"Of course not. I didn"t want him to think that I was eavesdropping."

"But you were, weren"t you?" Mich.e.l.le asked.

"No, I wasn"t eavesdropping. I stopped by the sheriff"s station to ask him what time he thought he"d be home. When I approached his office door, I heard him talking on the phone. The problem was, I wasn"t sure whether it was a private conversation or not. I knew that if it was private, it would have been rude for me to go in, so I stood there politely to wait until Bill was through."

Hannah bit back a grin. If she ever needed a good spin doctor, Andrea would be her first choice.

"Anyway, I could tell Bill was talking to the man at Tachyon in Fort Lauderdale because he said it was really nice of them to offer to fly both of us there, but he really didn"t think it was fair to leave me alone in a hotel room all day with nothing to do in a strange city while he toured their headquarters and met with their top executives."

"That was considerate," Delores commented.

"Yes, it was. And I only had to point it out to him once last night." Andrea stopped and shook her head. "They must want him really bad."

Badly, Hannah mentally corrected her sister, but she didn"t say a peep. This was not the time for a grammar lesson.

"Anyway, he just listened for a few minutes and then he told them he"d think it over. And it turned out that it was really smart of him to say that about not wanting to leave me alone at the hotel."

"They offered him something else?" Hannah guessed.

"And how! They said they"d introduce me to one of the executives" wives my age and she"d show me around Fort Lauderdale. They said she"d take me to lunch at a wonderful restaurant where I could meet the other wives, and then the next morning a car would pick us up and we"d all spend the day at the most exclusive spa in town. They even mentioned a shopping spree to show me Fort Lauderdale"s upscale boutiques. Can you believe it? It seems like the more Bill says no, the more they want him."

"I"m going to keep that in mind when I"m out there looking for jobs," Mich.e.l.le said.

Andrea was silent for a moment, and then she gave a wry laugh. "I think that only works if they come to you. If I"d tried that with Al at the realty office, he would have told me to get lost. And then he would have turned right around and hired someone else."

WACKY CAKE.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, rack in the middle position.

First set of ingredients: 1 and cups all-purpose flour (don"t sift-just scoop it up and level it off) 1 cup white (granulated) sugar teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 3 heaping Tablespoons cocoa powder (about a quarter cup) Choose a pan. Suzy"s cousin used a round cake pan about 2 inches high, her mother used a rectangular cake pan 8 inches by 12 inches, and her aunt used a square 9-inch by 9-inch cake pan that was two inches high. (Suzy says that opinions vary, but she doesn"t think the cake cares.) Hannah"s Note: Suzy didn"t say to spray the pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, but I figured it couldn"t hurt, so I did.

Put the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a bowl. Suzy says to sift all the ingredients together, but Mich.e.l.le and I just stirred them with a fork until everything was well blended.

Make three "pukas" (Suzy says those are holes or wells) in the mixed dry ingredients, just as if you were making a well in your scoop of mashed potatoes to hold the gravy.

Gather the second set of ingredients.

Second set of ingredients: 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 Tablespoon vinegar (we used raspberry vinegar-it was good!) 1 cup cold water Put the vegetable oil in the first puka, the vanilla extract in the second puka, and the vinegar in the third puka.

Pour the cup of cold water all over the top of the cake.

Mix everything up with a fork or a wooden spoon. Continue to beat (or fork) until the batter is smooth.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Serve warm.

Suzy"s cousin says you shouldn"t remove the cake from the pan-just put the pan on the table and serve it that way. Suzy"s aunt says you should serve it with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream. Suzy"s mother frosts it in the pan. She sifts 2 cups of powdered sugar with a dash of salt in a bowl, and stirs in a teaspoon of vanilla extract and enough cream to bring it the right consistency.

Hannah"s Note: This is a great dessert for a novice baker to make!

Chapter Fourteen.

They were all sitting in the living room, relaxing with another cup of coffee. A platter of cookies, bars, and frosted cake sat on the coffee table inviting everyone except the cats to indulge. Moishe had come out from under Hannah"s bed and he was sitting on Mich.e.l.le"s lap. Cuddles, the sweet little cat that she was, had just left Andrea"s lap and was crossing the middle of the couch toward Delores.

"Why, just look at this!" Delores remarked, clearly pleased as punch when Cuddles climbed onto her lap. "She likes me!"

Hannah watched as Cuddles started to purr and gazed adoringly up at her mother. Then she turned to look at Moishe, and was forced to cover her burst of laughter with a cough. Moishe"s eyes had narrowed to slits, his hair was beginning to bristle, and his ears were flat against his head. Moishe was not at all pleased. He was staring at Cuddles as if her name were Benidicta Arnold, the biggest feline traitor ever to enter the Lake Eden city limits.

Delores had just said something about Joe Dietz and how he wanted her to come to his house to look at the silver he"d inherited from his sister, when there was a knock at the door. Hannah got up to answer it. This time it was bound to be Mike.

But she was wrong again and her eyes widened in surprise. "Norman?" she gasped.

Before Norman could answer, there was a gleeful yowl from the direction of her mother"s lap and a thud as Cuddles. .h.i.t the rug running. Not to be outdone, Moishe jumped down with a heavier thud to run after her.

The spectacle of two cats racing toward him didn"t seem to faze Norman in the slightest. He opened his arms to catch the two flying felines as they jumped up almost simultaneously, sending him back a foot or two on the landing.

"Good heavens!" Delores gasped. "That was quite a sight!"

"You should have seen it from here," Hannah told her. "I thought they were going to knock poor Norman over the rail."

Norman laughed and nuzzled the two purring cats. "Not a chance," he said, carrying them inside and placing them in their favorite spots on the back of the couch.

"Coffee?" Hannah asked him.

"Thanks, I could use some." Norman gave her a quick smile and then he turned to Delores. "Mother said to tell you she"s going to bring you back some Venetian gla.s.s."

"Wonderful!" Delores looked very pleased.

"And then Earl said he was going to buy you some completely outrageous shoes."

Delores laughed. "I"m not sure I trust Earl"s taste in shoes, not after those beaded boots he bought at the mall!"

"I can"t say I blame you. Those eagles were pretty colorful."

"Well, I hope they have a simply wonderful time sightseeing, and shopping, and everything else. And how was your visit with your old friends in Minneapolis?"

"Just fine. I toured the clinic. It"s ultramodern, and it"s got everything a dentist could possibly want."

To Hannah"s ears, Norman sounded a bit envious, but perhaps that was only her imagination. She knew Norman liked his own dental clinic and he"d refurbished it just the way he wanted.

"How long has it been since you"ve seen your friends?" Andrea asked, making conversation.

"I saw two of them at the dental convention I went to last year, but I haven"t seen the other two for at least three years."

Hannah entered the living room with Norman"s coffee and handed it to him. "I thought you weren"t coming back until tomorrow." And then she asked the question that was uppermost in her mind. "What brought you back early?"

"I heard about the murder on the news. And I wanted to get back here as soon as I could. Do you need anything?"

"I don"t think so, but I"m glad you"re back," Hannah said. She smiled at him and fought back a rush of happy tears. Norman had thought she might need him and he"d come running. He really did love her.

"Besides, my friends all had plans for this evening. And it seemed silly for me to stay over just so I could drop by the clinic in the morning to say goodbye. I drove partway here, and then I stopped at The Moosehead for something to eat."

"I remember The Moosehead!" Delores exclaimed. "I"ll never forget the night Carrie and I won their karaoke contest."

"Neither will we," Mich.e.l.le remarked, exchanging meaningful glances with her sisters.

"That"s where I heard about the murder," Norman went on. "I was eating a steak sandwich at the bar, and it was on the news."

Hannah"s euphoria at Norman"s return took a nosedive. He hadn"t dropped everything to race back to her. He"d been coming home anyway.

