Two hours later, Hannah unlocked the door to her condo for the second time that night and headed straight for the phone in the kitchen to exercise a little damage control. Once Mike and Bill had joined them, one thing had led to another with surprising rapidity. Sally had moved them to a secluded table by the big rock fireplace, the ambience had been romantic and intimate, and Mike had flirted with her outrageously. Hannah had stayed much longer than she’d planned, and that had turned out to be a big mistake.

      Hannah wasn’t sure when Delores and Carrie had come in, but they had been eating their main course when Mike had walked Hannah through the room on her way out. It was obvious that Norman had told them she’d refused a dinner date with him, because neither mother had spoken to her as she passed their table with Mike. If scathing looks could kill, Hannah knew she’d be toes-up on the floor of Sally’s dining room right now, deader than the sardines she’d been planning to eat for dinner.

      “Norman?” Hannah was pleased when he answered the phone on the first ring. “I wanted to catch you before your mother got home. I need to explain.”

      “Explain what?”

      “I had to go out to the inn, after all. Andrea had a dinner date with Bill, but he called to say he’d be late and she talked me into driving out to keep her company. Then Bill showed up with Mike, and Andrea asked him to join us.”

      “Okay.” Norman sounded perplexed. “Why did you call to tell me that?”

      “Because our mothers showed up and saw us together. I knew they’d tell you, and I wanted to get to you first.”

      “It’s okay, Hannah. I know you go out with Mike sometimes.”

      “I know you know, but I didn’t want you to think that I refused to go to dinner with you and then turned around and went out with Mike. I figured that if I didn’t explain it, you might be hurt…or maybe even jealous.”

      “I wouldn’t be jealous. We don’t have an exclusive relationship and you can go out with anyone you want to. Besides, I like Mike. He’s a nice guy.” Norman paused. “Hannah?”

      “Yes, Norman.”

      “How about coffee tomorrow morning? I have to be at the Ezekiel Jordan House early, and I could stop by The Cookie Jar.”

      “That’s fine. I’ll treat you to a blueberry muffin.”

      “Great. I’ll see you then. And thanks for calling, Hannah. It was very considerate of you.”

      Hannah was frowning as she hung up the phone. Norman hadn’t been jealous—not even a little. Hannah guessed she should be glad that he wasn’t, but it was real blow to her ego.

      Chapter Six

      Hannah’s headlights cut two converging tunnels through the darkness to illuminate the stop sign at the corner of Main Street and First Avenue. She was early, an hour ahead of her normal schedule, but she felt good about giving Lisa the morning off.

      Nothing was moving as Hannah drove through the silent business district of Lake Eden. Norman’s dental clinic was locked up tight, Hal & Rose’s Café was dark, and there was only a dim security light shining through the front window of the Lake Eden Neighborhood Pharmacy. The town was still slumbering, but Hannah was alert and ready to go to work. This was the opening day of the Winter Carnival, and the cookies they’d baked yesterday wouldn’t last through the day. She had to bake more and deliver them to the warm-up tents.

      Instead of driving down the front of her block, Hannah turned into the alley and passed the back of Claire Rodgers’s dress shop, her neighbor to the north. Claire had mentioned that she planned to open Beau Monde Fashions early this morning, but early for Claire was a whole lot later than early for Hannah. No one would want to buy designer dresses or Winter Carnival wear at five-thirty in the morning.

      Hannah frowned as she turned into The Cookie Jar parking lot, and her headlights flashed across the rear of the building. The back door of her shop was slightly ajar.

      The fact that her door was unlocked didn’t set off warning bells in Hannah’s mind. Everyone in Lake Eden knew that she emptied the cash register before she went home, and there wasn’t much else to steal. If some homeless person had jimmied the back door to secure a warm place to sleep, Hannah couldn’t really blame him. It had been a bitterly cold night. She’d just give the unfortunate soul a hot cup of coffee and a bag of cookies and send him on his way.

      Hannah parked in her usual spot, plugged her extension cord into the strip of outlets on the white stucco wall, and walked closer to examine her door from the outside. The lock was intact and the door showed no sign of pry marks. Janie had simply forgotten to lock it when she left with Connie Mac. Thanking her lucky stars that the gusty winds hadn’t torn her door off its hinges and caused a massive jump in her heating bill, Hannah pushed it open and flicked on the lights.

      At first glance, her startled mind refused to believe what was right in front of her eyes. Then her mouth opened in a soundless gasp of shock. A bag of cake flour was on the floor, its contents scattered over the tiles like super-fine snow. Stainless steel mixing bowls filled with dried cake batter covered every inch of the work island, and sticky spoons and spatulas stood up inside them like miniature flagpoles. Several cartons of eggshells and dirty utensils were piled on the counter near the sink, and next to them was Hannah’s industrial mixer with cake batter glued to its beaters.

      Hannah fumed as she surveyed her usually immaculate kitchen. Janie never would have left this incredible mess. She must have gone back to the inn early, and Connie Mac just hadn’t bothered to clean up before she left.

      Uttering a string of expletives that would have made her mother run for the soap, Hannah stepped inside. It would take her at least an hour to clean her kitchen, and she didn’t have any time to waste. She had just started to wipe off the counters when she realized that there was a sickeningly sweet, charcoal-laden smell in the air. Something was burning!

      Hannah raced to her oven, opened the door, and jumped back as a cloud of black smoke rolled out. Through the smoke, she could see several charred, smoldering lumps that had once been layers for the official