Hannah glanced at the bed. Moishe was still sleeping, but now he was asleep on Ross’s pillow. Usually Moishe preferred hers, but since she’d been using it, he’d probably decided that any other pillow would do. She reached down to pet him and he opened one eye, and began to purr. “Daylight in the swamps,” she told him, the morning phrase she used every morning. Hannah watched Moishe, bemused, as he yawned, stretched, and then jumped down from the mattress to follow her to the kitchen.
As she passed the living room windows, Hannah realized that it was still dark outside. Well, of course it was . . . it was November already with Thanksgiving on the way. The days were short-lived in the Minnesota winters. There were several weeks, in the dead of winter, when she didn’t see the sun unless she happened to look out the window or the back kitchen door of The Cookie Jar. She got up in the dark, drove to town in the dark, and when she’d finished work for the day, she drove home in the dark. But even though the days were short, the temperatures were multiple degrees below zero, and icy winds defeated even the warmest parka, Hannah enjoyed the transitions of a four-season climate.
“Whatever you made smells delicious,” Hannah said to Michelle as she entered the kitchen.
Michelle gestured toward the counter where a cake pan was cooling on a wire rack. “I made my Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Bake. It’ll be cool in a few minutes if you want to try some.”
“Of course I want to try some!” Hannah walked over to look at the breakfast dish. “It looks divine and it smells really heavenly.”
“It sure does!” Ross appeared in the doorway, wearing a velveteen robe and the leather bedroom slippers they’d bought in Puerto Vallarta on their honeymoon.
“Sit down and I’ll get you both some coffee,” Michelle promised, pointing to Hannah’s kitchen table. “I know it’s black for you, Hannah, but you take cream, don’t you, Ross?”
“That’s right,” Ross responded. “It’s your fault I cut my shower short, Michelle. It smelled so good out here that I could hardly wait to see what was cooking for breakfast.” He gave her the grin that Hannah loved to see, reaching out to take Michelle’s hand once she’d delivered his coffee. “I don’t suppose you’d consider dropping out of college and coming to live with us so you could cook us breakfast every day, would you?”
“Thanks for the offer, but not right now. I’d like to graduate and earn a living for myself first. Then you can come to visit me.”
“It’s a deal,” Ross said, smiling at Hannah. “What time do you have to be at work, Cookie?”
“Soon,” Hannah said, smiling back. “I’ll eat my breakfast, take a quick shower, and go off to work. What time do you think you’ll be home tonight, Ross?”
“Six at the earliest and eight at the latest. It depends on how much time P.K. takes to edit the footage we’re shooting this afternoon. If it’s going to be later than eight, I’ll call you.”
“That’s fine,” Hannah said. She’d known that their schedules would differ, but Ross was trying to give her a ballpark figure. “I should be home by six, too. And if something comes up and we’re not here, I’ll leave you a note, or text you to let you know.”
Michelle brought over plates with pieces of her Cheese and Sausage Breakfast Bake while they were sipping their coffee. “I hope you like it,” she said.
“I do,” said Hannah after the first bite. “It’s delicious, Michelle.”
Ross nodded. “It really is. It’s almost like a quiche, except not quite, isn’t it?”
“In a way,” Michelle told him. “Quiche doesn’t usually have bread in it and this does, and a standard quiche is made in a round pan with straight sides that’s a lot like a pie pan, but it’s really the same concept. It’s basically an egg and cheese pie whether it’s round or made in a cake pan.”
“We should take a piece of this to Lisa,” Hannah recommended. “She could make it for Herb for breakfast. I’m willing to bet that it would be almost as good cold as it is warm.”
Michelle glanced at the cake pan that had only three pieces gone. “I think we’re going to find out if you’re right, Hannah. I made two pans and there’s not a lot left. Unless we finish it this morning, we may have to eat it for breakfast tomorrow, too.”
“What a pity,” Ross said, winking at Michelle. “I guess we’ll just have to suffer through it.”
“Indeed,” Hannah agreed, taking another bite of her piece. Breakfast with Michelle and Ross was fun and it was wonderful to have her sister there. She was sure that Ross had been kidding when he’d asked Michelle to drop out of college to live with them, but right now, with a bite of Michelle’s breakfast bake in her mouth, it sounded like a really good idea to Hannah.
*
“So who are we interviewing this morning?” Michelle asked as Hannah drove them to town.
“I’m not sure. I think we should go over that appointment calendar of Tori’s and see if there’s anyone who might tell us more.”
“I have a rehearsal of the Lake Eden Players at one this afternoon,” Michelle reminded her. “Maybe I’ll learn something there. Everyone in the play is bound to be talking about Tori’s murder and speculating about who might have done it.”
Hannah turned off the highway and took Main Street to Third. Then she turned the corner and went down the alley to The Cookie Jar parking lot.
“There’s Mike,” Michelle pointed out, although Hannah had already noticed the black and white cruiser parked in the spot next to hers. “Do you think he’s in the kitchen pumping Lisa for information?”
“Maybe. Lisa did take acting lessons from Tori. There’s no way she’s a suspect, but she could provide some background on Tori and everybody else from Lake Eden who took private acting lessons from Tori at her studio.”
“Hurry up, Hannah,” Michelle said, opening her door and getting out the moment Hannah had stopped the truck. “We’d better get in there and rescue Lisa.”
“Rescue?” Hannah asked, dropping the keys in her purse and getting out of the driver’s side.
“That’s right. You know how Mike is when he’s digging for information. If he’s grilling Lisa too much, we can always distract him with a cookie or two.”
“True,” Hannah agreed, heading for the back kitchen door. “It’s a good thing we baked Double Fudge Brownies before we left The Cookie Jar last night. Mike loves those, and he has to stop asking questions if his mouth is full of chocolate.”