Chapter Three
“So how was it?” Hannah’s partner, Lisa Herman Beeseman, asked when Hannah came in the back door of The Cookie Jar at a quarter past eight.
“Not as bad as I thought it would be.” Hannah hung her jacket on the rack by the back door and headed for the minuscule shower enclosure that was attached to the bathroom. “As a matter of fact, it was almost fun once the class started.”
Lisa looked shocked. “I never thought I’d hear you say that exercise was fun!”
“I didn’t say fun. I said, almost fun. I’ll take a quick shower and then I’ll set things up in the coffee shop.”
“It’s all done,” Lisa called after her.
Hannah stopped in her tracks and turned around to stare. Lisa was diminutive, only five feet tall, and Hannah was willing to bet that she didn’t weigh in at much over a hundred pounds, but her young partner was tireless when it came to getting things done. “You finished the baking and set everything up in the coffee shop?”
“Yes.”
“What time did you get here anyway?”
“Five thirty. Herb had to run out to highway patrol headquarters for an early meeting, and I didn’t feel like sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee alone.”
“What kind of meeting?”
“I’ll tell you all about it right after your shower. You’re not going to believe what Mayor Bascomb is thinking about doing now!”
Hannah made short work of her shower. Lisa’s husband, Herb Beeseman, was their small town’s only law enforcement officer, and he reported directly to the mayor. If anyone knew what Mayor Bascomb was planning to do next, it was Herb.
When Hannah emerged wearing jeans that she thought might be a wee bit looser in the waist, a mug of strong black coffee was waiting for her at the stainless steel work island. She sat down on a stool, took a huge swallow of coffee, and gave a sigh of contentment. “Okay. Tell me what our esteemed mayor has up his sleeve this time.”
“Red-light cameras.”
“On what? There aren’t any stoplights in Lake Eden.”
Lisa just smiled. “You’re right. There aren’t any…yet.”
“He’s at it again!” Hannah groaned and put her head in her hands. “Don’t tell me he’s still fixated on putting in a light at the end of Main Street?”
“No, he’s not.”
“Well, thank goodness for that!” Hannah took another sip of life-enhancing caffeine, but before she even swallowed, a dreadful thought crossed her mind. “He’s given up the idea of having one at the end of Main Street, but he wants to put one somewhere else?”
“That’s right.”
“I’m afraid to ask, but…where?”
“Third and Main. Remember that traffic survey the varsity baseball team did last summer?”
Hannah had seen several members of the baseball team, equipped with folding chairs and beach umbrellas, staking out various corners in Lake Eden to count the cars that passed through the intersections. “I remember, but I thought it was just an excuse to pay for their new uniforms from the city budget.”
“So did everybody else, but it seems Mayor Bascomb had a double agenda. He asked Herb to tally up the results last week, and the most heavily trafficked corner in town is ours.”
“But we don’t need a stoplight. As far as I know, there’s never been an accident on our corner.”
“True, but he’s not doing it as a safety measure. Herb says to look at it from his point of view. People are used to driving right through our intersection without stopping. And that means when they put in a stoplight, it’ll take a while for them to get used to it. They’ll drive on through the red light the first couple of times, and the red-light camera will catch them. Then Herb will watch the tapes, issue a ticket to any drivers who run it, and the city will have another source of revenue. That’ll provide more money for our school and all the programs at the Community Center, and Mayor Bascomb will look good.”
Hannah thought about that for a second, and then she nodded. Lisa’s husband was a smart man. “What’s next? Shaving another five miles off the speed limit in town?”
“Herb and I talked about that, but he doesn’t think it’ll happen. Mayor Bascomb would have to order new speed signs, and they’re expensive.”
“So when is the stoplight going in?” Hannah asked the important question.
“Herb doesn’t know, but he’s hoping never. He thinks it’s a dirty trick to play on everybody in Lake Eden. Of course he can’t tell Mayor Bascomb that.”
