Double Fudge Brownie Murder (Hannah Swensen series Book 18)

by Fluke, Joanne

  “I’ll tell them,” Hannah promised.

  “And tell Mike thanks for letting me tackle that . . .”

  Hannah didn’t let him finish. She just pulled him down for a kiss. “I will,” she promised.

  “And tell Norman I’ll invite him out to the station as soon as I get settled in. He was really interested in post-production.”

  “I’ll tell him.”

  “And tell Hannah Swensen that I’ll miss her very much.”

  “I think she already knows that.”

  “And does she also know how much I love her?”

  “She knows.”

  Ross pulled her into his arms again and after a minute or two, Hannah was aware of someone clearing his throat. She looked over at the TSA agent who was manning the first podium, and saw him beckoning to Ross. “You’d better go,” she told Ross. “It’s almost time for your plane to board.”

  “Right.”

  Ross gave her one last hug and went up to the podium. He showed his identification and boarding pass and he was waved on. Hannah watched with tears in her eyes as he put his carry-on and shoes in a bin and placed them on the conveyor belt that led to the X-ray machine. Then he turned to wave as he went through the screening device.

  He stopped to talk to an agent on the other side as he waited for his bins to come off the belt, and Hannah saw the agent grin and nod. Ross slipped on his shoes, not bothering to tie them, picked up his carry-on, and then he was gone.

  Hannah turned away. She’d never felt so alone. She knew he was coming back in a week, but that didn’t really help right now. Ross was gone and she felt desolate.

  “Excuse me, miss.” One of the TSA agents, the one Ross had talked to while he was waiting for his shoes and carry-on, approached her. “Please come with me.”

  “Come with you . . . where?”

  “To the scanner.”

  “But . . . I’m not flying anywhere. I just came here to see someone . . .” Hannah paused as she spotted Ross on the other side of the scanner. “There he is, the man I brought to the airport. What’s happening?”

  “It’ll be fine,” the agent said, smiling at her. “Just follow me, please.”

  Ross was beckoning to her. If he wanted her to follow the TSA agent, she would.

  The agent led her to the scanner and he motioned for Ross to come through. “You’d better ask her in a hurry,” he said to Ross. “Your flight leaves in ten minutes.”

  Ross hurried through the scanner and folded his arms around Hannah. “I couldn’t leave without asking you.”

  “Without asking me what?”

  Ross took both of her hands in his and dropped to one knee. “Hannah Louise Swensen . . . will you marry me?”

  “Oh!” Hannah gasped. Suddenly, her knees began to shake and then she was kneeling by him on the floor. His arms closed around her, his lips met hers, and she knew she’d never felt so happy in her whole life.

  The kiss seemed to last for eons, but then they heard the sound of applause. They looked up to see a circle of TSA agents surrounding them and clapping.

  “You’d better go, sir.” One of the agents helped Ross to his feet and another extended a hand to Hannah. “We called, but we can’t hold the plane for more than five more minutes.”

  “I’ll call you after the party tonight,” Ross said, turning quickly and heading back through the scanner. He ran toward the corridor that led to the gate, stopped to blow her a kiss, and then he was gone.

  “Ma’am?” The TSA agent took Hannah’s arm. “You’d better go now. I wasn’t supposed to let you in this far without a boarding pass, but . . . well . . . my wife would have killed me if I hadn’t. She still believes in love. And that’s after thirty years of marriage to me.”

  “She’s right to keep believing,” Hannah said. “Please tell her thank you for me.”

  Hannah turned. And then she floated all the way down the corridor, out of the airport, and into her cookie truck for the drive back to Lake Eden.

  It’s been a great party so far, Hannah thought.

  Doc looked happy and proud, and her mother looked radiant as they accepted the congratulations of their friends. Dinner had been superb, everything was beautifully decorated, and Sally had outdone herself with the Butterscotch Champagne Cocktail she’d made for the toast to the newlyweds.

  “Hi, Hannah.” Norman came up to her with a smile on his face. “I didn’t get a chance to ask you at the courthouse last night. How many responses did you get to your text?”

