe began to purr. His purr turned into a loud rumble and he jumped down to stand by the door.

“Shall I catch him so he doesn’t get out?” Michelle asked.

“No need. He’ll follow the cat carrier when Norman comes in the door. There’s no way Moishe is going to run out and miss an evening of playing with Cuddles.”

Once Norman arrived and let Cuddles out of her carrier, the two cats ran off to get into whatever mischief their combined kitty brains could cook up. Hannah poured a glass of iced tea for Norman, checked the progress of their dinner, and went to sit on the couch with him.

“Do you think Mike will have any news?” Norman asked her.

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him since I called to tell him to come here for dinner. And that was when he was parking in the lot at Minneapolis Police headquarters.”

“Do you think he would have called if he learned anything important?” Michelle asked.

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Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know. Either he didn’t learn anything useful, or he’s waiting to tell us in person.”

Just then there was a knock at the door and Michelle got up to answer it. “That must be Mike now.”

“Or Lonnie,” Hannah reminded her. “Actually, it sounded more like Mother.”

“You invited Mother?”

“I didn’t invite her, but she feels she can drop by without notice. If Doc’s busy doing something else, it could be her.”

“Or Andrea, if she’s still mad at Bill,” Michelle said, considering the possibilities.

“Open the door,” Norman said, chuckling at the two of them. “The suspense is killing me.”

Michelle laughed and opened the door. “Mother!” she said.

“I know I wasn’t invited, dears, but Doc had late rounds and the telephone tree came up with something that may or may not be useful to you. May I come in?”

“Of course,” Hannah called out. “Join us for dinner, Mother. There’s plenty.”

“Plenty for two more?”

Hannah glanced at the doorway, but there was no one standing behind her mother. “Is there someone with you?”

“No, but Andrea was parking in the guest lot when I came up the stairs. Naturally, I assumed she was coming here.”

“I imagine she is,” Hannah said, and called out to Michelle who had gone into the kitchen to get their mother a glass of iced tea. “Will you set two more places, Michelle?

Andrea will be here in a minute or two.”

Michelle delivered the iced tea, along with the can of cat treats. “Here, Mother.”

“But I’m wearing slacks.”

“I know, but those are linen, aren’t they?” Michelle waited until Delores nodded. “It’s the same problem, Mother. If Moishe catches a thread in those slacks, he’ll damage them.”

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Delores glanced down at her slacks. “Oh, dear. If I’d thought of that, I would have come prepared.” She turned to Hannah. “Do you have a bath sheet I can use for my lap, dear?”

“Of course.” Hannah got up to find the beautiful new bath sheet her mother had given her after a trip to the mall.

Since she hadn’t used it yet, she pulled off the tag on her way back to the living room, and stuffed the evidence of non-use into her pocket. “Here you go, Mother,” she said when she reentered the living room.

“
Thank you, dear.” Delores took the towel and spread it out so that it draped over her legs. “What a pretty towel!

Where did you get it?”

“From you,” Hannah couldn’t resist saying.

“From me?”

“Yes. You picked it out for me at the mall the last time you were there. I think it’s beautiful, too.”

“It’s lovely,” Norman said. “I should have you choose my towels, Delores. They’re getting old and I’m not sure which color to buy.”

“Of course I will, dear,” Delores said, causing Hannah and Michelle to exchange glances. They’d thought that
dear
was reserved for them, but now it evidently included Norman.

The doorbell rang and Hannah tabled any questions she might have about her mother’s terms of endearment. She got up to answer it and ushered Andrea in.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Andrea said, pulling Hannah aside. “I just don’t feel like talking to Bill yet, and he’s mad at me too, and . . . well . . . it’s not very comfortable at home.”

“I’m glad to see you, Andrea,” Hannah reassured her.

“Come in and I’ll get you something to drink. Then you can join us for dinner. There’s plenty.”

“Who else is coming?” Andrea asked, stepping into the living room and giving a little wave to the group that was assembled there.

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“We’re waiting for Lonnie and Mike and then we’ll eat.

Have a seat and I’ll get you a glass of white wine.”

“That would be wonderful,” Andrea said, sounding very relieved.

As Hannah went off to the kitchen to pour Andrea’s wine, she wondered what her sister would have said if she hadn’t invited her to dinner. She didn’t think Andrea would have gone back home and ended her stalemate with Bill. That just wasn’t in the cards quite yet. Would she have gone somewhere else, perhaps out to her high school friend Lucy Dunwright’s place in the country? Or would she have parked in the garage and stayed in her car until she was sure that Bill was in bed? It must be terrible to fight with the man you loved. And it must be doubly difficult if you were Andrea.

Andrea was as stubborn as they came and she wouldn’t back down easily. And unfortunately, although Hannah knew that Bill loved Andrea to distraction, he was just as stubborn as Andrea was and he wouldn’t be the first to back down. This could go on for weeks with neither of them giving an inch.

Hannah knew that she would have to do something to get them back together soon, before the wall of contention between them became a permanent barrier.

“Here you go,” Hannah said, handing the glass of Cost-Mart’s cheapest jug wine to her sister. Andrea fancied herself as a wine snob and Hannah had taken care, over the years, never to let her see the green gallon jug she kept in the bottom of her refrigerator.

“Oh, thank you, Hannah!” Andrea said after she’d taken her first sip. “I just love this wine. It has such depth and complexity.”

“Glad you like it,” Hannah said, and left it at that. She knew that if she ever told Andrea that the wine she privately called Chateau Screwtop had cost less than ten dollars a jug, Andrea would never drink it again.

Hannah had just taken a seat next to Norman on the couch when the doorbell rang again.

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“I’ll get it,” Michelle said, rushing to the door. When she came back to usher in two more dinner guests, Michelle was beaming and Hannah knew that was because one of the guests was Lonnie.

“Hi, Lonnie,” Hannah greeted him and then she turned to Mike. “Sit down, Mike. It’s been a long day for you.”

“Not as bad as usual,” Mike said, sitting down on the couch on the other side of Hannah. “I put in longer days than this when I was working for the department.”

“How about you, Lonnie?” Hannah asked him.

“This is my day off so I went down to the Cities with Mike,” Lonnie said, accepting the glass of iced tea that Michelle had brought for him.

“Tell us all about it after we eat,” Hannah said, getting up from her spot on the couch. “Please find places at the table and I’ll get us started with the salad.”

With Andrea and Michelle helping, the dinner was served in practically no time at all. Once they were all seated and the serving dishes were on the table, everyone helped themselves family style. There were praises for the salad, the Oodles of Noodles casserole, and the Smothered Chicken.

“Smart move with the extra chicken breasts, Hannah,”

Michelle said under her breath as both Mike and Lonnie helped themselves to third helpings of chicken.

“Thanks,” Hannah said in the same quiet tone of voice.

During the meal, conversation had been at a minimum.

The comments that were made were either praise for the food, or requests for a tablemate to pass a serving dish for another helping. When everyone put their silverware down and wore expressions of hunger satisfaction, the three sisters cleared the table, made the coffee, and carried it to the table.

“What are these?” Norman asked when Hannah brought out a plate of cookies.

“Triple Chocolate Cookies. It’s a new recipe so you have to tell me how you like it.”

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“Then I’d better take an extra so that I give it a fair test,”

Delores said, and since she hadn’t yet taken a bite, Hannah knew she was reacting to the fact that the cookies were chocolate.

The taste test was a huge success. Hannah knew because no one offered an opinion until they’d eaten at least three cookies. Then the comments were all superlative and she made a mental note to add the cookies to their menu at The Cookie Jar.

Chapter

!
Twenty
#

“Ireally can’t believe this,” Delores said, after Hannah had brought more cookies and Michelle had refilled their coffee cups.

“Believe what?” Michelle asked her.

“We haven’t had to put our feet up once tonight for a Moishe and Cuddles chase.”

“Moishe’s tired, Mother,” Hannah explained. “He walked for miles this afternoon.”

“He got out?!” Delores was clearly shocked.