Ten minutes later, Hannah had taken a quick, bracing shower, dressed in clean jeans and the semi-dressy tunic top she’d found in the Helping Hands thrift store. She slipped on moccasins, gave her unruly red hair a cursory brushing, and hurried down the hallway to the kitchen.
Michelle was just taking a pan of muffins out of the oven, and Hannah realized that the delectable aroma was coming from Michelle’s newest creation.
“They smell heavenly,” Hannah praised her. “The aroma was so wonderful, I realized that I was starving.”
“Of course you’re hungry. You didn’t have lunch, did you?”
Hannah took a fast moment to review her day. “No, I didn’t. But I did have Grandma Knudson’s lemon pie, a couple of Andrea’s whippersnapper cookies, and one Chocolate Almond Crisp.”
“All that is sugar central. It gives you fast energy, but when you crash, you really crash. You can eat a couple of crackers and paté to tide you over until dinner.”
“You made the muffins and put together a paté since we got home? After working all day at The Cookie Jar?”
“Yes. Why are you surprised? You do it almost every day. I also made Nutmeg and Cinnamon Faux Crème Fraiche to go on top of our dessert.”
“I could try that now with a little bit of the dessert,” Hannah offered.
“No, you can’t. The dessert is in the oven, warming. You’ll have to wait, along with the rest of our company.”
“The rest of our company? Who else is coming besides Ross?”
“Mike called. He’ll be here at six-fifteen. And I called Norman to see if he’d like to join us. He said yes, and he promised to be here at the same time.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” Hannah knew she must have seemed surprised because Michelle hurried to explain. “I figured it was okay since you two seem to be back on your former footing.” She paused slightly. “I was right, wasn’t I?”
“You were. I’m glad Norman’s coming, too.”
“Then it’ll be like old times. I hope you don’t mind, but I told Mike to bring Lonnie.”
“Good. Lonnie’s always welcome, but I thought he was working the night shift.”
“Not anymore. Mike pulled him off the night desk and put him on day shift. The new rookie’s got the night shift now.”
“Great,” Hannah said with a smile. This should be a fun evening. She’d been a bit depressed when she’d fallen asleep, but now she’d regained most of her energy and she felt much better. Instead of dreading a late night with company, she found she was looking forward to the evening ahead. In addition to being a great sister and a wonderful cook, Michelle had the ability to snap her out of her doldrums.
“I’ll set the table,” Hannah offered, spreading some paté on a cracker and popping it into her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and asked, “Is this Mike’s Rainy Day Paté?”
“Yes. You had some braunschweiger in the meat pan that was going to expire in a couple of days, and there was a jar of horseradish sauce. I figured I might as well use the meat before you had to throw it out.”
“Good thinking.”
Hannah prepared another cracker, ate it, and headed for the cupboard to get out the plates. She was smiling as she spread a clean tablecloth on the dining room table and arranged six place settings.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Michelle said from the kitchen. “No paté for you! There’s too much horseradish in it. I’ll put a couple of salad shrimp in your bowl, but that’s it.”
Hannah heard the freezer door open, and then there was a sound of running water. Michelle was thawing the shrimp for Moishe. The next thing she heard was the clicking of kitty toenails on the floor as Moishe rushed over to his food bowl.
There was the sound of something rattling against the kitty krunchies in the bowl and then a soft yowl of appreciation. Moishe was obviously thanking Michelle for being so thoughtful. When Hannah gave him frozen salad shrimp, she simply took them out of the freezer and tossed them into his food bowl. Michelle was not only good to her, she was also good to Moishe!
Once the table was set, Michelle brought Hannah a glass of white wine and motioned toward the living room couch. “Sit down and relax, Hannah. Everything’s under control in the kitchen, and all we have to do is dish up when everyone’s ready to eat. Do you want to watch the Food Channel and see if they’re advertising the contest?”