  “Sixty-seven,” Hannah said. “I had to send out another broadcast telling everyone that I was okay.”

  “You have sixty-seven people on your contact list?”

  “I do now. Tracey went a little overboard. She put in the ten numbers I had on my list and then she transferred fifty-seven of her own. I really had no idea what I was doing when I sent out that emergency text. I even sent it to Tracey’s classmate, Calvin Janowski!”

  Norman laughed. “I saw the Janowskis at the courthouse. There were a whole lot of people who drove out there to help you.”

  “I know. I was really embarrassed, but it’s great to know that I have that many friends.”

  “Especially Calvin Janowski?”

  “Especially Calvin,” Hannah said with a smile.

  “This is a great party, Hannah. Doc and Delores are having a wonderful time and the band is really good. Let’s get out there and cut a rug.”

  “What?”

  “Cut a rug. You know . . . dance.”

  “Sure, Norman. I’d love to dance with you. Where did you get that phrase?”

  “From my dance teacher. You remember that I took those dance lessons, don’t you?”

  “I do remember,” Hannah said, wishing she could thank Norman’s dance teacher in person. Before he had taken dance lessons, he’d stepped on everyone’s toes.

  “My teacher is in her late eighties and she was a professional dancer. She used to always tell me to ask the ladies if they wanted to cut a rug.”

  “I see.” Hannah managed not to laugh. As far as she knew, they hadn’t even used that phrase in her mother’s day. Of course Delores wasn’t eighty. Delores wouldn’t even admit to sixty-five.

  Norman took Hannah’s arm, led her onto the dance floor, and they began to dance. After a few moments of holding her close, he cleared his throat. “You know I love you, don’t you, Hannah?”

  Hannah’s sensors went on high alert, but she quieted them quickly. “I know you do,” she said.

  “I just wanted you to know that my proposal still stands. I’ve always wanted to marry you and I still do.”

  There was only one thing to say and Hannah said it. “Thank you, Norman. That means a lot to me.”

  “I know that you love me,” Norman continued. “I can feel it in my heart. You do love me, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Hannah said. “I do love you, Norman.”

  “And you do know that we could be happy together?”

  Hannah drew a deep breath and answered quite honestly. “I know that, too.”

  “All right then. That’s good enough for me. I just wanted to let you know that my feelings for you haven’t changed.”

  Hannah smiled. She felt warm all over. Norman loved her and that was a wonderful thing. “I know,” she said and went back into his arms.

  She was sitting at a table with Michelle and Andrea when Mike walked up. “Want to dance, Hannah?” he asked her.

  “Sure.” Hannah got up from her chair and let Mike lead her to the dance floor. The band was playing their last number, “Good Night Ladies.” It was a signal that the party was about to end and very soon it would be time to go home.

  They danced for a minute or two before the band went into the final stanza and the song ended.

  “Uh-oh,” Mike said. “No more music. Do you know any songs, Hannah?”

  “I know ‘Love Me Tender.’ They played it at Mother’s wedding. Believe it or not, she asked for it.”

 
; “ ‘Love Me Tender’? That’s Elvis, isn’t it?”

  “Right.”

  “Okay, that’ll do.”

  “Do you know it?”

  “Good enough to get by. My mother was crazy about Elvis. And I don’t want to stop dancing now.”

  Hannah laughed and started to sing the chorus of “Love Me Tender.” It didn’t really matter that she was off-key because when Mike joined in, he was off-key, too.

  They danced their way into the hallway and out of the dining room, singing loudly all the way. Both of them were laughing and Hannah would have assumed she’d had one too many glasses of champagne if she’d had any at all, which she hadn’t. Mike was fun. There was no doubt about that. Despite the fact that Ross was gone, she was having a wonderful time.

  “Through here, Hannah,” Mike said, opening the door and dancing her into the kitchen. They danced past the dishwashers, the cooks, and the sous-chefs, and into the back hallway.

  “. . . Love me tender, love me true,” they sang as Mike danced Hannah through another door.

