Part 3 (1/2)

”Not tonight, but I'm baking it tomorrow. I'll make an extra cake, just for you.”

”For me and not for your boyfriend?” Gus glanced across the table at Jack.

”Jack isn't exactly my boyfriend, although I love him a lot. I always have and I always will.” Marge shot Gus a level look and took a deep breath. Hannah suspected that she was debating the wisdom of saying more. ”And speaking of love,” Marge went on, ”how could you leave Lake Eden in the middle of the night without saying anything to any of us?”

Gus reared back as if he'd been hit buy a salvo of enemy arrows. ”I didn't do it on purpose, Marge. It was just that I had to go then. I don't have to explain myself to you or to anyone else.”

”No, you don't,” Patsy chimed in. ”But you should have. It's too late for the people who loved you the most. Our parents are dead now. They deserved an explanation, or at least a good-bye before you left.”

”They never stopped believing that you'd come home,” Marge added. ”And you never even wrote, or called, or anything. We saw their hearts break, and we want to know why.”

Hannah's head swiveled to Gus. He looked horribly uncomfortable. For a split second she almost felt sorry for him, but what Marge and Patsy had said was true. Gus hadn't bothered to call, or write, or contact his parents in any way. And now it was too late.

Gus was silent for a moment. And then he leaned forward. ”I couldn't,” he said. ”I had to prove myself first. And that didn't happen until a couple of years ago.”

Hannah began to frown. Gus had been bragging about his nightclub business when she'd joined Marge in the booth. ”But you said you were successful once your flags.h.i.+p, Mood Indigo, got off the ground. You also said that you paid off the money you borrowed to start it over twenty years ago. You could have come back then. Your parents were still alive.”

Gus turned to her, and Hannah fought to the urge to shrink back. He didn't look happy that she'd caught him in an inconsistency.

”What is this? The inquisition?” He gave Hannah a look intended to warn her off. ”I didn't want to put the cart before the horse. There's no way I wanted to contact Mother and say I was a successful businessman and then fail in my plans for expansion.”

”Expansion?” Mac leaned closer. ”You have more than one nightclub now?”

”You bet. I've got four, and I'm thinking about expanding again. Atlantic City is a great place to own a nightclub, and they're popping up all over.”

Mac leaned slightly closer to Gus. ”You must be pulling in a good profit to think about opening another one.”

”Oh, I am. You don't expand unless you've got the money to do it. That's what I meant about putting the cart before the horse. It always takes a while to get a new club going.”

”The construction of the building?” Mac guessed.

”That and the fact you have to get the customers in and then keep them coming back. You definitely have to set aside a big budget for advertising.”

”I like the name Mood Indigo,” Marge said, and Hannah noticed that she squeezed Jack's hand. ”Do all the others have a blue theme?”

Gus looked relieved now that they'd switched to a less personal subject, and he favored his sister with a smile. ”It's clever of you to realize that. We play mainly blues in the clubs. And the decor in each club is a different shade of blue. There's Mood Indigo, you already know about that. And then there's the Aqua Room, Sky Blue Heaven, and Midnight Stars. I got that idea from the map of the heavens I used to have on my ceiling. It's one of the reasons I wanted to go through that trunk from my old bedroom. I thought I might come up with another name for a nightclub.”

”True Blue,” Jack offered. ”Except that it wouldn't fit. You've never been true to anyone in your life.”

”And you've never minded picking up the leftovers,” Gus shot back.

There was a moment of silence when everyone just held collective breaths. Hannah wondered if they would sit there forever, just wanting for that second shoe to drop. She hated to think of what might happen if it did. Jack was glaring at Gus. And Gus was glaring at Jack. This could be very awkward, especially since she was seated next to Gus.

”Excuse me,” Hannah said. And the tension eased as everyone turned to look at her. ”I think I'll check my cake platter to see if I need to cut more. Does anyone else want more dessert?”

”I do!” Marge seized the opportunity.

”Me, too,” Patsy said, giving Mac a little nudge. ”Come on. Slide out and let's get some more of Hannah's Special Carrot Cake.”

Marge grabbed Jack's arm and almost pushed him out of booth. ”Let's go, Jack. I need some more coffee.”

Jack slid out of the booth and held out a hand to Marge. Then he turned to give Gus a final glare. ”I'm out of here. And it's not a minute too soon.”

And then they were gone, Jack, Marge, Patsy, and Mac. And that left Hannah alone in the booth with Gus.

”You're leaving, too?” Gus asked in a tone she couldn't quite read.

”Well...I should probably cut the last cake and refill the platter,” Hannah hedged awkwardly. But then she took pity and said, ”Why don't you come with me? I'll fix a plate of cake for you and you can stash it somewhere for later.”

”Hold on a second. I'll be right with you.” Gus popped what looked to Hannah like a pill in his mouth and washed it down with the scotch and soda Marge had gone to fetch for him earlier.

”Should you be drinking and taking meds at the same time?” Hannah couldn't resist asking.

”It's just an over-the-counter antacid. That pate had too much horseradish for me.”

Since they were sitting at the center of the horseshoe-shaped booth, Gus slid out from one direction and Hannah slid out from the other. Gus leaned over to retrieve his gla.s.s, and while she was waiting for him, Hannah looked out over the crowd. She was surprised to see Jack standing only a few feet away, holding Marge's arm while she exchanged a few words with another couple in a booth.

Hannah gave a little wave, but all Jack did in return was scowl. He'd obviously heard her talking to Gus, because the look on his face was disapproving. If she had to describe it, Hannah would say that Jack Herman looked as if he'd just overheard her making a pact with the devil!

HANNAH'S SPECIAL CARROT CAKE Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

2 cups white (granulated) sugar 3 eggs cup vegetable oil (not canola, or olive, or anything but veggie oil) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract cup sour cream (or unflavored yogurt) 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or teaspoon cardamom and the rest cinnamon) 1 teaspoons salt 1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, juice and all*

2 cups chopped walnuts (or pecans) 2 cups flour (don't sift-pack it down when you measure) 2 cups grated carrots (also pack them down when you measure) * That's about 1 cups of crushed pineapple and a scant cup juice Grease (or spray with Pam) a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan and set it aside.

Hannah's 1stNote: This is a lot easier with an electric mixer, but you can also make it by hand.

Beat the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Mix in the sour cream (or yogurt.) Add the baking soda, cinnamon (and cardamom if you used it) and salt. Mix them in thoroughly.

Add the can of crushed pineapple (including the liquid) and the chopped nuts to your bowl. Mix them in thoroughly.

Add the flour by half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

Grate the carrots. (This is very easy with a food processor, but you can also do it with a hand grater.) Measure out 2 cups of grated carrots. Pack them down in the cup when you measure them.

Mix in the carrots BY HAND. Grated carrots tend to get caught on the beaters of electric mixers.

Spread the batter in your prepared cake pan and bake it at 350 degrees F. for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester (I use a food pick that's a little longer than a toothpick,) inserted one inch from the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the cake pan on a wire rack. When it's completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting while it's still in the pan.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING.