Wedding Cake Murder (12 page)

Hannah tapped Ross on the shoulder. “Aren’t all the good seats taken?”

“Yes, but I’m a Sky Lounge member and they saved our seats for us. Don’t worry, Cookie. You’ll be very comfortable on the flight.”

His promise was good enough for Hannah. Ross had been right about everything so far. She smiled and followed him to the end of the Jetway and entered the plane right behind him.

“Would you like the window or the aisle?” Ross asked her, gesturing toward the bulkhead seats on the right of the plane.

“The window please. But those aren’t our seats. According to the diagram the Food Channel sent me, we’re near the back of the plane.”

“Not anymore. We have these two bulkhead seats and Michelle and P.K. have the ones right across the aisle from us.”

Hannah was almost afraid to ask, but she did. “But weren’t we supposed to be in coach?”

“Yes.” Ross gave her a little hug. “I called the airline and upgraded all of us. I may not be flying much in the job I have now, and I figured I’d better use my frequent flyer points for something.”

“Well . . . thank you!” Hannah said, stretching out in the wide, comfortable seat. At least Ross hadn’t paid extra for this. “This is just wonderful, Ross.”

Ross gestured at the stewardess who was coming down the aisle. “What would you like to drink? Whatever it is, you’ll have to drink it fast. We’re almost ready to take off.”

“Coffee would be good, if you think I’ll have time to drink it.”

“You will. They just finished their head count and they still have to report to the gate.”

“Something before we depart, Mr. Barton?” The stewardess asked him.

“Coffee please. Two cups would be good. One with cream and one black.”

“Right away, sir.” The stewardess smiled, and hurried to the galley to get their coffee. A moment later, she delivered it and helped Hannah pull out the little tray on the console between them. “Would you like a cookie to go with that, Miss Swensen?”

“No, thank you,” Hannah said. “We just had breakfast.”

Hannah tasted her coffee. Rose McDermott had told her that the coffee on planes was undrinkable, but this coffee was very good. She’d just finished drinking it when the stewardess came back to collect their cups.

“Are you nervous, Hannah?” Ross asked her.

“No. Should I be?”

“Not at all. I’ve flown on aircraft like this hundreds of times and they have a very good safety rating.”

Hannah swallowed hard. She wished that Ross hadn’t said that. It was almost like tempting fate. But she smiled as he took her hand. At that moment she knew that she’d go anywhere with him, even into a dangerous situation, as long as he never left her side.

Chapter Nine

“W
ake up, Hannah. We’re on approach.”

Hannah opened her eyes and somehow managed to orient herself. Instead of working on a cooking stage at the Food Channel competition, she was sitting next to Ross on an airplane and he was smiling at her. She blinked several times in an attempt to shake herself out of the dream. She’d been dreaming that she was mixing up her Double Rainbow Swirl Cake and she’d spilled grape Jell-O powder all over Alain Duquesne.

Her mind still felt sluggish and heavy, like wet woolen snow pants after an afternoon of playing in the snow. “On approach?” she repeated Ross’s words groggily. “What are we approaching?”

“The airport.” Ross gestured toward the cup of coffee on the little pull-out tray between them. “I had the stewardess bring you a fresh cup. That should clear out the remnants of that dream you were having.”

“How do you know about my dream?” Hannah asked, reaching for the cup of coffee.

“You said,
Don’t be mad. I’ll wash your shirt.
”

Hannah took a sip of coffee. “That fits. I was dreaming that I was baking our wedding cake and I spilled grape Jell-O powder all over the head judge.” She took another sip of coffee and leaned back with a sigh. “I guess I’m more nervous about the competition than I thought I was.”

“You’ll be just fine, honey,” Ross reassured her. “You have a big advantage over the other contestants.”

“I do?” Hannah was surprised. “What’s that?”

“They have big fancy restaurants and they’re not used to baking anything alone. All of them have at least three other people to help them in their kitchens. You’re used to working alone, or with just one other person. You’re also more comfortable with a time limit. You’re required to bake a certain number of cookies in a certain amount of time so they’re ready when your coffee shop opens for business in the morning. Their restaurants don’t open in the morning. The earliest any of them open is noon for the lunch crowd. And I’m willing to bet that most of their lunch desserts are things like ice cream, sherbet, cakes, and pies that are left over from the previous night.”

Hannah was surprised at Ross’s insights. “How do you know all that?”

“I looked at their menus online. Their lunch menus only had two or three desserts and most of them consisted of things their staff could assemble in the kitchen like fresh seasonal fruit over ice cream with a sauce or a liqueur.”

“How about the dinner menus?”

“The desserts were more elaborate on those, but don’t forget that they have all day to make them and more than one assistant. And they don’t have to bake take-out orders, or delivery orders, or answer the phone, or serve coffee when the restaurant gets busy. They also close between lunch and dinner. They have only one job, and that’s to make the desserts. They’re prima donnas. You’re a jack of all trades
plus
a fantastic baker.”

