Part 10 (1/2)
Hannah stifled a grin, these club meetings always made her mother spout Regency phrases, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Delores could afford to be generous. Hannah's grandfather had invested heavily in the fledgling Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, and over the years 3M stock had split more times than Hannah could count. ”Did Claire tell you what I paid for the dress?”
”I asked, but she said that it was just between the two of you. How much was it, dear? I'll write you a check.”
Hannah sighed as she listened to the hoofbeats of the gift horse gallop off into the sunset. She couldn't tell her mother what the dress had cost. She'd promised Claire not to mention the price. ”I can't say, Mother. Claire gave it to me at cost and I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone what I paid.”
”Not even moi moi?”
”Not even you, Mother.” Hannah had trouble keeping a straight face. Her mother sounded just like Miss Piggy when she referred to herself as moi moi.
Carrie leaned close to whisper something in Delores's ear, and her mother began to smile again. ”That's a wonderful idea. You'll need a new purse and a pair of shoes, Hannah. Why don't you let me pick up the tab for those?”
”I have a black clutch, Mother. You gave it to me two years ago. And my black heels are perfectly-” Hannah stopped and began to frown as she remembered that her only pair of black dress shoes needed to be resoled. ”You hit it on the nose, Mother. I could use a new pair of shoes.”
”Then I'll buy them for you. Choose Italian, dear. They're the only ones that last. And make sure you walk around the store at least twice to make sure they don't pinch. I could go out to the mall with you and help you shop.”
Hannah winced as she remembered the last shopping trip she'd taken with her mother. Delores had wanted her to buy a dress coat instead of her all-purpose parka. ”That's all right, Mother. I know how busy you are. And that reminds me, how's your tooth?”
”My tooth?” Delores appeared startled, and Hannah bit back a grin. Did her mother think that the news on the gossip grapevine traveled in only one direction? ”It's fine now, dear. Norman's a marvelous dentist. Did I tell you that I saw Ron LaSalle driving away?”
”No, but Norman did. You didn't talk to Ron, did you?”
”He was pulling out when I drove up and all I saw was the back of his truck. For all I know, it wasn't even Ron.” Her mother looked very fl.u.s.tered. ”Do you think that I should report it to Bill?”
”Definitely. Bill's trying to account for Ron's actions on the morning that he died, and what you saw might help.”
Carrie s.h.i.+vered slightly. ”It's frightening to think that someone we all knew could be shot down in broad daylight on our streets.”
”I know.” Delores sighed. ”As far as I'm concerned, it's Herb Beeseman's fault. That boy spends all his time writing tickets and he's never where he's really needed. If he'd stuffed that citation book in his pocket where it belongs, he might have been there in time to save Ron's life!”
Hannah knew she should keep her mouth shut, but she couldn't do it. ”Herb was hired to enforce Lake Eden's traffic regulations, not to patrol the streets hunting for would-be killers.”
”She's right, Delores,” Carrie said and then she turned to Hannah. ”It must have been terrible for you, dear. Imagine something like that happening right in back of your shop!”
Delores didn't look very sympathetic. ”Hannah can handle things like that. She's always been strong. She gets it from me. Isn't that right, Hannah?”
Hannah managed to keep her lips pressed firmly together. This from the woman who'd fainted when she'd found a dead squirrel on her back doorstep!
”We'd better move along, Delores.” Carrie nudged her. ”You know how upset these older women get when someone holds up the line.”
Hannah came very close to losing it. With the exception of Mrs. Priscilla Knudson, the Lutheran minister's grandmother, Carrie was the oldest lady in the group.
After Hannah had served the remaining women in line, she picked up her cookie tray and stepped out to mingle. She had quite a few takers. Her Regency Ginger Crisps were going over big. She'd just finished serving Bertie Straub, the owner-operator of the Cut 'n Curl, when she overheard part of a conversation that Maryann Watson, Coach Watson's sister, was having with one of the secretaries at DelRay, Lucille Rahn.
