Chapter Ten
T
he Cardamom Cuties had just come out of the oven and Hannah was indulging herself with a cookie and a cup of coffee when Michelle came through the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the coffee shop. “Norman’s here,” she announced.
Hannah drew a deep breath. She wasn’t exactly sure how to react to Norman now that he was engaged to Doctor Bev. The easy caring relationship they’d shared in the past suffered an abrupt reversal, and she felt as if she were walking on eggshells. Now, instead of saying exactly what was on her mind, she was forced to think before she spoke, and she’d never felt the need to do that with Norman before.
“He wants to see you,” Michelle continued, shrugging slightly. “I said I’d check to see if you were still here.”
Michelle was giving her an out, and Hannah was grateful. But just as her youngest sister had pointed out the previous night, Lake Eden was small and they were bound to run into each other. She closed her eyes for a moment, took another deep breath to try to calm her pounding heart and said, “Send him back.”
“Are you sure? You don’t look as if you really want to see him.”
“I do, and I don’t,” Hannah admitted. “But I don’t want to shut any doors between Norman and me right now. Go ahead and send him back here, Michelle. I’ll handle it.”
Michelle looked a little worried. “Okay if that’s what you want me to do. I’ll go tell him right now.”
When Michelle had gone back into the coffee shop, Hannah poured a cup of coffee for Norman. Her hands were shaking slightly and she spilled a few drops on the counter, but that was no surprise. She was nervous about seeing him. What did he want with her? Was he going to be perfectly friendly and simply ask her about Cuddles and how the cat he loved so much was doing? Or was he going to tell her that he couldn’t endure being ostracized from her, and despite the fact that he had a child with Doctor Bev, he was going to break off their engagement for the second time and banish his ex-ex-fiancée to the Hull Rust Mahoning mine, the only open pit iron ore mine still operating in Minnesota?
Hannah gave a little laugh as she carried Norman’s coffee to the stainless steel work island. She was letting her imagination run away with her. She fetched two Cardamom Cuties for Norman to try and set them on a napkin next to the coffee. Then she sat down on the stool across from his and took a deep breath. She was nervous. There was no denying that. But she had to force herself to calm down, and maintain her composure for whatever came next.
The door between the coffee shop and the kitchen opened, and Norman came in with a grim express on his face. “Hi, Hannah,” he said, sounding every bit as serious as he had on the day he’d told her he had a daughter with Doctor Bev. “It’s good to see you. How’s Cuddles?”
“She’s just fine,” Hannah reassured him. “She’s playing, she’s eating, and she’s adapting very well. Mike saw her last night and she was playing chase with Moishe. If you ask him, I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it. “
“Good. That’s good.”
Hannah stopped and debated what to say next. Should she tell Norman that Cuddles missed him? Or would mentioning that just upset and depress him?
It only took a moment for Hannah to decide. Norman needed to know. “Cuddles still looks out the living room window as if she expects you to come and pick her up.”
Norman blinked several times. “You’re probably right,” he said. “It’s what I used to do.”
“Maybe, if you came out to see her on a regular basis, she’d know what to expect, she’d adjust to the new schedule, and she’d be more content.”
“I can’t do that, Hannah. I was afraid that Cuddles would miss being at home, but … well … she can’t be at home any longer. Bev’s allergic. The last time I saw her after seeing Cuddles, she had a full-blown allergy attack. She said it was from the cat dander on my clothes. And now she gets upset when I even mention visiting Cuddles.”
Then maybe you shouldn’t mention it to her,
Hannah thought, but she didn’t say it. Perhaps Bev really was allergic to cats. “Can’t her doctor prescribe some kind of medication? They have a lot of new allergy drugs on the market.”
“I know, but nothing seems to work for Bev. Every allergy drug she’s tried makes her so groggy and dizzy, she can barely walk across the room. It’s not that she doesn’t
want
me to see Cuddles. She knows how much I miss her, and she feels really terrible about all this.”
