you really don’t need a scarf with your sweater dress. It’s perfect just the way it is.”
Hannah decided to give Claire an easy out and stood up to leave. “You’re probably right. It was just a thought, that’s all. I’d better get back to the shop. Lisa’s holding down the fort alone, and we’re really busy today.”
“And I’d better get back to Marguerite before she thinks I’ve deserted her.” Claire was clearly relieved that their discussion was over and walked over to open the back door. “I’ll be watching you on television tonight.”
As Hannah raced across the icy stretch of asphalt, she tried to make sense of what Claire had told her. When Claire had said that the scarf had faded in the window, she’d been lying. But when she’d insisted that no one had bought it, she’d been telling the truth. It was a puzzle and Hannah loved to solve puzzles, but this one had her stumped.
* * *
Hannah opened the oven door and popped the Apricot Bread Pudding inside. It seemed strange to put something into a cold oven, but she reminded herself that this was show business, and Julia Child had done the same thing on her show. Then, when the stage manager gave her the high sign, Hannah opened the lower oven and took out the dessert she’d baked before the news had begun. She’d spoon it out into dessert dishes while Rayne Phillips gave his weather report and pour on the heavy cream during Wingo Jones’s sports news.
She walked over to the refrigerator, opened the door, and faced an array of gleaming shelves. They were perfectly bare. She’d been so busy sleuthing, she’d forgotten to bring the heavy cream!
Someone was waving at her in the wings and Hannah spotted Lisa holding up a quart of heavy cream. The stage manager also spotted her and motioned her forward, but Lisa shook her head. The gesturing went back and forth for a moment, the stage manager crooking his finger in a “come here” signal, and Lisa’s head shaking back and forth in refusal.
Hannah bit back a grin as the stage manager ducked down beneath camera range and scuttled off to the place where Lisa was standing. There was a brief discussion, which Hannah could imagine. “Come on, she needs that cream.” “But I can’t!” “Yes, you can. You don’t want to let her down, do you?” Finally, Lisa, blushing to the very roots of her light brown hair, walked onto the set and handed Hannah the cream.
Lisa turned her face slightly, so the audience couldn’t see it. “He told me to help you deliver the desserts,” she whispered.
“Good. I can use the help,” Hannah whispered back. “I’ll dish them up and you pour on the cream. Then I’ll carry the tray and you can hand them to the newscasters, okay?”
Lisa nodded, and they dished up the desserts together. They’d just finished when the stage manager motioned them forward. Hannah stepped out with the tray and Lisa followed her up to the newscaster’s long gleaming desk.
“It’s a new face, folks,” Chuck Wilson commented, and then he turned to Lisa. “Who are you?”
Lisa took a deep breath and Hannah guessed what was running through her mind. She had to answer. She’d look like an idiot if she didn’t. “My name is Lisa Herman, and I’m Hannah’s assistant at The Cookie Jar.”
“Thanks, Lisa.” Chuck smiled as he gazed down at the dessert dish. “This looks delicious. What is it, Hannah?”
“Apricot Bread Pudding,” Hannah answered, hoping he wouldn’t ask Lisa another question before she finished serving the other newscasters. Her hands were already shaking, and if she got any more nervous, Dee-Dee Hughes would end up with Apricot Bread Pudding all over her tight yellow sweater.
It seemed that Dee-Dee was on a mission to call attention to her perfect figure, because the moment after Lisa had served her, she said, “Christmas is coming and I know I have to watch my weight. This dessert isn’t low- cal, is it?”
“It’s not low-cal, but it has half the calories of a slice of apple pie,” Lisa surprised Hannah by answering. “And it would be even less if you served it with milk instead of heavy cream.”
Hannah silently applauded Lisa for figuring out the calories. She must have guessed that Dee-Dee Hughes would ask the same question she’d asked last night.
“I’ve never had bread pudding like this before,” Wingo Jones put in his two-cents’ worth. “Doesn’t it usually have raisins?”
“Yes,” Hannah answered this time. “But there’s no reason why you can’t use other dried fruit.”
Wingo looked confused. “I didn’t know raisins were dried fruit. I thought they were just… raisins. You know, in the box? For quick energy?”
“Raisins are dried grapes,” Lisa explained. “Just like prunes are dried plums.”
Rayne Phillips licked his lips, then gave the camera blissful smile. “This is really good, folks! Aren’t you going to tell us how to get the recipe so we can make it at home, Chuck?”
Chuck Wilson picked up on his cue and explained that viewers could call KCOW switchboard for a copy of Hannah’s recipe. There was a final shot of the newscasters with Hannah and Lisa standing behind them, then the news was over.
Hannah waited until they’d gone back to the kitchen set to pack up the supplies. They worked in silence for a moment, then she turned to Lisa. “You were great tonight, Lisa. You said just the right things.”
“I did?” Lisa sounded surprised. “I never could have done it if you hadn’t asked me to help you dish up. Once I started working, I forgot to be so nervous.”
“Was your dad watching at home?” Hannah picked up one of the boxes.
Lisa nodded, hefting the other and following Hannah toward the wings. “Mr. Drevlow came over to sit with him. I really hope he taped it for me. I didn’t know that I was going to be on television!”
The stage manager was waiting for them, and he heard Lisa’s comment. “Better tell him to stick in a tape for tomorrow night, too. I just got a call from the booth. Mason wants you to help Hannah on camera until the bake-off is over.”
“Me?” Lisa’s voice squeaked slightly, she was so excited. “Wait until I tell Dad! He’s going to be so excited, I’ll have to put on The Sound of Music to get him to sleep.”
The stage manager looked puzzled, but Hannah knew exactly what Lisa meant. Lisa had told her that The Sound of Music was like a bedtime story to her dad. Julie Andrews’s voice had such a calming effect that Jack Herman never got past the first few scenes before he dozed off for the night.
“It’s her voice,” Lisa did her best to explain. “It’s very soothing. And he’s seen it so many times, he already knows the story.”
The stage manager looked a bit confused, so Hannah stepped in. “Everybody has a different trick to get to sleep. My dad used to listen to Wagner. I prefer to read a bad cookbook myself.”
“A bad cookbook?”
Hannah grinned as she nodded. “A good one makes my stomach growl, and then I really can’t get to sleep.”
* * *
Hannah said good-bye to Lisa, who was bubbling over with excitement, and set out to search for Andrea. Tracey was drawing the name of the replacement judge for tonight, and Hannah walked down the hall toward the classroom that Mr. Purvis had designated as the makeup room. She found Andrea standing next to Bill, watching a hairstylist comb and spray Tracey’s hair.
Andrea spotted Hannah in the doorway and turned to Bill. “I need to talk to Hannah about the new listing I got this afternoon. Can you bring Tracey to the stage when she’s ready?”
“Go ahead, honey,” Bill agreed. “We’ll join you just as soon as Tracey’s finished here.”
“What new listing?” Hannah asked, the moment they’d found a private spot in the wings. “I thought you were going to pass out calendars in Danielle’s neighborhood.”
“I did. That’s where I got the listing. Mrs. Adamczak’s cousin is selling his place. She got him on the phone, and I talked him into listing it with me. But that’s not important, Hannah. I got some new information for us.”
Hannah started to smile. She could always count on Andrea. “What is it?”
“You know Mrs. Kalick, don’t you? She’s the widow who lives at then end of Danielle’s block.”
“I know her. What did she tell you?”
“She said she was just getting ready for bed when she heard cars in the alley. She wasn’t sure about the time, but she knows it was between eight-thirty and ten. Her bathroom window faces the alley, and when she glanced out, she saw Boyd’s Grand Cherokee drive by. And there was another car following it.”
