by Joanne Fluke
“That’s true, but she still broke in twice that you know of.”
“Once,” Hannah corrected him.
“But the lights in the window are on. Doesn’t that mean she’s here tonight?”
“Oh, she’s here. But I gave her tacit permission to stay.”
“You left her a note?”
“No, I left her a sandwich and a plate of cookies. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t want her in my shop.”
“All right. Let’s say she figured out that the sandwich and the cookies were for her and she ate them. And she’s all bedded down inside for the night. I still think she’ll run when you come in.”
Hannah thought about that. Norman could be right. Someone desperate enough to break into a shop and sleep on the floor might think the sandwich and cookies were a trap to catch her. “So do you think that I ought to just leave her alone?”
“Absolutely not. For all you know she’s underage and her family is worried sick about her. What we should do is talk to her, find out her story and see if we can do something to help.”
“You said we,” Hannah pointed out. “Does that mean you want to get involved?”
“I’m already involved. I got involved when I agreed to drive you to the shop. There may be something I can do to help her. For instance…what if she has a crippling overbite?”
Hannah burst out laughing and immediately clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. They had to be quiet, and that was difficult when Norman was so funny. She wanted to reach out and give him a hug, but she resisted the impulse. Although she didn’t think he’d misinterpret it, she couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. “I know we should talk to her,” she told him, “but what if you’re right and the minute she sees us, she bolts?”
“That’s where I come in. You go in the back door and I’ll walk around to the front. If she takes one look at you and tries to run out the front, I’ll nab her and bring her back.”
“Okay,” Hannah agreed, giving in to her impulse and hugging Norman anyway. He really was a nice guy. “I’m ready if you are.”
All was quiet as they climbed out of Norman’s sedan. They closed the doors silently and then they headed for the back door of The Cookie Jar.
“Wait for a minute before you go in,” Norman whispered. “I’ll give a low whistle when I get to the front of the building.”
“How about a bird song? That’s what the Indians used to do, at least in the movies.”
“The only bird call I know is the Minnesota state bird.”
“The loon?” Hannah was so surprised, she almost forgot to whisper. “Why did you learn that?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do. Why?”
Norman looked a little embarrassed. “So I could do it at parties when I was in dental school, but there’s no way I’m going to do it now. It sounds like an insane woman laughing, and I’d probably scare both of you to death. Just listen for my whistle, okay?”
“Okay.” Hannah took up her position at the back door and waited. It seemed to take forever for Norman to get around to the front of the building, but at last she heard his signal. She unlocked the back door, stepped in quietly, and threw the deadbolt from the inside. It would take her nocturnal visitor precious seconds to figure out the old-fashioned lock and that would give Hannah time to catch her if she tried to leave the back way.
Hannah tiptoed through her silent kitchen, checking every nook and cranny. No one was hiding in any of the corners, or in the pantry. The bathroom was deserted, but someone had used the shower within the last few hours. There were still a few beads of water on the walls of the enclosure, and the towels were damp to the touch. She came out the door and headed for the front. There was only one place left to check, and that was the coffee shop.
Careful not to make a sound, Hannah pushed open the swinging door to the coffee shop. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the front window and the lights that were on for the second night in a row. Her elfin visitor was here. Now all she had to do was find her.
Hannah moved closer as she noticed a bulky pile of bedding that hadn’t been there when she’d closed up her shop. It was a sleeping bag stretched out under the lights in the window. Hannah was reminded of all those times as a child when she’d fallen asleep under the tree, half-listening to the adults talking, comforted by the twinkling lights and familiar ornaments, and knowing that Christmas was only a week or two away.
The girl was turned toward the lights, rosy in sleep and glowing from the red bulb that was directly above her face. With her long eyelashes and slightly parted lips, she looked like a porcelain doll with rouge-painted cheeks. In the silence of the shop, with only the hum of the cooler behind the counter, Hannah could hear her breathing softly in slumber.
Hannah admired the picture she made for a moment, and then she put her investigational skills to work. The girl’s fingernails were clean and so were her clothes and her sleeping bag. That meant she hadn’t been on the streets for long. She wasn’t starving, either. Her left arm, the one that wasn’t covered by the sleeping bag, was nicely rounded. On the whole she looked healthy and younger than Hannah had expected.
People usually looked younger while they slept. The cares and worries of the day were erased by peaceful oblivion, and a stress-free persona emerged. Perhaps this girl wasn’t as young as she looked, but Hannah had her doubts. She seemed innocent, almost untried, on the brink of discovery but not yet comfortable with her newly adult form.
Hannah began to frown. She really hated to wake her uninvited boarder just to tell her that she could sleep in the coffee shop. It was almost the same as a nurse waking a patient in the hospital because it was time for a sleeping pill. If the girl was a runaway, there was little joy in her life. And right now she appeared to be dreaming about something pleasant, judging by the half-smile on her face. It seemed a shame to shatter her happiness, but it had to be done and the sooner the better. There was no way Hannah was going to let someone who appeared to be far younger than her youngest sister go back on the streets again! Besides, Norman was standing outside the front door shivering, and it was time to let him in.
