Key Lime Pie Murder (7 page)

“Oh, it is. We don’t stay anywhere for more than a week, and that means we have to be really self-sufficient.” Ruby stopped talking and gazed over Hannah’s shoulder. “So how about that deep-fried Milky Way? Your mother’s nowhere in sight.”

Hannah laughed. She didn’t know how she could possibly manage it after all the sweet dough breads they’d tasted, but the thought of getting to taste one at last made her mouth start to water. “Well…I really shouldn’t but I guess…” Hannah stopped in midsentence when a voice called her name. She turned to see Norman hurrying across the food court toward her, and she gave a little sigh. She was glad to see him. It wasn’t that. But this was the second time she’d been thwarted in her attempt to taste a deep-fried candy bar.

“You can’t eat one right now?” Ruby guessed.

“You got it,” Hannah said, and then she turned to give Norman a smile as he arrived at her side. It had been several days since she’d seen him, and it felt good to be with him again.

“Are you going to eat one of those?” he asked, as he arrived at her side.

“No,” Hannah replied. Norman didn’t sound censorious, the way her mother had, but it would be wise to play it safe.

“I need your help, Hannah.” Norman took the pan from her arms and steered her away from the booth, barely giving Hannah time to wave goodbye to Ruby. “I’ve got a problem with my dishwasher.”

Hannah was confused. “‘I’m sorry to hear that, but I don’t know anything about fixing dishwashers.”

“I know you don’t. And I wasn’t asking you to. All I want you to do is help me pick it out. The brochures for the kitchen appliances came today, and I can’t make up my mind between two models.”

“No problem. I’ll be glad to help you.”

“Thanks, Hannah. I was afraid I’d pick the wrong one.” Norman looked down at the pan he was carrying. “I heard you were filling in for Edna. Is this tonight’s winner?”

“No, it’s part of the third-place entry, a chocolate cherry coffeecake. I’m taking it to Mother.”

“Now?” Norman asked, looking disappointed.

“Now. I’m going to deliver the coffeecake, congratulate Michelle on her win in the evening gown competition, and then I’m going straight home. I think Moishe might be getting sick.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably the heat, but I’m a little worried. He didn’t touch his breakfast.”

“How about dinner?”

“Only a sniff and a lick. And I made him a Denver sandwich without the onions and the bell peppers. I even put in double ham and he still wouldn’t touch it.”

“That sounds serious. How about if I stop at my house to pick up the brochures, and head over to your condo to check on Moishe? Maybe I can get him to eat. When you get home, you can take a quick look and tell me which model is the best.”

Hannah didn’t have to think twice about that. “Great,” she said, giving Norman a grateful smile. He always came through when she needed him. And that was one of the things she loved most about him.

“Hi, Hannah!” Michelle greeted her oldest sister at the door. Her face was devoid of makeup, and she was wearing cut-off jeans and a Macalester College T-shirt. “What have you got?”

“Chocolate cherry coffeecake. Where’s Mother?”

“In Dad’s old office. She’s using it now. She said she had some work to do on her computer.”

“What work?”

“I don’t know. I asked, but she said it was personal.”

Hannah frowned as visions of e-mail romances with prison inmates danced through her mind. “Is she on-line yet?”

“No. The cable company’s going to have free installation on their high-speed Internet access next month. She told me she’s waiting until then.”

“Good! I mean…I just didn’t want her to start something with…” Hannah stopped, not quite sure how to phrase what she’d been thinking.

“Weirdos, perverts, and creeps?” Michelle asked. “With a few con artists thrown in?”

“Exactly.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much. I think Mother learned a lot from what happened last spring.”

“I hope so! It just makes me so mad that somebody tried to take advantage of her!”

“Me, too. But it’s over now, and Mother’s smart enough not to fall for somebody like that again.” Michelle gave Hannah a little shove toward the office that Delores was using. “Do me a favor, okay?”

Hannah knew better than to agree without knowing what Michelle wanted. “That depends on what it is.”

“It’s snooping. I tried to see what Mother was working on, but she’s got one of those privacy screens. One keystroke and all you can see is a bouquet of flowers, or pine trees in a snowy forest. See if you can find out what she’s working on. I just hate it when people say that it’s personal and they won’t tell you what it is.”

