Chapter Nineteen
“Are you okay, Hannah?” Norman asked, when Hannah came back to her stool at the work station.
“I think so. I just got a little sick to my stomach when Doug told us about . . . what Ross said.”
“I know. You looked as if you were about to faint.”
“Maybe you’re right. I did feel really dizzy and horribly sick to my stomach.” Hannah took a sip of the orange juice she’d poured for herself. “Where did everybody go?”
“Mike assigned Rick and Lonnie to stay with Doug,” Norman told her. “He thought that when Ross found out that you didn’t have his money, he might blame Doug and try to hurt him.”
“So Rick and Lonnie are at the bank with Doug again?”
“Not exactly. Lonnie is sticking with Doug at the bank, but Mike assigned Rick to guard Doug’s family.”
“Then Mike thinks that Doug and his family may be in danger from Ross?”
“That’s what he said. And he also said that he didn’t want to take any chances. He went back to the sheriff’s station to assign some other deputies to various places, and then he’s going to drive out to your condo to make sure that Ross isn’t there. He left me here to protect you, but he doesn’t think that you’ll be in any danger as long as The Cookie Jar is open.”
Hannah gave a little nod. “Because there are too many people around for Ross to risk doing anything to . . .” she paused, feeling a bit sick to her stomach again, “to hurt me?”
“That’s right. Do you have much more work to do here, Hannah?”
Hannah thought about that for a moment. “Well . . . yes, I do. We have to mix up the cookie dough for tomorrow’s baking and take care of the customers out in the coffee shop. Lisa and Aunt Nancy are out there now, but Aunt Nancy has to leave at four because she has a dinner date with Heiti.”
Norman smiled. “How is their engagement going?”
“Really well. They’re going to get married in June. It’ll be a small wedding and I promised to cater it. Lisa’s baking their wedding cake and it’s going to be chocolate because Heiti loves chocolate.”
“Sounds wonderful. Do you think I’ll be invited?”
“I’m sure you will. And even though Aunt Nancy seems to think the wedding will be small, they’re going to invite the whole sheriff’s department since Heiti is working for them now.”
Norman laughed. “Don’t forget about Lisa’s family. She has lots of aunts, and uncles, and cousins.”
“True. Aunt Nancy and Heiti say they’re going to keep the wedding small, but I have a feeling they won’t be able to do it without risking some hurt feelings. Everyone here in Lake Eden is going to want to be invited.”
“You’re right. Weddings tend to grow larger every time you make out a revised guest list.”
Hannah thought back to Norman’s initial question. “Why did you want to know how much longer I have to be here, Norman?”
“Because I’ve got a few errands I want to run.”
“Why don’t you go and do what you need to do right now? I’m fine here by myself because I’m not really by myself. I’ll lock the back kitchen door behind you, and I promise I won’t let anyone in unless I know who it is.”
“Okay, but don’t open the door without checking the peephole,” Norman reminded her. “I’ll be back around four or so. Can we leave then?”
“I’m sure we can. I’ll mix up tomorrow’s cookie dough, and we can invite Mike and Lonnie to have dinner with us tonight. We’ll pick up pizza at Bertanelli’s on the way and I have the Chocolate Cream Pie for dessert.”
“Sounds great! And we can get salad and garlic bread, too. Do you think you have enough pie?”
“I know I do. After you left, I made another pie. We’ll have enough, Norman. And if there’s any left over, we can take pieces to Clara and Marguerite.”
“There may not be any leftovers if we invite Mike,” Norman reminded her, heading for the hook where he’d hung his parka. “Come with me, Hannah. I want you to lock the door behind me and promise that you won’t open it without checking the peephole.”
“I promise,” Hannah said, standing up and walking to the door with him. She waited until Norman had dressed in his parka and slipped into his boots.
“I’ll see you then,” Norman said, opening the door and stepping out. “Remember, Hannah. Don’t let anyone in unless you are sure you know who it is.”
“I won’t,” Hannah promised, locking the door behind Norman. And then she turned and went to the pantry to gather the ingredients she needed for the next day’s cookies.
* * *
Hannah was busy mixing up cookie dough when Michelle came into the kitchen from the coffee shop.
“Hi, Hannah,” Michelle greeted her.
Hannah was surprised that her sister had come in from the street. “Didn’t you park behind the building?”
“No, there was a perfect spot outside the front door and I took it. I stopped to talk to Lisa and Aunt Nancy, and then I came back here to help you. What are you baking for tomorrow?”
“Right now I’m mixing up Crunchy Chewy White Chocolate Cookies.”
