Michelle’s Note: I like this coffee cake slightly warm and I’ve discovered that if you cut it in square servings, you can reheat it in the microwave and it tastes like fresh-baked. It’s really great for breakfast with a cup of strong hot coffee.
Chapter Nineteen
Hannah had just pulled into her parking spot in back of The Cookie Jar when her cell phone rang. She took it out of her purse to answer it and was surprised to hear Lisa’s voice.
“Where are you?” Lisa asked.
“I’m here. I just pulled into my parking spot in back.”
“Okay. Don’t bother coming in,” Lisa said. “Claire called to say that the wedding dresses she ordered for you came in this morning. She wants you to come over and try them on right away. Your mother and Andrea are already there waiting for you.”
“My mother is there?”
“Of course she is. You didn’t really think you could get away with trying on wedding gowns without your mother, did you?”
“I guess not.”
“Go ahead then. It has to be done and you might as well get it over with. Take Michelle with you. They want her, too. Claire has to take her measurements for her bridesmaid dress.”
“Are you busy?” Hannah asked her.
“We’re packed. Even Stephanie Bascomb is here. In all her glory, of course.”
“Stephanie got a new outfit?”
“And how! I heard her tell Becky Summers that she just bought several designer suits from Claire. And she’s wearing a huge emerald ring. I told Herb, and he said that our mayor must have really done it this time! Hurry up, Hannah. They’re waiting for you.”
Hannah sighed in resignation. She had to do it. There was no other choice. “Okay, Lisa. Michelle’s with me and she can lead the sacrificial lamb to slaughter.”
“What was all that about?” Michelle asked when Hannah ended the call and slipped her phone back into her purse.
“Mother and Andrea are waiting for us at Beau Monde. The wedding gowns that Claire ordered came in this morning, and I have to try them on.”
“Okay. Let’s go then.” Michelle opened the passenger door.
“Wait. Do you think I could get out of it if I sneaked into the kitchen and hid in the pantry?”
Michelle shook her head. “Not a chance. Mother would sniff you out. I tried hiding in my closet when I was a kid. Mother found me and spanked me. Just go over to Claire’s and do it.”
“That was Lisa’s advice,” Hannah said, accepting her fate as she got out of her cookie truck and shut the door behind her.
Hannah hesitated at the door to Claire’s shop. She hated to try on dresses. There was something about standing in a little dressing room, even though Claire’s dressing rooms were beautifully decorated and roomier than most, facing your worst figure faults in the mirror, and garbing your body in unfamiliar garments that could make you look more unattractive than you had before you put them on. She was still trying to think of some excuse, any excuse short of death, to save herself from the ordeal when she remembered what Lisa had told her about Stephanie Bascomb’s new outfits and where she’d purchased them.
“Come on, Michelle!” Hannah urged her sister, yanking the door open and practically running inside.
Michelle grabbed Hannah’s hand. “Hold on a minute. Tell me what changed your mind so fast. Just a second or two ago, you were heading for Claire’s shop with the speed of an arthritic garden snail, and now you’re acting like you can’t wait to get inside.”
“Murder changed my mind,” Hannah said, leading the way to the inner door that opened into the dress shop itself. “I just remembered something Lisa told me on the phone. She said that Stephanie Bascomb is next door in the coffee shop, wearing an expensive new outfit she got right here from Claire. And Lisa also said that the outfit Stephanie was wearing wasn’t the only one she’d bought over here.”
“So you’re going to see what Stephanie told Claire about the mayor’s new affair?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Then you won’t mind trying on wedding gowns?”
“I didn’t say that, but I’ll trade a half hour of my time, even if it means trying on new clothes, for information that’ll help me solve a murder case!”
Five minutes later, after greeting her mother and Andrea, Hannah was sitting on a gold velvet settee, waiting for her torment to start. She’d accepted the offer of a cup of tea that she probably wouldn’t drink, and followed Claire to the largest dressing room. Now she was waiting for Claire to return with the selections that had been chosen specifically for her.
Hannah picked up the tea, took a sip, and stared at her archenemy, the tall three-way mirror that showcased her less than perfect figure from many more angles than she wished to view.