“Okay, I’ll do it,” Hannah agreed. And then she headed down the hallway to see if she could figure out what secret their mother was hiding.

“Mother?” Hannah called out, tapping on the door and then opening it without waiting for an invitation.

“Hello, dear.” Delores looked up when Hannah came into the room. “Sit down and wait just a moment, will you? I really need to finish this paragraph.”

“Sure. Michelle said you were working on something personal.” Hannah sat down in the old leather chair that had been moved to a spot near the window. It had been her dad’s desk chair, but Delores had replaced it with a smart-looking model upholstered in blue tweed. It was clear at a glance that her mother’s new chair rolled, reclined, and swiveled, while the old leather chair merely sat there.

“That’s right.”

“I’m curious. What is it?”

“Nothing you’d be interested in, dear.”

Delores went right back to typing, and Hannah gave a little sigh. She’d struck out. So much for being forthright. She’d have to think of some other way to find out.

“You were always the best speller in the family,” Delores said, pausing with her fingers poised over the keyboard. “Recommendation has one c and two m’s, doesn’t it?”

“Recommendation?” Hannah repeated, not sure she’d heard her mother correctly.

“That’s right. Yes or no, dear.”

“Yes,” Hannah said, and then she spelled it out. “Are you writing a letter of recommendation for someone?”

“No, dear. Just give me a moment more and I’ll be through.”

Hannah’s curiosity reached new heights. Her mother had told Michelle it was “personal,” and it wasn’t a letter of recommendation. Asking politely hadn’t worked, and she’d promised Michelle that she’d snoop if she got the chance. Feeling a bit like someone cheating on an exam, Hannah craned her neck to try to see her mother’s computer screen. Unfortunately she was off-axis, and all she saw was a faintly lighted screen. She inched slightly to the side to get a better view, not an easy task with a heavy desk chair that didn’t roll, but the only thing she could make out was faint lines of double-spaced type. It was definitely not a letter. Letters were single-spaced.

“Almost through, dear,” Delores said, her fingers beating a staccato rhythm on the keys.

Hannah gave a lurch, and the chair slid another inch to the side. That was better! She could almost read something! She was leaning forward, squinting to make out the words, when a huge bouquet of flowers replaced the words on the screen.

“It’s time for a break,” Delores stated, leaning back in her chair. “You looked a bit upset when you came in the door, dear. Does it make you sad to see me using your father’s office?”

“A little,” Hannah admitted.

“That’s what I thought. You spent a lot of time in here with him.”

“You got a new desk chair.”

“Yes. I tried using his, but it just wasn’t right for me. So I ordered a new one, and then I kept thinking of what he’d say if he saw me replacing his desk chair. I was going to give it to charity. It’s really too big for this small room. But…I couldn’t just throw it away. He spent so much time in here, sitting in that chair. Sometimes when I’m working late, I’ll turn, and for just a second I think I can see him there. Is that crazy?”

“No, that’s love. And memories.”

Delores blinked several times, and then she gave a little smile. “You’re right. But I really do need to put a file cabinet in here, and there won’t be room with that chair. Would you like to have it?”

Hannah was tempted. She’d always associated that leather desk chair with her father. Then she thought of her condo and how it was already full to the brim with other things that Delores had given her. “I don’t think so, Mother. I’d like it, but I don’t have anywhere to put it.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ll ask Andrea and Michelle, but I don’t think they’ll want it, either. And I really hate to just…toss it.”

“I don’t want you to just toss it, either. Do you think it’d help if we found it a good home?”

Delores thought about that for a moment. “I think it would. Do you have any prospects in mind?”

“Not really, but I’ll think about it and…Norman!”

“Norman?”

“He might want it. His new house has an office, and as far as I know, he doesn’t have any furniture.”

“Oh, that would be perfect!” Delores looked delighted. “I’d like to give it to Norman.”

“Even if I don’t end up marrying him?” Hannah couldn’t help asking.

“Even if you don’t. When can you ask him if he wants it?”

“I’ll ask him tonight. He’s waiting for me at my condo. I’m going to help him pick out a dishwasher.”

“That’s wonderful, dear.”