Michelle looked puzzled. “Is that a new recipe?”
“Yes. I thought I’d make a variation on one of our basic recipes using white chocolate and white Karo syrup.”
“Are the cookies pink?”
“No. Why?”
“If you make them pink, you could use them for Valentine’s Day.”
“You’re right! I didn’t even think of that! And there are a lot of people who really like crunchy, chewy cookies.”
“How about nuts? Are you adding them to the recipe?”
Hannah shook her head. “I don’t think so. These should be crunchy enough on their own.”
“Just let me catch my breath for a moment and shake off the remains of my school day. Then I’ll be happy to help you bake.”
“It’s a deal,” Hannah told her as Michelle walked to the kitchen coffeepot, poured herself a cup, and came over to look at the ingredients lined up on the surface of the work station. Then she read through the recipe that Hannah had written, and nodded.
“Karo syrup and white chocolate,” she said. “That’s a great combination. Have you used those together before?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve made a lot of cookies that are crunchy and other cookies that are chewy, but I don’t think I’ve baked anything like these cookies before.”
Michelle laughed so hard, she almost choked on her coffee. “But you’re going to bake them tomorrow without testing them?”
“No, I thought I’d bake a test cookie now. Do you want to be my guinea pig?”
“It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it,” Michelle said with a smile. “Of course I’ll test them. I worked through lunch today at school and I’m starving. Make two test cookies. Or maybe three. I don’t care how many you make. Whatever number it is, I’ll eat them.”
* * *
Once Hannah had baked test cookies, a whole sheet of them, the two sisters tasted them. They’d both declared them delicious when there was a knock at the back kitchen door.
“I’ll get it,” Michelle said, standing up from her stool.
“Be careful!” Hannah warned her. “Mike and Norman don’t want that door opened unless we look through the peephole to see who it is. Mike was adamant about that.”
“Mike’s always adamant when it comes to safety,” Michelle commented, heading for the door. “Don’t worry, Hannah. I’ll look first.”
A moment later, Michelle opened the door and ushered their mother into the kitchen. “Mother’s here to see you,” she called out to Hannah.
“Hi, Mother,” Hannah greeted Delores. “Would you like one of our Crunchy Chewy White Chocolate Cookies?”
“No,” Delores said, but Hannah noticed that there was a smile lurking at the corners of her mother’s mouth.
“You wouldn’t like one?” Michelle asked.
“No, I’d like two, or maybe three,” Delores said, heading straight for a stool at the work station and taking a seat. “I don’t suppose you have any coffee, do you?”
“That’s one thing we always have around here,” Michelle answered. “Just hold on and I’ll pour you a cup.”
Several moments later, Delores was sitting there with a cup of coffee and two cookies in front of her. “It’s nice to be waited on by my daughters,” she said as she took a sip of her coffee, smiled, picked up a cookie, and bit into it.
“Good!” she declared, taking another large bite. “I like these, Hannah. They’d make great dunkers if they were a slightly different shape.”
“Dunkers?” Michelle questioned.
“Yes. Doc loves cookies that he can dunk in hot coffee and he calls them dunkers. I wonder if you could make these cookies oval-shaped. They might not be as chewy in the center, but the crunchy part would be really marvelous.”
Hannah turned to look at Michelle. “Why not?” she asked her youngest sister.
“There’s no reason we can’t,” Michelle responded. “Instead of rolling balls, we could roll cigar shapes. Then, when we flatten them out, the end will fit into a coffee mug.”
“If you can wait until we bake another batch, you can take some home for Doc to try in his coffee tomorrow morning,” Hannah suggested.
“For something like that, I’d wait an hour,” Delores decided, taking another cookie. “But I think I’d better try them out first. I certainly wouldn’t want to give just any dunker cookie to my husband that hadn’t been thoroughly tested.”
Michelle got up from her stool. “Sit with Mother, Hannah. I’ll put in another batch of cookies and then we can all try them.”
“Thank you, dear,” Delores said to Michelle, and then she turned to Hannah. “I hate to bring this up, dear, but I have a bit of a problem concerning my next book launch party. That’s part of the reason I came to see you this afternoon.”
“What’s the problem?” Hannah asked. Her mother’s book launches had been very successful in Lake Eden. Almost everyone in town had come to purchase books and enjoy the refreshments. The town library had profited nicely from the sales because they’d gotten the books at a special library discount price from the publisher, and Lisa’s mother-in-law, Marge, had made enough profit to stock the town library with a shelf of current best sellers. This, in itself, was good, but Delores’s book launches were also fun. Everyone who came enjoyed the local social event.