Hannah didn’t believe that for a second. Hannah knew she had cat dander all over her clothes, especially since shedding season for Moishe seemed to be at least eleven and a half months long. Yet the last time Hannah had talked to Doctor Bev at her birthday party in February, Norman’s fiancée hadn’t even sniffled. Perhaps Hannah didn’t have the right to pass judgment when she wasn’t an expert on allergies, but she was almost positive that Doctor Bev’s allergies were fake. She was also almost positive that Doctor Bev had Norman buffaloed into thinking they were real.
“Well,” Hannah said, determined to be cheerful and upbeat. “You don’t have to worry about Cuddles. She’s having a good time with Moishe and you know how well they get along.”
“Oh, I know. They’re best friends. You know … I miss Moishe, too. I used to love it when you brought him to my place. Remember how they used to sit on the kitty staircase I built, and stare out at the birds in the trees?”
“I remember.”
The only sound in the kitchen was the hum of the motor in the walk-in cooler. Hannah could tell that Norman was lost in his thoughts, and she was lost in hers. She thought about the house they’d designed together. In a way, she regretted even hearing about the Minneapolis paper’s Dream House contest. The idea that Norman would actually build it hadn’t crossed her mind. The house had turned out to be perfect. She’d loved taking Moishe out there and spending time with Norman in the house they’d designed for the contest. But now that Norman was re-engaged to Doctor Bev, everything was different. If she’d been able to see into the future, she might never had agreed to enter the Dream House contest with him in the first place. She’d put countless hours and a lot of hard work into collaborating on the blueprints. It just wasn’t fair that Doctor Bev would be marrying Norman and living in Hannah’s dream house with him.
There was a long silence, and finally Norman spoke. “Those were really good days, weren’t they, Hannah.”
Hannah nodded. She could tell that Norman was depressed, and she decided to change the subject. “So why are you here, Norman?” she asked him.
“I just came to tell you that Bev put the wedding invitations in the mail yesterday. You should get yours today. I know it’s awkward, but I hope you’ll come. Bev doesn’t want a church wedding, so we’re holding the ceremony upstairs in the community center. The reception’s downstairs in the banquet room.”
Hannah tried not to look too dismayed. She’d been hoping that something, anything really, would happen to break up Norman and Doctor Bev, but the chance of that happening was growing slimmer by the day. “When’s the wedding?” she managed to ask, forcing the words past the lump in her throat.
“Two weeks from now, on Saturday. Anyway, I just want to say that I’m still here for you, Hannah. I always will be. And if there’s anything I can do to help you investigate Buddy Neiman’s death, just let me know.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that,” Hannah said, even though she knew she wouldn’t call on Norman unless she absolutely had to. There was no point. And even if she had to call on him, there was the distinct possibility that Doctor Bev wouldn’t let him help her anyway.
“Here’s the autopsy report.” Delores plunked an envelope down on the kitchen counter. “Now where’s Lisa’s new puppy?”
“Sammy should be here any minute. Herb called Lisa to say he was leaving Doctor Bob’s office, and Sammy got a clean bill of health. They won’t have the results of the blood work until tomorrow, but Doctor Bob says there are no signs that there’s anything seriously wrong.”
“That’s good. I picked up a few things for him at the mall.”
“That was nice of you,” Hannah said. And then she turned to look at her mother. Delores was carrying an enormous bag from the pet store. “That looks like more than a few things. What do you have?”
Delores opened the bag and pulled out a fire-engine red quilted dog bed with a detachable pillow. “There are zippers,” she said, pointing them out. All you have to do is pull the foam out, it’s all in one piece, and put the quilted part in the washing machine.”
“That’s a very nice present, Mother.”
“I thought so. I chose red because I know it’s your favorite color.”
Hannah was confused. “But Mother … Sammy is Lisa’s dog, not mine.”