Delores gave another smile that rang alarm bells in Hannah’s mind. Her mother seemed much too pleased about the fact that she was helping Norman pick out kitchen appliances. “It’s just a dishwasher, Mother. It’s not any more than that.”

“That’s all right, dear. Good marriages aren’t made overnight. Your father and I dated for several years before we married.”

Hannah bit her tongue. Sometimes it was better not to say anything.

“Is that for me, dear?” Delores asked, glancing at the foil-wrapped package Hannah still held in her arms.

“Yes. It’s the chocolate cherry coffeecake that took third place at the baked goods competition tonight.”

“It sounds marvelous! I’ll have some when I take my next break. And that reminds me…you don’t have anyone staying in your guest room, do you?”

“No.” Hannah readied herself for a major imposition. Her mother had mentioned something about a cousin three times removed who’d wanted to visit Lake Eden.

“Oh, good. Would you mind terribly if Michelle stayed with you?”

“You mean…our Michelle?”

“Yes. It’s just that I’m so busy right now. I really don’t have much time to spend with her, and poor Michelle must be lonely with only the television for company. I thought it might be more fun for her if she…”

“That’s fine, Mother,” Hannah agreed, before Delores could continue. “I’d love to have Michelle stay with me.”

“Wonderful! Go out there right now and have her pack up her things. Tell her she can use my car for the week. Then she’ll have her own transportation, and you won’t have to drive her around.”

“But won’t you need your car?”

“No. The only place I’m going is out to the fair, and I can ride with Carrie. We signed up for the same hours at the booth.”

“All right, Mother.”

“Tell her to come in and say goodbye before she leaves. I’d come out, but I still have several more pages to write before I’m through, and then I need to get some sleep. I’m burning the candle at both ends to get everything done.”

“Okay. I’ll tell her.” Hannah stood up, but before she could take a step, her mother stopped her.

“It’s not that I don’t want her, dear. Make that clear, will you? It’s just that with working at Granny’s Attic and supervising the booth at the fair, I don’t have time to get things done around here. And that reminds me…you are going to be at the Historical Society booth from eight to closing on Saturday night, aren’t you?”

Hannah took a deep breath and stifled the complaints she wanted to make. She’d agreed to help out in the Lake Eden Historical Society booth when her mother had asked, assuming she’d be passing out literature and taking contributions. But Delores had tricked her. What Hannah had really agreed to do was sit on a stool in a frilly dress while contributors threw balls at a target that would open a trapdoor and dunk her into a vat of cold water.

“Hannah?” Delores prodded.

“Yes, Mother. I said I would and I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, dear. And thank you for the coffeecake. I’ll have a piece when I take my next break. Chocolate and cherries are my favorite combination.”

“I know,” Hannah said. And then she headed out the door to tell Michelle that she was being transplanted from her mother’s guest room to Hannah’s guest room in the condo, and she didn’t have the slightest idea what their mother was writing.

Hannah woke up with a cat on her head. Moishe had climbed up in an attempt to wake her so she’d shut off the alarm. When she didn’t sit up quickly enough, he batted at several unruly curls that were sticking out over her ear. And when that didn’t work, he gave an ear-splitting yowl that made his wishes abundantly clear.

“Okay, okay,” Hannah groaned, reaching out with one sleep-leaden arm to depress the alarm button on the clock. But the clock wasn’t where it was supposed to be, on the table right next to her bed. The bedside lamp wasn’t there either, and Hannah encountered a perfectly smooth surface. What was going on?

Moishe yowled again, and Hannah realized that what she’d heard wasn’t her alarm clock at all. It was coming from the television, and the clock belonged to a starlet whose face she didn’t recognize. Hannah watched for a moment through partially closed eyes. She’d fallen asleep on the couch last night during Casablanca. Since this wasn’t a young Ingrid Bergman, Hannah figured she was at least one, probably two features past her bedtime.

The starlet reached out to turn off the alarm clock and climbed out of bed with the sheet wrapped around her like a toga. As she walked across the bedroom set and disappeared through a door, Hannah wondered if anyone had ever pulled the sheet off the bed for modesty’s sake while they were alone in their bedroom. It seemed silly. You’d just have to remake the bed from scratch.