“The launch is at the end of this month,” Delores said, still looking concerned. “I was planning to hold it at the community center again, but they had some damage from the blizzard and they’re re-carpeting the entire lower floor.”
Hannah was surprised. “I didn’t know that!”
“Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Delores continued. “But the only time that the cleanup crew and carpet people could come was the week I scheduled my book launch.”
“How about the Red Velvet Lounge?” Hannah suggested the restaurant on the ground floor of her mother’s condo building. “Or the lobby of the Albion Hotel?”
“Both of them are already booked,” Delores told her. “I just got a phone call this afternoon and that’s why I came right over here. Do you think it might be possible to hold my book launch in the clubhouse of your condo complex?”
Hannah thought about that for a moment. “That could work,” she told her mother. “There’s plenty of guest parking, and our clubhouse has a full kitchen. Do you want me to check on availability?”
“That would be wonderful, dear!” Delores began to smile. “When you get home tonight, will you check to see how many tables there are and how many chairs are at each table? I’ll need to know how many people we can seat.”
“Of course,” Hannah said immediately. “I think it’ll work out just fine at the clubhouse, Mother. It’ll be something a little bit different and people will like that. I can even post the event in our condo newsletter, and we could get some of the owners and renters who live there to come.”
“That sounds wonderful, dear!” Delores looked vastly relieved. “I knew I could count on you girls to help me find a suitable place to hold the event. And . . . I probably shouldn’t ask this because I know you’re so busy here for Valentine’s Day, but do you think you could handle the catering for my book launch?”
Hannah exchanged glances with Michelle. Their sisterly telepathy was operating well because Michelle gave a very slight nod and Hannah caught it immediately. “Of course we can, Mother. Don’t worry about a thing. Michelle and I will make sure the refreshments are handled.”
“Thank you!” Delores said, sounding very grateful for their help. “I must get back and tell Carrie. Do you think you could pack up some of those cookies for Carrie and Doc now?”
Michelle jumped to her feet. “I’ll do it. Sit and finish your coffee, Mother. We can discuss what you want us to bake sometime in the week before the launch. Right now, we’re all trying to come up with Valentine recipes.”
“I can help you with that,” Delores offered. “I think you should make things with chocolate. Everyone I know loves chocolate. Do you think you could make some bar cookies with chocolate and butterscotch?”
“I’m sure we could,” Hannah told her.
“Then I know that Doc will order tons of them to give to his nurses at the hospital. They have a Valentine’s party every year. And I’ll tell everyone I know that you’re making them. Most of my friends will come in to order some for their Valentine’s Day parties. Everyone loves chocolate. And everyone loves butterscotch, too.”
Hannah considered that for a moment. “Of course we can do that, Mother. We’ll come up with a recipe and give you a sample to taste. If you like it, we’ll make sure we have them available for your book launch, too.”
“Wonderful!” Delores accepted the plastic-wrapped plate that Michelle had just filled for her. “Thank you, dears. Will you have fresh cookies ready for me to taste for breakfast tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, we will, we always have fresh cookies at The Cookie Jar,” Hannah promised her.
“Oh, good! You girls have a wonderful evening and I’ll check in with you again tomorrow to find out whether there’s enough seating at the clubhouse.”
Hannah made a mental note to herself. Check clubhouse for seating. Then she locked the door behind their mother and turned to Michelle. “Did we just agree to cater Mother’s book launch party and provide the venue for her?”
Michelle laughed. “We certainly did! Now I know why everyone in town thinks Mother is such a dynamo when it comes to organizing things.”
“Why do you think she’s such a dynamo?”
“Because she’s a genius at getting other people to do the work,” Michelle responded. “She got you to check out the seating at the condo clubhouse, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she certainly did.”
“And she got both of us to agree to cater her event, didn’t she?”
Hannah sighed and it was a resigned sigh. “Yes, she did that, too. And you’re right, Michelle. Mother got us to do all the work and everyone there is going to think she organized the whole party all by herself.”
* * *
“Ready, Hannah?” Norman asked, once Hannah had made a point of looking through the peephole and, only then, opening the back kitchen door. “I left the car running so it’s nice and warm inside.”
“I’m almost done here,” Hannah told him, wrapping plastic wrap over the top of the last batch of cookies she’d mixed. “Just hold on a second and I’ll put these in the cooler. Then all I have to do is say goodbye to Lisa and Aunt Nancy, and I’ll be all ready to go.”
There was a whole shelf lined with metal mixing bowls covered with plastic wrap, and Hannah felt proud as she surveyed the work she’d done since Norman had left The Cookie Jar.