  “We’re in the janitor’s closet!” Hannah exclaimed, almost tripping over a mop and pail.

  “I know. We’re here at last. I’ve been waiting for this all night.”

  “Waiting for what?”

  “For this.” Mike pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  “What was that for?” Hannah asked when he released her.

  “For fun. And for I’m really glad you’re all right. You had no idea how scared I was when I got your text.”

  “I was scared, too.”

  “I’ll bet you were! But you’re all right now and I just wanted you to know that I still want to marry you. I’ll always want to marry you. Maybe I won’t be a perfect husband, but I promise you that I’ll try really hard. I love you, Hannah. Do you believe me?”

  “I believe you, Mike,” Hannah said.

  Her mind was overloaded. That must be it, because she hadn’t eaten a morsel or had anything at all to drink. Hannah stood in the hallway outside the janitor’s closet and stared up at the sprinkler on the ceiling. Three proposals in one day. That had to be some sort of a record.

  Her mind was spinning and all she really wanted to do was go home and fall into bed, but she couldn’t seem to make her feet carry her to the outside door. Instead, she was stuck, thinking about the three men in her life and how much they meant to her.

  “Is there something wrong with that sprinkler?”

  A voice spoke behind her and Hannah whirled around. Sally was standing there, staring at her curiously. “No. I’m just fixated on it, letting my mind idle. I’m so tired, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “Well, I do. You haven’t eaten all evening and you’re exhausted. Your mind can’t work if your body needs fuel. Come with me, Hannah. We’re having a postmortem.”

  “A what?”

  “A postmortem, at least that’s what Doc calls it. I call it a post-party wind-down. All the guests are gone and I’ve got fresh appetizers, including the little meatballs you like so much, and champagne cocktails. It’s all ready for you to enjoy in front of the fireplace in the lobby.”

  “Who’s there?” Hannah asked.

  “Delores and Doc, and Michelle and Andrea. That’s all. It’s just the newlyweds and your sisters. Everyone else has gone home.”

  Hannah began to smile as she followed Sally down the hallway. Family, a champagne cocktail, and several of Sally’s delicious meatballs were exactly what she needed. Her family would give her love without asking anything in return, the champagne cocktail would relax her, and Sally’s meatballs would nourish her. It was a perfect ending to a perfectly exhausting day.

  “Oh, good! Sally found you!” Delores said, getting up to hug her eldest daughter. “I was worried that you’d already left.”

  Michelle reached in her pocket and brought out Hannah’s keys. “I told you, Mother. I had the keys to the cookie truck.” Then she turned to Hannah. “I’m driving home. Have a couple glasses of champagne. You deserve it after all the work you did today.”

  “Thank you for a wonderful party, girls,” Doc said. “It was great to come home to something like this. The food was incredible, the music was great, the dining room looked beautiful, and I couldn’t be happier.”

  “The same goes for me,” Delores said, raising her glass in a toast. “I never dreamed a wedding and honeymoon could be so much fun.”

  “Honeymoon?” Doc asked, turning to her. “You haven’t had your honeymoon yet.”

  “But I thought the cruise to Alaska was . . .”

  “Our wedding cruise,” Doc interrupted her. “It was merely a taste of what’s to come. We’re about to embark on our honeymoon.”

  “We are?” Delores smiled at him and all three of her daughters saw the love in her eyes. “Where are we going on our honeymoon, Doc?”

  “To the Garden Estate.”

  “The Garden State?” Delores sounded incredulous. “You mean we’re going to New Jersey?!”

  “No, dear. We’re spending our honeymoon at the Garden Estate, not the Garden State.”

  “Where is the Garden Estate?”

  “It’s local,” Doc told her. “And Sally is going to cater a family dinner there tomorrow night.” He turned to his stepdaughters. “Of course you’re invited. Your invitations are in the mail and you’ll receive them tomorrow, complete with the address of the Garden Estate. Don’t forget to bring your bathing suits. There’s a great pool.”

  “But where is the Garden Estate?” Michelle asked. “You said it was local, but I’ve never heard of it.”