Hannah noticed the small smile that flitted across Lisa’s face. “You and Herb have a plan to quash the mayor’s spying stoplight?”
“Maybe,” Lisa said, and then she clamped her lips shut.
Hannah knew she wouldn’t get any more information from Lisa. Her partner could be stubborn. “Well, good luck to you, and let me know if there’s any way I can help.”
“I will.” The phone on the kitchen wall rang, and Lisa hurried over to answer it. She spoke for a few moments, and then she turned to Hannah. “It’s Mrs. Janowski and she wants to know if we can make some birthday cookies to serve at Calvin’s party. She reserved the banquet room at The Corner Tavern and they’re having it there. She said she planned to bake a cake, but Calvin wants cookies instead.”
“Ask her what kind of cookies Calvin likes,” Hannah instructed. She listened while Lisa asked, and she was surprised to see a frown cross her partner’s face.
Lisa covered the mouthpiece and turned to face Hannah. “She says anything that resembles a cheeseburger will be a big hit with Calvin. Cheeseburgers are his favorite food. That’s one of the reasons they’re having the party at The Corner Tavern. She’s ordering platters of cheeseburgers and fries served with chocolate milkshakes.”
“Oh, great!” Hannah said, and her meaning was clearly at odds with her choice of words. Cookies shaped like cheeseburgers? She was about to tell Lisa to suggest something else when she remembered Ellen Wagner, her college roommate from North Dakota. Ellen had gone home on semester break and come back with pictures of her niece’s birthday party, along with a sample of the cookies her sister had served. Hannah had greatly admired the cookies, sweet little bites of goodness fashioned from store-bought ingredients that closely resembled miniature cheeseburgers.
“What shall I tell Mrs. Janowski?” Lisa prompted.
“Tell her yes, we can do it.”
Lisa looked clearly astounded. “We can make cookies that look like cheeseburgers?”
“You betcha!” Hannah said, using her former roommate’s pet phrase. She’d made a copy of the photo and stuck it in the recipe file she’d brought back to Lake Eden from college. As far as she knew, the photo was still there, and even if it wasn’t, she could probably re-create the cookies if she worked at it. “When is Calvin’s party?”
Lisa repeated the question, and she didn’t look happy as she turned back to Hannah. “After school on Friday. That’s only four days away.”
Hannah groaned. “Okay. It’s really short notice, but tell her we’ll do it.”
“Hannah says it’s really short notice, but we can do it,” Lisa repeated, but then she gave Hannah a wink and went on. “It’ll take some experimenting to get them just right and we may have to work overtime. That means we’ll have to charge you double our standard decorated cookie price. Will that be all right?”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t told Lisa to say that!
“Okay, we’re all set then. We’ll deliver ten dozen cheeseburger cookies to The Corner Tavern on Friday before three for your party. And thank you very much for the order.”
“You’ll have to charge her double?” Hannah asked when Lisa had hung up the phone.
“That’s right. It’s something we’ve never made before, and she ought to pay for that. Besides, she agreed so fast she practically made my eyes swim. It didn’t bother her a bit, Hannah.”
“But don’t you think that’s taking advantage of people?”
“No. It’s a special order, and we’ll have to work hard on it. People have to pay for special orders. It’s only right. We charge too little anyway. Our cookies are the best. We use only the finest ingredients, and everybody knows you have to pay for quality.”
“Yes, but things are different here. Lake Eden’s a small town and people don’t have much money, and…I’d feel really bad if they didn’t get top value for their money.”
“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” Lisa put her hands on her hips and stared hard at Hannah. With her small stature and her chef’s apron rolled up several times in the middle and held in place with the ties wrapped twice around her waist, she might have seemed ridiculous, but her determination made her a force to respect. “The people from Lake Eden go out to the mall and pay almost five dollars for one little cup of designer coffee and a cookie that tastes like cardboard. And don’t say they don’t, because I’ve seen them do it! If they can afford to do that, they can certainly afford to pay the same price for a cup of great coffee with free refills and a cookie that tastes even better than their grandmothers used to make!”