“Ready,” she said, stepping out of the cooler and closing the door behind her. “I’ll tell Lisa and Aunt Nancy I’m leaving.”
“Not quite yet,” Norman said, smiling at her. “I have one more thing I have to do while we’re here.”
Hannah recognized that smile. It was Norman’s I’ve-got-a-secret-and-you’re-going-to-love-it smile, the one he used when he was convinced he’d done something that would both surprise and please her. “What else do you have to do?” she asked him.
“I have to make a phone call to Clara Hollenbeck before we leave to make sure she’s home.”
Hannah was puzzled. “But Clara’s okay, isn’t she?”
“Clara’s fine. And she’s going to be even better when she gets my call. I stopped by the hardware store and talked to Cliff. And Cliff told me that Clara and Marguerite bought their phones from him and took out the insurance policy.”
“Insurance policy?” Hannah questioned. “You mean Clara’s phone was covered by insurance when it was stolen?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. Cliff filed the insurance form for Clara and he found out that the insurance company will replace her phone free of charge.”
“But . . . Marguerite told me that Clara doesn’t want another phone.”
“I know, but she’s entitled to one. And that’s not the best part.”
Hannah sat down on a stool. “Okay, Norman. Tell me. What’s the best part?”
“All of Marguerite and Clara’s information is on the cloud. They signed up for that kind of coverage when they bought their cell phone insurance.”
Hannah blinked. “You mean . . . Clara’s photos of the big pine tree and the shadows are on the cloud?”
“That’s right. Her phone backed up to the cloud every time she saved a photo. And Marguerite told me that Clara always saved each photo after she took it. It’s all there, Hannah. And Cliff is going to put them all on the new phone that Clara is getting from the insurance company.”
“That’s great news! Clara’s going to be very happy that she doesn’t have to take those photos all over again. When can she get her new phone, Norman?”
“Cliff took it out of the box while I was there and he hooked it up to download Clara’s cloud backup. She’ll have her photos and everything else on her new phone by the time Cliff opens the hardware store in the morning.”
CRUNCHY CHEWY WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
DO NOT preheat oven—dough must chill before baking.
1 and ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks, 12 ounces, ¾ pound)
2 cups white (granulated) sugar
2 large eggs beaten (just whip them up in a cup with a fork)
½ cup white Karo syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup finely chopped pecans (measure AFTER chopping)
4 cups all-purpose flour (pack the flour down in the cup when you measure it)
2 cups white chocolate (or vanilla baking) chips (an 11-ounce bag will be fine)
½ cup white (granulated) sugar for coating the dough balls
Hannah’s 1st Note: To measure Karo syrup, first spray the inside of a measuring cup with Pam so that the syrup won’t stick to the sides of the cup.
Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl by heating it on HIGH for 90 seconds or until melted. (I use a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup with a spout.)
Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can use a mixer from this point on if you wish.
Pour the melted butter in the bottom of a large mixing bowl and add the white sugar on top.
Mix until everything is well combined.
Feel the bowl. If it’s not so hot that it will cook the eggs, add them now and mix them in.
Add the Karo syrup, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly.
Mix in the finely chopped pecans and mix until thoroughly blended.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: You can use finely chopped almonds or finely chopped walnuts if you prefer.
Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.
Remove the bowl from the mixer. Give it a final stir and set it on the counter.
Stir in the white chocolate (or vanilla baking) chips by hand.
Cover the dough in the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator.
Chill the dough for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is fine, too.)
When you’re ready to bake, take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
While your oven is preheating, prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or lining them with parchment paper.
Once your cookie sheets have been prepared, measure out ½ cup white granulated sugar and place it in a shallow bowl. You’ll use this to coat your cookies.
With impeccably clean hands, shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. (If your cookie dough is sticky, coat your fingers with sugar and then try to shape the balls.)
Roll the dough balls in the bowl of white granulated sugar to coat them. Work with only one cookie dough ball at a time.
Place the coated cookie dough balls on your prepared cookie sheets, 12 balls to a standard-size sheet.
Press the dough balls down slightly so that they won’t roll off on the way to the oven.
Bake Crunchy Chewy White Chocolate Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes or until they are nicely browned. (Mine took 14 minutes.)
Take the cookies out of the oven and place them on wire racks or cold stove burners.
Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for 1 minute and then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling. (If you used parchment paper to line your cookie sheets, you can simply pull it off the sheet and onto the wire rack, cookies and all.)
Yield: 5 to 7 dozen tasty cookies, depending on cookie size.