Hannah began to smile. “Thank you, Ross. I think you’re right and I do have an advantage. I feel much better about the competition now.”

* * *

In less than an hour, Hannah and Michelle stepped into their hotel room. Their luggage had already been delivered, and there were two luggage racks set up in the very places that Hannah would have chosen. She walked over to her suitcase and snapped it open to take out the extra copy of the recipes that she’d brought with her. She was still searching for the file of recipes when she heard Michelle give a low whistle.

“What?” she asked, turning around to look for her sister. But Michelle wasn’t standing next to her luggage rack.

“Where are you?” Hannah called out.

“I’m out on the balcony. Come out here, Hannah. The view’s incredible!”

Hannah left her luggage rack, which was in an alcove, and entered the main part of the room. “It’s a suite!” she gasped, gazing around at the separate bedrooms, two of them, and another room that probably contained the bathroom. One peek inside the partially open door proved her theory correct. But it wasn’t just an ordinary bathroom. It was a bathroom with two rooms, one containing the largest, most luxurious, innovative shower that she had ever seen, with multiple jets protruding from the walls and a built-in waterproof sound system for those who liked to shower to music.

“Just wait until you see this shower!” Hannah called out to her sister, rushing out the door, through the living room, and onto the cold balcony. But the balcony wasn’t cold. The tile was warm on her feet, and Hannah’s mouth opened in surprise a second time.

“It’s heated,” Michelle said, stating the obvious. “And it’s covered, too, so the snow can’t come in unless it’s a blizzard. I can hardly wait to come out here at night! We could be perfectly comfortable, even on a cold night, sitting in those chairs and looking out at the city lights. This is the biggest and fanciest suite I’ve ever seen, even in the movies. It’s like our very own luxury apartment. I can’t believe that the Food Channel gave us a suite like this!”

Hannah sighed and then she smiled. “I don’t think that the Food Channel gave us this suite.”

“What do you mean? You said they told you that they would provide our accommodations.”

“And they probably did pay for a perfectly nice room. But I think Ross got an upgrade for us. That’s what he did on the plane.”

“The Food Channel didn’t fly us here in first class?”

“No, they paid for two round-trip tickets in coach. Ross used his frequent flyer points to upgrade all of us to first class.”

“Tell him thank you for me. The plane food was even good. One of my roommates told me that all I should eat on the plane was cheese and crackers because the food was so awful, but I had the tuna wrap and it was really great. What did you have? I was so busy talking to P.K., I didn’t even notice.”

“I didn’t have anything. I slept all the way here. Ross had to wake me up when we got ready to land.”

“You must have been tired.”

“I was, but I’m not now. I
am
a little hungry, though. I brought some Soft Chewy Milk Chocolate Cookies with me. Would you like one?”

“I’d like one and then I’d like more. I love those cookies. They smell like summer afternoons on the front porch.”

“You’re right. They do. The only thing we’re missing is the mosquitoes.”

“I could live without those.” Michelle followed Hannah back inside and waited until she found the cookies in her suitcase. “Shall we unpack and then take a walk to get a feel for the city?”

“Sounds good to me. Ross and P.K. are going to be busy all afternoon, getting their equipment in order. And the Food Channel car doesn’t pick us up until six.”

“That’s for orientation, right?”

“That’s what they told me. We have to sign a bunch of papers and then we get to walk around our cooking stage and examine the contents of the pantry. Tomorrow morning’s our time to practice. The sheet the Food Channel representative gave me at the airport says our time slot is from ten to one.”

“And the competition is at seven that night?”

“Yes, but we have to be there at six. And then we fly out the next afternoon to the hometown of whoever wins the hometown challenge.”

“That’ll be Lake Eden,” Michelle said confidently. “Everybody said your Magic White Chocolate Soufflé is the best thing they’ve ever tasted.”

“I just hope the judges agree.”

“They will,” Michelle said with a smile. “You’d better bring the recipe with us so we can check to see if they gave us everything we need to bake it.”

“I’ve got it all ready to go.” Hannah patted the file she’d placed on the desk. “Let’s eat while we walk, Michelle. This suite is a little bit too fancy for me. I might get to expect luxury like this and that means I’ll be really disillusioned when we get home and go back to living an ordinary life.”

SOFT CHEWY MILK
CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

1 and ¼ cups white
(granulated)
sugar

1 cup salted butter
(2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cardamom

½ teaspoon nutmeg
(freshly grated is best)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons coffee
(you can use coffee left over from breakfast)

½ cup molasses

½ cup light Karo syrup

½ cup golden raisins

4 cups quick cooking oats
(I used Quaker 1-minute)

3 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
(pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

1 cup milk chocolate chips
(I used Nestle)

Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. (You can also mix up these cookies by hand, but it’s easier and quicker with an electric mixer.)

Pour the softened butter on top of the sugar.

Mix the sugar and the butter until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Mix in the eggs and beat until it is well incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Sprinkle in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix them in until they’re incorporated.

Add the cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and coffee. Mix well.