“I know that. Bu Lisa told me that little Sammy is going to be spending a lot of time here at The Cookie Jar. And he might as well have a bed that’s your favorite color, don’t you think?”
“I think … why not?” Hannah gave a little laugh. “Thank you from Sammy, Lisa,
and
me.”
“Oh, that’s not all. I bought some toys, too.” Delores reached into the bag and pulled out a plush duck. “If Sammy bites down on its stomach, it quacks.”
“That’s cute,” Hannah said, taking the duck and squeezing it around the middle. It made a series of quacking noises that sounded so realistic that Lisa came rushing into the kitchen. “What’s … oh. It’s a toy! Let me see it.”
Hannah tossed her the duck, which quacked several times on the way. Lisa caught in around the middle and it issued another volley of quacks.
“Look at this one,” Delores said, pulling toys from her bag. “Here’s a stuffed rooster. And this one’s a horse that whinnies. And I’ve got a pig that oinks, a cow that moos, and a sheep that does … whatever it is that sheep do.” Delores turned to her eldest daughter. “What is it called, Hannah?”
“It’s called a bleat, Mother.”
“Really? I don’t think I ever knew the name for the sounds sheep make.”
“They’re not the only animals that bleat. It’s also the word for the wavering sound made by a goat or calf.”
Lisa reached out and squeezed the sheep and it started to bleat. Not to be outdone, Hannah grabbed the duck and the pig, and activated them. Then Delores entered into the fun with the rooster and the horse. Michelle, who was still in the coffee shop, heard the racket in the kitchen and came in to check. When she saw what they were doing she hurried in to activate the plush cat and plush dog. The four women were having so much fun, squeezing the stuffed animals and laughing, that they didn’t hear the back door open. They were perfectly unaware that Herb was standing there watching them until he said, “And what do we have here? Wannabe farmers?”
Lisa giggled, Hannah winced, Michelle blushed, and Delores tried to look as if she were merely an observer of three other women making fools of themselves.
“They were trying out the toys I bought for Sammy,” Delores explained.
“Right.” Herb glanced at the toy rooster and the toy horse in Delores’s hands and grinned. It was clear that he wasn’t fooled by her uninvolved observer act.
And then she quickly changed the subject. “Where’s your new little guy?” Delores asked, changing the subject before he could comment.
Herb smiled. “Right here,” he said, flipping his coat back to show Sammy snuggled in a baby carrier, his ears sticking up in two sharp points and his black eyes moving from face to face.
“Adorable,” Delores pronounced, stepping forward to stroke Sammy’s head. “He’s just darling.”
“Yes, he is.” Lisa beamed like a mother accepting compliments on her newborn.
“I can hold him while you go out to my car,” Delores said, sitting down at the workstation and holding out her arms. “The keys are over there on the counter and the crate’s in the backseat.”
“Crate?” Lisa asked, looking surprised.
“Two boys from the pet sore loaded it for me, but it’s too heavy for me to carry in. It should go perfectly in that corner,” she pointed to the corner closest to her, “and it’s made out of wood so that it can double as a table.”
“That’s clever,” Hannah said.
Lisa smiled. “Yes, it is. We can always use another flat surface for stacking cookie boxes.”
The swinging door opened and Mike stepped into the kitchen. “What’s everyone doing back here? The coffee shop’s packed with customers. Marge and Jack can’t handle everything alone.”
“My fault,” Michelle said. “I was only going to be gone a minute, but we were having so much fun, I lost track of time.”
“Me, too,” Lisa admitted. She hurried over to give Sammy a little kiss on his head, and then she turned to Herb. “Do you think you can bring in that crate by yourself? I really should be up front. It’s time for another performance.”
“I can probably do it. And if it’s too big for me to handle alone, I’ll snag Mike to lend a hand.”
“Sure. I’ll help,” Mike agreed. “Where’s the crate?”
“In Mother’s car,” Hannah answered him.
“My keys are on the counter,” Delores added. “It was too big for the trunk so they put it in the back seat.”