  That was when it struck Hannah with the force of a blow. She knew the exact location of the Garden Estate. She turned to look at Andrea and saw the very same realization dawn on her face. No wonder Howie had told Andrea not to worry about her big real estate sale. They’d been duped and they should have known better!

  “The Garden Estate is a wedding present for your mother,” Doc told Michelle. “And Andrea? You may already have guessed where it is.”

  Hannah laughed out loud. She couldn’t help it. Andrea looked positively stunned.

  “I think I know,” she said in a small voice. “I should have checked the spelling on Nightlife! It starts with a K, right?”

  “Right,” Doc said with a smile, and then he turned to Delores. “Are you ready to go, Mrs. Knight?”

  Delores smiled. “I’m ready. I just love your surprises, dear.”

  The three Swensen sisters watched their mother and stepfather leave, and then Michelle turned to Andrea. “Okay . . . give! Where’s the Garden Estate?”

  “It’s the penthouse suite at the Albion Hotel!” Andrea said, all smiles. “If I’d only looked to see how the buyer’s corporation was spelled, I would have realized that the Knightlife Corporation belonged to Doc Knight!”

  “Wow!” Michelle exclaimed, clearly impressed. “What a great wedding present! I can hardly wait to jump in that pool. I wanted to swim there the first time I saw it and it wasn’t even finished yet.”

  “Doc really fooled me,” Andrea said, but she didn’t sound that upset about it.

  “Me, too,” Hannah admitted. “He was smart. If we’d figured it out, we might not have been able to keep such a big secret.”

  “He could have told me,” Michelle said. “I’m very good at keeping big secrets. I’ve been keeping one from Hannah for six days now.”

  “What secret?” Hannah asked.

  “This secret.” Michelle handed her an official-looking envelope.

  Hannah looked at the envelope. The return address of the Food Channel in New York was printed on the upper left corner. “What’s this?”

  “Open it and see. I entered your name in their dessert chef contest and sent them a sample of your Double Fudge Brownies. This letter came for you on Monday.”

  Hannah opened the letter and read it quickly. “It says they accepted me as a contestant!”

  “And that’s not all,” Michelle looked ex
ceedingly proud of herself. “I called them and they’re sending us two plane tickets and a voucher for a week in a New York hotel right across from their kitchen studio. I checked with my advisor and the school gave me the time off, so I’m going to go with you to New York!”

  “Oh, my!” Hannah said, feeling a little faint with excitement. “I’m going to be baking on national television?”

  “That’s right,” Michelle said. “And you’re going to win, I just know it. The producer told me that the judges thought your brownies were the best they’d ever tasted.”

  Hannah’s heart was racing so hard, she had trouble even speaking. She took another sip of champagne, drew in another deep, steadying breath, and then she said, “Thanks, Michelle. I’ve never been to New York and I can hardly wait! And now, I have a surprise for you two.”

  “What is it?” Andrea asked her.

  “You probably saw me dancing with Norman earlier.” Both Andrea and Michelle nodded, and Hannah continued. “He proposed to me again, tonight.”

  “Oh, boy!” Michelle breathed. “As if you didn’t have enough on your mind!”

  Hannah smiled. “That’s true. And when Sally came to find me, I was staring up at the hallway ceiling, trying to decide what to do. That was right after I danced with Mike and he proposed again, too.”

  Both sisters just stared at her in shock and Hannah laughed. “Oh, that’s not all! When I drove Ross to the airport, he proposed to me right before he boarded the plane.”

  Both of her younger sisters were obviously at a loss for words, and Hannah smiled at them. “I know you both thought that I could never choose between Mike and Norman. And now, with Ross in the picture too, it must have seemed even more impossible. I just wanted to tell you that I did it.”

  There was a moment of silence and then Andrea gave a little gasp. “You did what?” she asked.

  “I reached an informed decision.”

  “And you’re really sure about this?” Michelle asked, looking more than a little worried.

  “Yes, I’m very sure. I just want you two to be the first to know that I’m going to marry Ross when he gets back to Lake Eden.”