Before Delores had taken over this charitable group, it had been known as the Gray Ladies. The gray smocks the women wore were definitely not to their mother’s liking. Delores preferred bright colors, and she immediately indulged her preference. The Gray Ladies, now known as the Rainbow Ladies, wore blazers in their favorite bright color. As the leader of the group, Delores had her choice of colors, and she’d ordered three blazers for herself. Tonight she was wearing one in a bright cherry color, and Hannah spotted her coming out of Doc Knight’s office.
“Hannah!” Delores exclaimed, giving a relieved sigh. “I knew you were driving out to Sally’s tonight and I hoped you and Michelle weren’t involved in that big accident.”
“We weren’t. I managed to turn off at the rest stop just in time.”
“Well! That’s the last time I complain about that rest stop and all the money the state wasted.” Delores gave her eldest daughter a sharp look. “You should have called me immediately. I was worried about you and Michelle.”
“Sorry, Mother. We were busy trying to get to a bus that was overturned in a ditch, and we didn’t even think of it. We didn’t mean to make you worry and we apologize.”
“All right then. I’m just glad you two girls are all right. Tell me about the bus.”
“It was the band bus carrying the Cinnamon Roll Six. The rest of the cars in the accident were blocking the road, and it took the paramedics a while to get to the bus. Michelle and I took the access road and walked across through the ditch. We were the first ones there.”
“Oh, my!”
“The driver’s dead, but everyone else seems to be okay except the keyboard player. He may have a broken wrist, but they won’t know for sure until he has X-rays.”
“Oh, dear! Have you called Sally?”
“No, Mother. Why would I call Sally?”
“To tell her the band bus was in an accident. She’s probably worried because they haven’t shown up.”
Hannah reached for her cell phone, hoping she’d remembered to charge it. “I can call her right now.”
“I’ll do it. You can call her the minute you find out if that keyboard player’s wrist is all right. If the Cinnamon Roll Six can’t play, she’ll have to hire another jazz band.”
“All right, Mother. I’ll do that.”
“Is the rest of the band here at the hospital?”
“I think so.”
“Good. Where are those cinnamon rolls Sally ordered?”
“They’re in my truck.”
“How many do you have?”
“Ten dozen. That’s what she ordered.”
“Come with me,” Delores said and headed back into Doc Knight’s office. She sat down behind his desk, picked up the phone, and punched in a number. “Sally?” she asked when her call was answered. “This is Delores Swensen from the hospital. Your jazz band has been in an accident, a big pileup out on the highway, and they’re here at the hospital. The bus is overturned in a ditch and the driver is dead, but the only other serious injury is that the keyboard player may have a broken wrist. We’ll find out when he has X-rays and Hannah will call to tell you. In the meantime, she has your cinnamon rolls here. Do you want her to pass them out to the band and the other people who were in the accident?”
Delores listened for a moment, and then she gave a little nod. “Of course we’ll heat them, Sally. And I’ll have Hannah tell the rest of the band members that Dick is coming right out to pick them up and bring them to the Inn.”
Hannah listened as Delores ended the conversation and said goodbye. It was the shortest and most succinct phone call she’d ever heard her mother make. Perhaps acting as the head of the Rainbow Ladies was very good for Delores. It appeared that the extra responsibility had taught her to be less conversational and more efficient. If this call was any indication, it had reduced her tendency to gossip.
“All right, dear,” Delores said when she’d hung up the phone. “Sit down and spill it.”
“What?”
“Sit down and spill it. If you and Michelle were the first ones at the scene, you’re bound to have some inside information and juicy details about the Cinnamon Roll Six.”
“But I really don’t know that much ...”
“You probably know more than you think you do. Carrie got a call from a friend in Uppsala this afternoon. This lady said that the bus driver, Roger somebody-or-other, had a girl traveling with him, and she was a twelve-year- old-runaway!”
“That’s not true, Mother. There were girls on the bus, but none of them were
Delores gave an exasperated sigh. “See? That’s how gossip gets started! The wrong information gets spread around by people who don’t really know anything.”
“You’re right.”
“I know I’m right. And the worst of it is ...” Delores stopped speaking and stared hard at Hannah. “You said
It was Hannah’s turn to sigh. She’d spoken without thinking, and now she was stuck. There was nothing for it but to tell Delores what she already suspected. “The driver’s dead, Mother.”
Delores gave a sigh so deep, it seemed to come up from her toes. “You found another body!”
“Not exactly. Someone else found him first.”
“But you
“Yes, I saw him.” Hannah knew what was coming next. It always did.
“Then tell me all about it. I want to know all the details so I can pass them on to the other Rainbow Ladies. I want you to meet me in the kitchen in fifteen minutes. And do hurry, dear. We have to get started passing out those cinnamon rolls.”
SPECIAL CINNAMON ROLLS
DO NOT preheat oven. This dough needs to rise before baking.
Hannah’s 1st Note: From start to finish, these cinnamon rolls will take about 3 and ? to 4 hours before they’re ready to eat. Your work time is only about 30 minutes, but there’s a lot of down time while you wait for the dough to rise and to bake.
Ingredients for the Dough:
? cup hot coffee
? cup whole milk
1 Tablespoon white
1 packet
? cup salted butter
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg
