Herman to keep him company.'
'I'm sorry, Miss . . .' Jack sighed, turning to Hannah after Janie and Lisa had left. 'I forgot your name again. It starts with an 'H,' doesn't it?'
'That's right. I'm Hannah Swensen and I'm Lisa's partner at The Cookie Jar.'
'Of course you are. I don't know why I can't remember your name. It just slips away from me sometimes.'
'That's okay. Just ask me and I'll tell you.' Hannah motioned to the gloves he was holding in his hand. 'Better put those on before you get frostbite.'
Jack laughed and slipped on his gloves. 'You sound just like my daughter. When Garland and I were boys, we never wore gloves unless it was twenty below. It was some kind of crazy idea we had. We thought the girls would like us better if we proved how tough we were. I wonder if they still do things like that.'
'I think they do,' Hannah said, remembering that Craig Kimball and several of his friends had been gloveless when they'd helped her carry her cookies to the warm-up tent.
'It's good to see little Janie again,' Jack smiled. 'She's all grown up now, but I remember the day Garland and Isobel got her just like it was yesterday.'
Something about Jack's word choice puzzled Hannah. This was the second time he'd referred to the day that Janie's parents got her. She'd noticed that Lisa often supplied the word that her father couldn't remember, and she decided she'd do the same. 'I think it's nice that you remember the day that Janie was born.'
'Oh, I don't remember that.'
'You don't?' Now Hannah was thoroughly puzzled. 'But you do remember the day they got her?'
''Course I do. Garland got the call at work and he drove to that hospital in Minneapolis to pick up Isobel and the baby. But maybe I shouldn't have told you that. It's a big secret.'
'What's a secret?' Hannah asked, even more confused.
Janie's 'adopted, but her mother never wanted her to know. You won't tell her, will you?'
'I promise I won't,' Hannah said, reaching out to take Jack's hand. 'Will you tell me about it?'
Jack sighed. 'Guess it can't hurt, now that I let the cat out of the bag. You see, Isobel had trouble having babies. She lost two in the first two years, and it just about killed both Garland and her. Then she got pregnant again and she had to stay in bed with her feet up. She was fine for months, but it happened anyway. Garland had to call for the ambulance one night and they took Isobel to the hospital.'
'That's very sad,' Hannah said, patting his hand.
'I know. Isobel lost the baby, and the doctors told her she couldn't get pregnant again. It upset her so much, she went into a . . . what do you call it when you can't eat or sleep, and you cry all the time?'
'Depression?'
'That's the word. Isobel went into a depression and they kept her there in the hospital. There was a girl in the next bed and she was in trouble, too. They got to be friends, Isobel and this girl, and the girl told her she wasn't married and she was going to give up her baby for adoption. And then she asked Isobel and Garland if they wanted to take it.'
'And they did?'
'The girl didn't want any money or anything like that. She just wanted to make sure her baby had a good home. There was only one condition. She never wanted her baby to know about the adoption.'
'And that's what happened?'
'Yes. The girl had her baby the next day and she signed Janie over to Garland and Isobel. Her name was Janie when they got her, you know. The girl named her after her grandmother, who'd just died. I know they kept in touch with the girl. Isobel sent her letters and pictures, and the girl sent back gifts for Janie. She asked them to say the gifts were from them, and they did.'
Hannah's mind was spinning. It was a great story, but she couldn't help wondering if it was a figment of Jack's imagination. 'How do you know all this?'
'Garland told me. He was so excited about being a father at last. He said he had to tell someone. And he knew he could trust me.'
'And you never told anyone else?'
'Not even my wife. I figured it was nobody's business.'
'Did Garland tell you the girl's name?'
'No, and I didn't ask.'
'How about Janie's biological father?' Jack shrugged. 'I don't know his name, and I don't think Garland or Isobel do, either. The girl said that he got married before she found out that she was pregnant, and so she never told him. You're not going to tell Janie about this, are you?'
'No.' Hannah shook her head. 'It's your secret, and I promise I'll never tell her.'
'That makes me feel a whole lot better. Say, Miss? Lisa said you were going to build a snowman. Aren't you a little old for that?'
Hannah laughed. 'I'm much too old, but I'm helping my sister and my niece, Tracey.'
'That name's familiar. Do I know her?'
'You met her yesterday morning and you showed her your animal collection. You even taught her about opposable thumbs.'
'I did?' Jack smiled. 'Well, good for me! She must have been that pretty little blond girl that asked me all those questions.'
'That's Tracey.'
'My daughter use to ask questions nonstop. I hope she didn't catch on that I made up the answers half the time.'
'Here she comes now,' Hannah said, gesturing toward Lisa and Janie, who were walking across the park toward them.
'I see her. They grow up fast, don't they? Who's that other girl with her?'
'Janie Burkholtz,' Hannah said, waiting for some kind of reaction from Jack.
'Oh, yes. Did you know that her parents used to live right next door to me? They moved away from the . . . white stuff a couple of years ago. Somewhere in the south, I think she said.'
'Florida.' 'That's right. I remember now. Let's go meet them, miss. Looks like they're bringing hot coffee.'
-22- Hannah walked over to meet Andrea and Tracey, who were just getting out of their car. Tracey was dressed appropriately in a bright-pink snowsuit with a matching ski cap and mittens, but Andrea had worn an outfit that was geared more toward a fashion magazine photo shoot. Her coat was made of powder blue suede. It was decorated with white fur around the collar and the hemline, and she wore matching gloves of thin powder blue leather. Her designer boots matched her gloves, and the only concession she'd made to the contest they were about to enter was a white fur hat that barely covered her ears.
'What's wrong?' Andrea asked, realizing that her sister was staring at her.
'Your outfit. There's a snowdrift in our spot and we're going to be up to our . . .' Hannah paused and glanced at Tracey, who was hanging on her every word. '. . . you-know-whats in it. Tell me you've got Bill's snowmobile suit and choppers in the trunk.'
Andrea shook her head. 'Don't you like my new coat? I made a special trip out to the mall this morning to pick it up.'
'It's gorgeous, and it'd be just fine if you were trying out for the part of the winter fairy.'
'I know it's not exactly practical,' Andrea conceded. 'I just thought there might be photographers here and I wanted to look my best.'
'Well, don't blame me if you catch a cold while we're building our snow-woman.'
'Snow-woman?' Tracey asked, tugging at Hannah's sleeve. 'I thought it was a snowman contest, Aunt Hannah.'
'It is, but snowman is generic. It's like when they said all men were created equal in the Declaration of Independence. They meant both men and women.'
'Right,' Andrea murmured to Hannah, taking Tracey's hand and starting out across the snow. 'Tell that to Bill. I made more money than he did last month, and he still calls my career a little hobby.'
Once they'd said hello to Lisa and her father, and Andrea had given Janie a big welcoming hug, Hannah