"Try these, Norman," Delores said, pushing the platter closer to Norman and pointing to the Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie Bars. "Hannah and Mich.e.l.le baked them, and they"re divine."

"The Aggression Cookies are good too," Andrea offered. "And so is the Wacky Cake."

Norman shook his head. "Thanks, but I really can"t eat any more. I had a hot fudge sundae before I left The Moosehead."

You betrayed me with dessert! Hannah"s mind shouted. You know I always have something good to serve with coffee, but you ordered dessert at The Moosehead anyway.

It was difficult not to react when one"s sensibilities had been so badly injured, but Hannah did her very best. She knew it was only a matter of time before the pleasant expression on her face slipped.

"I"d better pack up Cuddles and get home," Norman said. "Rose is booked for an early morning checkup before she opens the cafe, and it"ll be close to midnight before I get home."

"But aren"t you going to stay to say h.e.l.lo to Mike?" Delores asked. "He should be here any minute to take Hannah"s statement."

Norman turned to Hannah. "Do you need me to stay?" he asked her.

"No, not really."

"Good. I"ve had two really late nights in a row, and all I can think of is getting some sleep."

"I"ll help you get Cuddles in her carrier," Mich.e.l.le said, jumping up from her seat on the couch.

Hannah said nothing. She was too surprised to speak. Not only had Norman refused her baked goods, he"d chosen to go home when he knew Mike was coming to see her.

"Something"s wrong with Norman," Delores whispered, mirroring Hannah"s thoughts.

"I know."

"Aren"t you going to find out what it is?" Andrea asked, keeping her voice low.

"He"s probably just tired," Hannah said, covering for Norman even though she agreed that he was behaving strangely. "I"ll see what he says when I walk him to the door."

"All ready," Mich.e.l.le said brightly, coming into the living room carrying a bag with all the things Norman had brought for Cuddles. She was followed by Norman, who was carrying Cuddles in her carrier.

"Thanks, Hannah," Norman said. "I know she had a really good time."

Hannah jumped up and took the bag from Mich.e.l.le. "Watch Moishe, will you? I"ll see Norman and Cuddles out."

When Hannah stepped out the door with Norman, she took a deep gulp of the warm night air. The humidity was high and the air felt heavy, laden with the scent of lilacs from the hedge that bordered the back of the condo complex.

"I can take that," Norman said, holding out his hand for the bag.

"But can you handle that and the carrier, too?"

"Not a problem."

Norman took the bag and was about to leave when Hannah grabbed his arm. "Is there something wrong?"

"Other than murder, you mean?"

Hannah laughed. Perhaps it was a lame joke, but it was a joke nonetheless. "Yes, other than murder. It"s just that you seem so...distant."

"I told you. I didn"t get much sleep. Other than that, everything"s fine."

"Okay. Goodnight then."

Hannah turned to go, but Norman pulled her back. He dropped the bag and wrapped his free arm around her waist. "Everything"s going to be all right, Hannah. I promise." And then he kissed her.

The kiss was warm. Friendly. Nice. It lasted only a second or two, and then Norman picked up the bag and hurried down the stairs.

Hannah stood there for a moment, breathing in the scent of lilacs and blinking back tears. Something was definitely wrong. Norman"s kiss had been the type of kiss you might give to an old friend.

Chapter Fifteen.

By the time Mike knocked on the door at twelve twenty-five, Delores and Andrea had left, and Mich.e.l.le had gone off to bed. Hannah was sitting on the couch, feeling about as deserted as a woman can feel. Mike wanted her to marry Norman, Norman had kissed her like an old friend, and she hadn"t heard from Ross in at least three months. The only bright note was that Bradford Ramsey was dead.

"Uh-oh," Mike said when she opened the door. He took in her baggy old gray cotton sweats with one glance, and his gaze lingered on the pair of red socks she was wearing with the hole in the toe. "Are we feeling a little sorry for ourselves?"

"I can"t speak for you, but I am!"

A grin swept over Mike face. "Where"s your entourage?"