have no idea, but Patsy’s big on nutrients and she thinks a balanced diet will help. And before you even ask, I checked with Dad’s doctor and she says eating Pork and Beans Bread toast can’t hurt.”
“The name’s intriguing. Is it a type of bread that goes especially well with Pork and Beans?”
“No, it’s bread that’s made from pork and beans!” Lisa gave a little laugh. “You can’t really taste them unless you know they’re in there, but then you can. I’ll make a double batch. That’ll be four loaves. And I’ll bring one in tomorrow morning for you to taste.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Did Herb tell you any other news I should know about?”
Lisa thought about that for a moment. “You already know about your mother, don’t you?”
“What about Mother?”
“She signed up for a class at the college. Norman’s mom, too. It’s something to do with running a small business.”
Hannah was surprised. Delores hadn’t mentioned signing up for a business course. “Well, that’s good I guess. But I wonder why she hasn’t told me.”
As if on cue, the front door opened and Delores Swensen came in. She brushed the snow from her cardinal red coat that went so well with her coloring and hung it on the rack by the door.
“Hello, dears,” she said giving both of them a smile. “Am I too late for coffee?”
“It’s never too late for coffee.” Hannah jumped to her feet to pour a mug for her mother.
“How about a couple of cookies to go with that?” Lisa asked.
Delores considered it for a moment. “Thank you, dear. I have class tonight and I won’t have time to run home and eat. Do you have anything with chocolate?”
“Do we have anything with chocolate?” Hannah laughed as she repeated her mother’s question. “Almost everything we bake has chocolate!”
Lisa glanced over at the large glass jars they used to showcase their cookie selections for the day. “We have Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies, Fudge-Aroons, one piece of Chocolate Almost Toast, and I think there’s…” Lisa walked over to the counter for a closer look. “Yes. We’ve got two Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights. One looks a little smushed on top, but it’s still good.”
“I’ll have the cherries,” Delores decided, sitting down at the table and turning to her daughter. “What are you doing tonight, dear?”
Hannah wanted to ask why her mother needed to know, but that wouldn’t be polite. It was best to hedge a bit and see if Delores would volunteer the information. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Then you don’t have any firm plans?”
“Not really.” Hedging hadn’t worked and it was time to border on the impolite. “Did you have a particular reason for asking?”
Delores gave a little laugh. “I should have told you up front. But that was nicely done, dear. You weren’t rude, but you avoided committing yourself.”
“Thank you, Mother. And your reason for asking?”
“Carrie.”
“Carrie wants to know my plans for tonight?”
“No, I do. But it’s because of Carrie that I want to know.” Delores stopped speaking as Lisa delivered her cookies and a fresh mug of coffee. “Thank you, Lisa.”
“You’re welcome.” Lisa turned to Hannah. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. I want to mix up a batch of Blueberry Crunch Cookies for Grandma Knudson. Reverend Knudson told me she’s a great believer in dark berries.”
“Do you have any idea what Lisa was talking about?” Hannah asked once her partner had disappeared behind the kitchen door.
“Yes, dear. Dark berries are all the rage now. Eating them is supposed to be beneficial to eye health.”
Hannah gave a little shrug. “Is it true?”
“I don’t know, but I like blueberries and blackberries, so there’s no reason not to eat them. If it helps, that’s wonderful. If it doesn’t, what have I lost?”
“That’s a good attitude,” Hannah complimented her mother, “but let’s get back to Carrie. What does she have to do with my plans for tonight?”
Delores took a sip of her coffee and sighed. “She canceled at the last minute again. We were supposed to go out to class together and this is the second one she’s missed. I thought that if you didn’t have other plans, you might go with me. I just hate to drive out to the college alone, especially at night in the winter.”
Hannah was well and truly stuck and she knew it. It wasn’t often her mother asked for help. “Okay, I’ll go with you. What kind of class is it?”
“It’s a business class called Small Business Practices.”
“That sounds interesting,” Hannah said, but she meant just the opposite. It was possible she might learn something helpful from attending the session with her mother, but it could be a deadly dull way to spend an evening.
“The instructor, Miss Whiting, is very good. She has her masters in accounting and she’s a CPA specializing in small business and corporate tax preparation. I’m learning a lot about keeping better books, and the difference between the paperwork I should save and the things I can throw away.”
Hannah had the fleeting thought that since Lisa was now taking care of the financial end of their business, she should be the one to attend the class with Delores. Lisa would go if Hannah asked her, but that wouldn’t be fair. This was Lisa’s last night with her husband before Herb went ice fishing with Mayor Bascomb. Thinking that way was quite selfless of her and Hannah felt good about it. But she also had an equally important selfish reason for not saddling her partner with the class. Hannah wanted Lisa to get home in time to bake the Pork and Beans Bread so that she could taste it in the morning.
“What’s the problem with Carrie? Why can’t she go with you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“She didn’t tell you?” Hannah was shocked. Delores and Carrie had been friends for years before they’d opened their antique business together. In the past, they’d discussed everything, including Delores’s disastrous romance with Winthrop Harrington the Third.
“She just said something personal had come up and she was sorry, but she couldn’t go to class with me. That’s exactly the same thing she told me last week.”
“Carrie didn’t say what that something personal was?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“And you didn’t ask her?”
“Really, Hannah!” Delores looked offended. “Carrie said it was personal. Asking her to elaborate would have been terribly impolite.”
“I know, but did you?”