Hannah thought about that for a moment. “I suppose you’re right, but…”
“You really ought to let me start pricing things around here,” Lisa interrupted her. “We’re a business, not a charity. I know you think it’s your duty to treat the whole world, but it’s not. And if you keep devaluing your talent by undercharging, you’re going to go broke!”
Hannah just stared at the partner who had turned into a dynamo. It seemed as if Lisa had been thinking about this for a while. But as she watched, Lisa appeared to have second thoughts, because she put her hands over her face and sighed.
“I’m sorry, Hannah,” she said, and her voice quavered slightly. “It’s just that I get so mad when I see people taking advantage of your good nature.”
Hannah thought about that for a minute. Lisa really did have a point. Several other people in her life had pointed out that she hadn’t raised her prices in three years, when every other business in town had done so several times. She’d never claimed to be a businesswoman. She simply enjoyed baking for people and seeing how happy they were when they munched on one of her cookies. Perhaps it was time to let a real businesswoman take over the nuts and bolts of the business. She could still enjoy baking and watching people taste her creations, but she wouldn’t have to agonize over pricing and making a profit.
“It’s a done deal,” Hannah said, smiling at Lisa.
“What’s a done deal?”
“You take care of the business stuff from now on. I’ll come up with new recipes and figure out what to bake every day.”
Lisa looked a bit dumbfounded at this news. “But…are you sure you want me to handle the pricing and everything?”
“Better you than me. I’m not very good at it, and I know it. But before you leave the kitchen for the rarefied air of high finance, do me a favor, will you?”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Bake a Chocolate Chip Mega Cookie for Sue Plotnik. She’s been depressed lately, and Phil wants us to cheer her up. And that reminds me, do we have any extra Oatmeal Raisin Crisps we can package up for Janice Cox at Kiddie Korner? I need to go see her today.” Hannah stopped speaking and began to frown. “Let me rethink that. Maybe I shouldn’t give so many cookies away.”
“Wrong. You should give extra cookies away. Everybody knows we don’t sell day-old, and giving them away goes under the promotion category. I’ll check with Stan to make sure I’m right, but if I keep track of fair price for day-old cookies, we can deduct it from our taxes.”
“I’ve never done that before!”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t do it now. I’ll bet you never even thought to mention it to Stan.”
Hannah gave a little shrug. “You’re right. I don’t think I mentioned it. I just assumed that…”
“Never assume,” Lisa interrupted her. “Assumption is the mother of a compound word I’m not going to say. Just let me keep track and see if we can use the deduction.”
“Okay,” Hannah said, giving her partner a smile. It was going to be a lot more fun letting someone else handle the finances.
“Why do you have to see Janice? Andrea’s not thinking about putting Bethie in preschool this early, is she?”
“No, Grandma McCann is still living in, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if she stayed for a couple more years.”
Lisa got out one of the stainless steel mixing bowls and began to round up ingredients for Sue’s cookie. “Herb ran into her at the Red Owl the other day, and she said she really likes living in town, especially now that it’s winter. She told him that wintering on a farm is hard when your family’s grown up and moved away, and you’re all alone out in the country.”
“I can understand that! My grandparents lived on Grandma McCann’s road, and sometimes it took almost a week to get it plowed. They were stuck there, come whatever, and if there’s a really bad winter storm, the phone lines go down.”
“Then you’d be stuck in a house all alone with no way to get out and no phone you could use to call for help. That’s really scary!”
“You bet it is, but that’s not the worst of it.”
“Really? What’s worse than that?”
“No cable and no satellite dish. The cable company doesn’t run out that far, and her farm is down in a low spot, so a dish won’t work without building an expensive tower. Andrea told me that Grandma McCann just loves the movies on the romance channel, and the only place she can get the romance channel is at Andrea and Bill’s house.”