“Wake up,” Hannah said softly, hoping she wouldn’t cause the girl to panic. “I need to talk to you.”
The girl groaned an inarticulate protest and made a little moue of distaste. “Not yet. Go ’way, Mom.”
She had a mother. Hannah added that to the mental list of facts and suppositions she’d gathered. “Come on, now. Wake up. You can go back to sleep right after you talk to me.”
The girl looked as though she was going to roll over and ignore the intrusion, but then some internal sense of preservation must have kicked in. She sat up with a jolt, her eyes flew open, and she stared hard at Hannah. “Who are you?”
“Hannah Swensen. This is my coffee shop. Who are you?”
“I’m Candy.”
“Candy who?”
“Candy R…never mind. You don’t need to know my name.” The girl wiggled from her sleeping bag and got to her feet. “Please don’t call the cops. I’m leaving right now.”
And before Hannah could open her mouth to say that there was no need to run, the girl grabbed her sleeping bag and raced for the front door, unlocking it in a flash and dashing out.
“Good grief!” Hannah gasped, hardly believing her eyes. She’d never seen anyone move that fast. It was obvious that the girl had been prepared for rude awakenings. She’d slept in her clothes and she must have hidden her other belongings in the bottom of her sleeping bag. All that was left to prove she’d been there in the first place was a bare spot on the floor where she’d moved a table and two chairs so she could stretch out.
“Let me go! Come on, Mister! Please? I wasn’t hurting anything, really I wasn’t!”
Hannah hurried to the door to help Norman, who’d caught the fleeing runaway as she’d rushed out into the night. “It’s okay, Candy. We didn’t call the police and we’re not going to. You’ve got my permiss
ion to stay here for the night.”
“I do?” Candy still looked frightened, but her struggles diminished noticeably. She gave another twist to try to get away from Norman’s grasp, but it was clear her heart wasn’t in it.
“How about some hot chocolate?” Hannah suggested, motioning for Norman to escort her to the kitchen. “You don’t want to catch a cold, dashing outside like that without your coat.”
Candy gave a little nod. “That would be great, but being outside in the cold doesn’t give you a cold. My dad said that when people tell you that, it’s just an old wives’ tale.”
“But I’m not married and I’m not that old,” Hannah shot back, and she was gratified when Candy laughed. For someone who’d been jolted out of sleep by a stranger and had fled into the bitterly cold night with all her belongings, she had managed to maintain her sense of humor. “Is your dad a doctor?”
“My dad was a vet. He’s dead now. You’re sure you didn’t call the cops on me?”
“Of course I didn’t. This is a small town. If I’d called them, they’d be here by now.”
Candy turned to Norman. “How about you? Did you call them?”
“Not me. My cell phone’s still in the car.” Norman glanced down at Candy’s feet. “Isn’t it hard to climb into a sleeping bag when you’re wearing tennis shoes?”
“Not if you unzip it all the way. Getting out is the hard part. The soles stick to the lining of the bag and you have to keep tugging it down.”
“Maybe you should think about wearing two pairs of socks. Then your feet would be warm and you wouldn’t have to bother with shoes.”
Candy shook her head. “I don’t do it to keep my feet warm. I have to be prepared in case I need to run.”
Hannah stood at the stovetop, stirring the hot chocolate and listening to Norman and Candy. He’d only been talking to her for a few moments, but already she seemed comfortable with him.
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Norman told her. “Hannah’s going to let you stay.”
“Why would she do that?”
Hannah jumped in, right on cue. Norman had given her the perfect opening for the plan she’d been hatching. “Because I could use some help around here. Have you ever worked as a waitress?”
“Sure,” Candy replied quickly, and then she gave a little sigh, “but not the way you mean. I could do it, though. I know I could. I mean, I know how to set a table, and pour coffee for people, and dish up food and stuff like that. And I can make candy for your shop. I’ve been making candy for a couple of years now, ever since I turned thir…”—Candy stopped abruptly and swallowed hard—“…ever since I was really young.”
Hannah smiled. Getting information from a chilled, tired teenager wasn’t at all difficult. She’d already learned that Candy’s last name started with R, she had a mother and a deceased father who’d been a veterinarian, and a couple of years had passed since she’d been thirteen. If this kept up, they’d have the story of Candy’s life before they’d finished their hot chocolate.
“Here you go,” Hannah said, carrying Candy’s mug to the workstation and setting it down in front of her. She poured a mug for Norman, filled one for herself, and delivered those, too. “I don’t know if you’re still hungry, but would you like a cookie?”
Candy looked delighted. “You bet! I mean…yes, please. You make really good cookies.”
“Thanks.” Hannah hid a grin as she carried a plate of her newest creation to the table. Obviously, Candy had been taught to be polite and that was another fact to add to the mix. “You two can be my taste testers,” she told them. “I’m trying out a new cookie and I’m not sure what I’m going to call it. Maybe you can help me come up with a name.”
“They’re good,” Norman said, after the first bite. “That’s raspberry I taste, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I made them with seedless raspberry jam.”
Candy finished her first cookie and started to reach for a second. Then she drew her hand back and looked at Hannah. “Could I please have another?”
“Of course. Help yourself.”
“I like the way the outside crunches and the inside is chewy.” Candy took another bite and then she looked over at Hannah again. “Could you make them with other jams, like blackberry? Or strawberry, or mixed berry?”
“I don’t see why not. They might not be as attractive if you used blueberry, but any other berry should be fine.”
“That’s perfect, then. How about if you call them Merry Berry Cookies? It rhymes and everything, and that means it’ll be easy to remember. And eating them makes you happy so that’s where the ‘merry’ part comes in.”
“What a great idea!” Norman praised her. “‘Merry Berry Cookies’ sounds perfect to me. Are you sure you don’t have an advanced degree in marketing?”
Candy giggled and Hannah felt like beaming. Norman was helping to relax her, and perhaps she’d tell them more about her background and what she was doing here in Lake Eden.
“I don’t have an advanced degree in anything. I haven’t even finished…” Candy halted and cleared her throat. “I haven’t even declared my major yet.”
Hannah glanced quickly at Norman. They both knew what Candy had been about to say. I haven’t even finished high school, would be a fairly safe guess.
“How old are you, Candy?” Norman asked the question that was on the tip of Hannah’s tongue. It would be interesting to see how many fictional years Candy would add to her young life.
“Twenty,” Candy said, without batting an eyelash, and Hannah got the impression she’d told that particular lie before. “I’ll be twenty-one next month.”
Hannah and Norman locked eyes. Even though they didn’t say a word, Hannah got the feeling that Norman could read her mind and he agreed with what she was thinking. More questions would serve no purpose other than to elicit more lies from Candy. It was time to call it a night and let her think they’d believed her.
Norman gave a yawn that Hannah suspected was purely theatrical, and finished his mug of hot chocolate. “We’d better hit the road, Hannah. Tomorrow’s a workday and you have to get up early.”
“Right,” Hannah agreed, and then she turned to Candy. “You’ll be perfectly safe here if you lock the door behind us. I’ll be back around five tomorrow morning to start the baking.”
“I’ll help you. I like to get up early. Is there anything I can do before you come in?”
“Only if you get up before five.”
“Oh, I will. I’ll be up by four-thirty.”
“Then you can put on the coffee.” Hannah motioned toward the kitchen pot. “The grounds and filters are in the cupboard to the left of the sink.”
“Okay. It’s just like the pot Dad had at the clinic, so I know how to do it. How strong do you like it?”
“As strong as it gets.”
Candy nodded quickly. “You want me to fill the basket almost all the way to the top with grounds?”
“That’d be perfect. Thanks, Candy.” Hannah slipped into her coat and pulled on her gloves. “I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
Hannah and Norman made their exit. They stopped outside the door, and by unspoken agreement they waited until they heard Candy lock the door behind them. Then they hurried to Norman’s car and climbed in, shivering.
“I’ll get the heater going right away,” Norman promised, firing up the engine and turning the heater to high.
Hannah shivered as he backed up the car. She shivered some more as he drove out of the parking lot and down the alley. But when Norman stopped at the end of the alley, she realized that she’d stopped shivering. As a matter of fact, she had to slip off her gloves and unzip her parka a bit because she was too warm. Norman’s heater was pouring out waves of hot air that felt positively tropical.
One glance at the windshield and Hannah was even more impressed. Instead of the patches of frost that clung to the inside of her windshield for the first five or six miles of winter driving, Norma
n’s windshield was already picture window clear and they’d been driving less than a block!
Just to make sure, Hannah reached out to touch one of the buttons on the radio. It was warm instead of icy cold. “I love it,” she breathed.
“You love what?”
“Your heater. If I knew how to hook it up, I’d steal it and put it in my truck.”
“But then I’d freeze. Maybe we’d better work out a compromise that’ll make both of us happy.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I could drive you to work every morning and back home every night. Then both of us would stay warm.”
Hannah had a feeling she knew what was coming, but she decided she’d bite anyway. “But you live in town, and I live out of town. Would you really be willing to make two round trips a day?”
“I’d only have to make one round trip if I stayed at your condo.” Norman gave her a grin that looked positively devilish, and then he waggled his eyebrows up and down to add to the illusion.
Hannah laughed at his antics. “Only in your dreams, Norman!” she retorted. But she had to admit that Norman’s compromise did have a certain appeal that wasn’t entirely due to the cold winter weather.
MERRY BERRY COOKIES
Don’t preheat the oven yet—this cookie dough has to chill before baking.
1 ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks, ¾ pound)
2 cups white (granulated) sugar
½ cup melted raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, or any berry jam (I used Knott’s seedless raspberry)
2 beaten eggs
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour (pack it down in the cup—don’t sift it)
1/3 cup white (granulated) sugar for later
1/3 cup berry jam for later