'Stay with me and you can have a dog's-eye view. I'm going to be here under the platform. Get on my other side, just in case one of the mushers runs off course.'
Hannah took up the position Norman indicated. It was probably crazy, but she felt a lot warmer under the platform, with the illusion of a roof over her head. The barking had grown steadily louder as they'd talked, and Hannah found herself wondering why the dogs ran and barked at the same time. Maybe it was just for the sheer joy of the exercise on such a crisp winter day.
'Here they come, and Otis is in the lead!' a voice yelled out from above.
Hannah wasn't surprised. Otis and Eleanor were dog lovers from way back. When they retired, they'd built a house on Old Bailey Road, just outside the town limits. There, the two-dogs-per-household rule didn't apply, and they'd taken in a host of strays over the past three years. The ones they couldn't find homes for, they kept, and Otis had trained all their huskies and malamutes as sled dogs.
As Hannah watched, the lead musher and his team came over the crest of the hill. It was Otis, and he was still in front.
'Look at his dogs.' Norman slipped his free arm around Hannah's shoulder. 'They're all smiling.'
Hannah didn't point out that huskies and malamutes always appeared to be smiling because of the shape of their faces. It was simply too lovely a sentiment to dash. Actually, the dogs did seem to be having a huge amount of fun. Their tails were high and tightly curled, their tongues were wagging from side to side, and they were barking and yelping in excitement.
'Okay. Here we go!'
Norman dropped to one knee and focused his camera. A few seconds later, Otis and his dogs rushed by at lightning speed. Hannah laughed out loud in sheer pleasure as Otis slowed his dogs at the far end of the course and guided them through the break in the ropes where they would wait for the other contestants.
One by one, the other teams raced by and Norman took pictures of all of them. When he was through, Hannah told him she'd see him later and headed back for the sidelines to collect Andrea.
'Eleanor did make the booties,' Andrea told Hannah on their way back to the truck, 'and they're going up to the Iditarod next year.'
Hannah was surprised. 'Does Otis think he can win?'
'Oh, they're just going as tourists. Janice is going to stay at their place for two weeks and take care of their dogs.'
Hannah unlocked the doors and they climbed into the cookie truck. It was still slightly warm inside, and it felt good after the bitter cold outside.
'Could you drop me off at the office?' Andrea asked as Hannah pulled out onto the highway. 'I have to write up a listing.'
'Sure. You got a listing at the race?'
'Eleanor's cousin, Roger, got a job offer in Wisconsin and it was too good to turn down. They were going to rent out their house, but I convinced them that renting was a headache they didn't need, so they're going to sell.'
'But didn't they just buy it last year?'
'Seven months ago. I handled the sale.'
'If they sell this soon, they'll lose money, won't they?'
'No. Roger converted the basement into two separate bedrooms and put in a full bathroom down there. Now I can relist it as a five-bedroom, three-bath, and that increases the asking price. Best of all, I think I've already got a buyer. I ran into Lelia Meiers at the cleaners yesterday and she's pregnant with twins. She asked me to keep my eye out for a bigger house, and this would be just perfect for them. I called her right away and she wants to see it tomorrow.'
'You're amazing,' Hannah said, and she meant it. Andrea was always looking for ways to list and sell real estate. It was an ideal job for her, because she could socialize and work at the same time.
'Call me later,' Andrea said as Hannah pulled up in front of Lake Eden Realty. 'I should be through here in about an hour.'
'Okay. I'm going back to the inn to collect the cookies. I I'll deliver them to the warm-up tents and then we'll figure out a place to meet.'
As Hannah drove off, she glanced at her watch. It was eleven-thirty, and she'd be back at the inn before noon. If Lisa and Alex had finished the baking, she could have all the cookies delivered by one.
The truck seemed silent without Andrea, and Hannah switched on the radio. A moment later, she wished she hadn't, because the KCOW news team was covering the latest about Connie Mac's murder. Hannah winced as they mentioned that her body had been found at The Cookie Jar, and she hoped that the old adage was true. If any publicity was good publicity, it wouldn't hurt her cookie business.
As she turned off on the road that led around Eden Lake, Hannah noticed a plume of smoke coming from the one of the summer cabins that dotted its shores. She watched for a moment to make sure it wasn't a house fire, but the smoke was too confined for that. It was definitely coming from a chimney, and Hannah didn't think that any of the cabins on the far side of the lake had been converted into year-round dwellings. It must belong to one of the summer people who'd come back to Lake Eden for Winter Carnival and had decided to brave the discomfort of no central heat, frozen water pipes, and a lack of insulation to save on the price of a nice, snug motel.
-15- Hannah pushed open the door to Sally's kitchen and stopped short as she saw the massive array of baked cookies on the counter. Lisa and Alex had finished the baking, and she immediately felt guilty for shirking her share of the work. Some of the cookies were already boxed for transport, and others were still cooling on the racks. Hannah walked over to take a closer look and smiled at what she saw. The Molasses Crackles were perfect rounds, the Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies looked crisp and delicious, the golden-brown Peanut Butter Melts were crosshatched with perfect fork marks, and the Oatmeal Raisin Crisps tempted her with their spicy aroma. She was just reaching for one, to give it a taste test when Lisa and Alex came into the kitchen.
'Hi, Hannah,' Lisa greeted her, lifting the box she was carrying up to the counter. 'Where's Andrea?'
'She got a listing at the dogsled race and I dropped her off at Lake Eden Realty to write it up.'
Alex lifted her box to the counter and smiled at Hannah. 'Thanks for letting me help. I really enjoyed baking those cookies.'
'You got that backwards,' Hannah told her. 'I should be thanking you. Just let me mix up the Little Snowball dough and I'll show you how to make those.'
Lisa shook her head. 'It's too late. We baked them already. The instructions were right on the recipe and once we got going, we didn't want to stop.' She stepped over to whisk back a towel that covered six of Sally's crystal ice buckets, and Hannah saw that each one was filled with small snow white balls. 'They're absolutely delicious, Hannah. We just had to taste them.'
'Of course you did,' Hannah said, reaching out to take one. The Little Snowballs were so tender they practically melted in her mouth, and she started to smile. 'Delicious.'
'Are you sure?' Alex looked a bit worried. 'I rolled them in powdered sugar twice, just like it said in the recipe. Once when they were hot, and once after they'd cooled. Do you think it's too much?'
'There's no such thing as too much powdered sugar. They're perfect, Alex, even better than I remembered. I'll help you two mix up the cookie dough for tomorrow morning and then I'll deliver the Little Snowballs to Edna.'
'What cookies are we making tomorrow?' Lisa asked. 'It's basically the same lineup, except we'll substitute your White Chocolate Supremes for the Molasses Crackles. You can mix up the dough for those.'
'I'll do the Oatmeal Raisin Crisps,' Alex offered. 'I read the recipe and I bet my boss would just love them.'
'You mean Sally?'
'No, my regular boss.'
'Who's that?' Hannah asked, trolling for a little information.
'I work for Remco. It's a big accounting firm based in Edina. My boss is the senior vice president. I'm on vacation right now. I had three weeks coming and I had to use it up before I lost it.'
'Wait a second.' Hannah turned to her with an amazed expression. 'You took a temporary job with Sally on your vacation?'
Alex laughed. 'I know this isn't exactly a vacation, but I wanted to see how a place like this was run. I