”You have no idea how generous my brother is when it comes to Danielle,” Maryann confided. ”He paid an absolute fortune for her birthday present.”
Lucille took a dainty bite of her cookie. ”Really? How could he afford to buy something that expensive on a teacher's salary?”
”He's been saving all year. It's her thirtieth, you know, and he wanted to get her something special. He asked me to meet him at the Mall of America on Tuesday night to help him shop. I swear we went to every single jewelry store in the entire mall before he found something that he wanted.”
Hannah slipped into her invisible caterer mode, setting her tray down at the far end of their table and busying herself by rearranging the stacked cookies on her tray. Neither woman seemed aware of her, but Hannah could hear every word they spoke.
”What did he buy?” Lucille looked very curious. ”You can tell me, Maryann.”
Maryann leaned forward, about to confide the delicious secret. She seemed perfectly oblivious to Hannah. Waiters, maids, and caterers were always treated to all the gossip, whether they wanted to hear it or not. ”He got her a perfectly gorgeous ruby ring, but you can't tell a soul. It's supposed to be a surprise.”
Lucille raised her eyebrows. ”A ruby? That does does sound expensive.” sound expensive.”
”It was,” Maryann confirmed with a nod of her head. ”It cost him over a thousand dollars. And Boyd even paid extra to have it engraved on the inside of the band.”
”Is that why you missed the Dorcas Circle meeting on Tuesday night?”
”Yes, we had to stay over because the ring wasn't ready until the next morning. Boyd asked me to take it home with me for safekeeping, and you know what that that means.” means.”
Lucille looked thoroughly puzzled. ”What does it mean?”
”Danielle must snoop through his things.”
”That doesn't really surprise me. Jill Haversham was Danielle's third-grade teacher, and she said that all the Perkins girls were nosy.”
”I'll never understand why Boyd married her.” Maryann sighed deeply. ”He could have had anyone, and it wasn't like he had had to, you know. But I guess there's no accounting for taste.” to, you know. But I guess there's no accounting for taste.”
”That's what they say. Did you stay over with your mother?”
”Yes, and she was so glad to see us. Boyd went out to get doughnuts for breakfast the next morning and he came back with a huge box. That's so she'd have leftovers. We're not sure she's eating right, now that she's all alone.”
Hannah stifled a grin. She didn't think that doughnuts for breakfast fell into the realm of ”eating right,” but she wasn't one to talk. A lot of her customers ate cookies for breakfast.
”She's lonely, now that Dad's gone,” Maryann continued, ”and she just rattles around in that house of hers. The neighborhood's turning industrial, and that's not good, either.”
”Where is it?” Lucille asked.
”Right off the Anoka exit on the ninety-four. It used to be a nice quiet suburb before they put in the freeway, but it's going downhill in a handbasket. Boyd and I think she should sell and move into one of those nice apartment buildings for seniors.”
Lucille raised her eyebrows. ”Wouldn't she rather move in with you or Boyd?”
”My place isn't big enough. You've seen my apartment. I barely have room to turn around. Boyd's got plenty of room, but I don't think that Danielle wants her. Not that he's said anything about it. He wouldn't, you know. Boyd's as loyal to that woman as the day is long. He treats her like a princess, dressing her up in expensive clothes and buying her everything she could possibly want. He even bought her that house, you know, and let me tell you, that's got to be a real drain.”
”Financially?”
”Their mortgage payments must be sky-high, and there's always something that needs to be fixed. Boyd tries to do it all himself, but heaven knows he's not a plumber or an electrician. I swear Danielle doesn't appreciate how hard he works, but what else can you expect, coming from a family like hers?”
”She doesn't work, does she?” Lucille asked.
”Of course not. She wouldn't lift a finger to help them out. Boyd says he doesn't want want her to work, but I think he's just covering up for the fact that she's too lazy to hold down a job.” her to work, but I think he's just covering up for the fact that she's too lazy to hold down a job.”