"I'll put it on the wall above the kitchen table,' Delores said, finishing her cookie and rising to her feet. "I've got to get back, Hannah. We're almost ready to hang the parlor curtains."
"Hold on a second." Hannah carried the plate over to the counter and transferred the cookies to one of her distinctive carrier bags. It was a miniature shopping bag, white with red handles, and the words, "THE COOKIE JAR," were stamped in red block letters on the front. "Take these with you. Carrie loves my Peanut Butter Melts."
"I know she does. So does Norman." Delores frowned slightly as she took the bag. "You've been neglecting him lately, Hannah. Carrie tells me that Ronni Ward has been in twice this month to have her teeth cleaned, and you know what that means!"
"Her teeth are dirty?" Hannah teased, knowing full well what her mother had meant.
"Don't be flippant, Hannah. Norman's single and he's got eyes in his head. Just in case you've forgotten, Ronni won the Eden Lake Bikini Contest three years in a row."
Hannah sobered as her mother went out the door. She found it difficult to picture Norman with a beauty queen, but thinking about it gave her an unpleasant sensation in the pit of her stomach. She told herself that it couldn't be jealousy. Just because she dated Norman occasionally and their mothers continually tried to push them together didn't mean that she was serious about him. All the same, it certainly couldn't hurt to give Norman a call to let him know that she was still alive and kicking.
Hannah felt a real sense of accomplishment as she glanced around her kitchen. Trays of cookies filled the slots on the baker's racks and covered every inch of the counter. It had been a productive morning. While Lisa had waited on their customers, Hannah had baked more cookies. Even if the Winter Carnival visitors were as ravenous as a pack of starving wolves, they'd have enough cookies to last through tomorrow morning's events. By then there would be fresh cookies, and Hannah planned to drop them off at the warm-up tents by noon at the latest.
Unable to resist tasting her work, Hannah plucked an Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookie from a nearby rack and nibbled at the edge. The taste of butter and sugar blossomed on her tongue and she smiled in satisfaction. Her cookies were perfectly baked, crisp on the outside and sweet and flaky inside.
There was a knock at the back door, and Hannah ditched the cookie in her apron pocket. She'd gone to her mother's house on Tuesday for their weekly mother-daughter dinner and saved herself from store-bought pound cake with canned whipped cream, pre-chopped nuts, and jarred caramel syrup by claiming !bat she was on a diet.
"Hannah? You're here, aren't you?"
It was her sister's voice. Hannah retrieved the cookie from her pocket and opened the door.
Andrea blew in on a gust of wind, balancing a stack of real estate flyers in her arms. "Did Lisa give you my message?"
"Of course. It'll be great to see Janie again."
"I know. I'm really excited about it." Andrea set her flyers down on the only available space, the top of a stool at the work island. "Good heavens! How many cookies did you bake?"
"Enough to last until noon tomorrow. The girls from Mrs. Baxter's home ec class are setting up food stands in the warm-up tents."
"If the weather stays this cold, they're bound to have lots of customers."
Hannah noticed that Andrea was shivering, and she poured her a mug of coffee. "Here. You look half-frozen."
"I am. Is that decaffeinated?"
"No. Do you want me to put on a pot?"
"Absolutely not. I need all the caffeine I can get this morning. AI wants me to drop off flyers all over town. I even have to drive some out to the Lake Eden Inn."
Hannah placed a plate of Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies in front her sister. They were Andrea's favorite. "You'd better have some chocolate for energy."
"That's a great excuse; I'll take it." Andrea grabbed a cookie and took a huge bite. "Mbsoluphly muov mmm-meese."
"I know you do." Hannah interpreted her sister's mumbled comment, "Absolutely love these," correctly. "I'll take e the flyers to the inn for you. I have to go out there at noon to t meet Connie Mac."
Andrea swallowed her bite of cookie in a rush. "You're meeting Connie Mac?"
"That's right. Mayor Bascomb's tied up with a meeting and he asked me to give her a tour of Lake Eden."
"You have all the luck!" Andrea sounded envious. "Let me go with you. Please, Hannah?"
Hannah remembered Tom Sawyer and the whitewashed fence. Andrea would be a big help on the tour, but she didn't want to seem too eager. "I don't know. I'm supposed to do it alone. Are you hoping to run into Janie?"
"Janie won't be there. She told me she'd be out at the mall most of the day, helping Mr. MacIntyre with the boutique. But I'd just love to meet Connie Mac. I'm her biggest fan, and I can help you give the tour. You know how good I am with people."
"True," Hannah conceded. Andrea had the knack for turning a stranger into a friend in five minutes flat. It was one of the reasons that she was so successful as a real estate agent.
"Can I, Hannah? I'll do something for you, I promise. Anything you want."
Hannah began to smile. The expression on Andrea's face was the very same one she'd worn in sixth grade when she'd begged to wear Hannah's pearl confirmation earrings to school. "Well. . . I guess so."
"Oh, thank you, Hannah!" Andrea glanced down at her red plaid jacket and tailored slacks. "I wonder if I should dash home and change clothes."
"You look fine," Hannah said, averting what would surely turn out to be an hour of primping. "We have to leave in thirty minutes, and we don't want to be late."
Andrea glanced at the clock that hung over the sink. "You're right. We certainly wouldn't want to make Connie Mac wait for us. Maybe we should leave now."
"Half an hour," Hannah insisted. amused at her sister's eagerness. "It only takes twenty-five minutes to drive out to the inn."
"All right, if you think so. Maybe I should drive."
"Good idea," Hannah agreed quickly. She'd been meaning to clean out her truck for weeks, but she hadn't gotten around to it yet. Andrea's car was always pristine because she used it to transport her potential buyers.
There was a knock on the back door, but before Hannah could get up from her stool, Delores opened it herself. "Oh, good. I'm glad you're here, Andrea. Now both of you can see the Ezekiel Jordan House. Put on your coats and come right over. And use the front door so you can get the full effect."
The door closed again and Andrea looked amused as she turned to Hannah. "Nothing's changed. Mother still orders us around like she did when we were kids."
"I know," Hannah said. getting up to grab her parka. "But it's not just us. Mother orders everyone around."
"I can't believe Mother put the whole thing together in less than a month," Andrea commented as they emerged from the back door of the Ezekiel Jordan House and walked across the snow to her Volvo.
Hannah waited until her sister had unlocked the doors and then she slid into the passenger seat. "I'm just as impressed as you are."
"It's bound to be the highlight of the Winter Carnival." Andrea started her engine and pulled out into the alley. "Especially since she's got Ezekiel Jordan's original rose- wood desk. What I wouldn't give for a desk like that! The gold inlay is just spectacular."
Hannah thought about the re-creation they'd just seen as they drove down the alley. Delores had a real knack for arranging period furniture for display, and despite her concern about Abigail Jordan's kitchen utensils, Hannah had found only two out of place. "I liked the parlor the best. It looked so authentic, I could just see Ezekiel and Abigail sitting on their horsehide sofa watching television."