Part 15 (1/2)

Just as Hannah was about to rebel, Norman stood and held up his hands. ”That's enough, Mother. Sit on the couch with Mrs. Swensen and I'll take a couple of you.”

”Turnabout's fair play,” Hannah murmured to Andrea as they stood off to the side and watched Norman take pictures of their mothers. ”Let's tell Mother her lipstick's on crooked.”

Andrea looked horrified at the thought. ”Don't! Then she'll have to get out her mirror and fix it, and that'll take even longer.”

Hannah was about to point out that they'd taken enough pictures to paper the entire back wall in her shop, when she heard a low beeping noise. She turned to Bill and asked, ”Is that your pager?”

Bill retrieved his pager from his pocket. He glanced at the display and frowned. ”I've got to call in.”

”You don't have to go, do you?” Andrea grabbed at his sleeve. ”We haven't even danced yet.”

Bill gave her a little hug. ”I know, but the dispatcher punched in the emergency code. Where's the nearest phone?”

”Right here.” Hannah pointed to the one next to the couch. ”Go ahead, Bill. We want to know what's happening.”

Bill punched out the number and talked to someone at the sheriff's station. Hannah listened to his end of the conversation, but Okay, right away, Okay, right away, and and I'll do that I'll do that didn't tell her much. didn't tell her much.

”There's a big accident out on the interstate,” Bill informed them as he hung up the phone. ”They're calling everyone in.”

”Shall I take you?” Andrea offered.

”No, you can stay. I'll catch a ride out with one of the other guys.” Bill patted her shoulder. ”Have a good time for me, okay?”

Reading the glum expression on Andrea's face, Hannah doubted that she was going to have a good time without Bill, but her sister nodded. ”Okay, honey. Be careful and I'll see you at home.”

After Bill left, they all trooped back to the party. Hannah had seen Norman rewind the film and drop it into his pocket, and she was curious. ”Are you going to put the film in the night drop at the drugstore, Norman?”

”No.” Norman shook his head. ”I'll develop it myself when I get home. I just finished setting up my darkroom.”

”You're a photographer?”

”Just an amateur. I caught the bug when I was in Seattle. It's a great hobby. I'll bring the prints by The Cookie Jar on my lunch break tomorrow so you can see them.”

The orchestra was playing by the time they reentered the ballroom, and Norman asked Hannah to dance. She couldn't refuse without seeming rude and Hannah found herself suffering through an agonizingly slow waltz. Norman was, at best, a tentative dancer and Hannah really wanted to lead. But she didn't want to hurt Norman's feelings and she endured their dance with a smile on her face.

When the dance had ended, Norman escorted her back to Andrea and their mothers. As they were standing there talking, Hannah spotted Betty Jackson. She wanted to ask Betty if she knew about Max Turner's early meeting, but Bill wouldn't like it if she dragged Norman along.

”Would you like to dance again, Hannah?” Norman offered, holding out his arm.

Hannah tried not to flinch at the thought. There was no way she wanted to dance with Norman again. She was just trying to think of a tactful excuse when she had a brilliant idea. ”Why don't you ask Andrea? I heard her tell Bill that she wanted to dance.”

”Good idea.” Norman turned to Andrea with a smile. ”How about it, Andrea? Would you like to dance?”

Andrea shot Hannah a wounded look as she danced off with Norman, and Hannah knew she'd have some explaining to do. She'd point out that dancing with Norman, no matter how painful, was better than getting stuck with the mothers.

Betty was standing near the orchestra, tapping her foot in time with the music. She looked as if she wanted to dance, but it was doubtful that any of the local men would ask her. Betty was what Hannah and her friends in high school had unkindly called ”heavy-duty.” She weighed close to three hundred pounds and she wasn't known for her grace on the dance floor. Hannah's father had once quipped that a man needed steel-toed boots to dance with Betty, and more than one man in Lake Eden had nursed an injured foot after an obligatory turn around the floor with her.

As always, Betty was dressed in vertical stripes. Someone must have once told her that they were slenderizing and they might have been, for someone less bulky. Betty's stripes were wide tonight, and they were dark green and burgundy. The colors were pretty, but that didn't stop Betty from resembling the side of a circus tent. As she walked closer, Hannah made a mental vow to go on a diet and shed the ten extra pounds she'd been carrying around since last Christmas.

”Hi, Betty,” Hannah called out a cheerful greeting. Since there was no one else around, it was obvious the local males feared for their insteps, and Hannah knew she'd never have a better chance to interview Betty about Max's meeting.

Betty reached out to pat Hannah's arm. ”You look gorgeous tonight, Hannah.”

”Thanks.” Hannah knew it was only polite to return the compliment, but what could she say? Then she spotted Betty's shoes and she had her answer. ”Your shoes are great. They match your dress perfectly.”

Betty smiled, apparently satisfied. ”Is there any news about poor Ron?”

”Nothing yet. I'm glad I found you, Betty. I need to talk to you about Max.”

Betty swallowed and her face turned pale. ”I knew it! There's something wrong, isn't there?”

”Wrong?” Hannah was puzzled. ”Why do you think there's something wrong?”

”Max hasn't called in yet and that's not like him at all. He's a very hands-on manager. Last year he called me three times a day.”

”There's nothing wrong as far as I know,” Hannah rea.s.sured her. ”I just wondered if he knew about Ron, that's all.”

Betty fanned her face with her hand. ”You practically gave me a heart attack. I'm probably just imagining things, but it's just so strange that Max hasn't called. s.h.i.+rley, over at the Mielke Way Dairy, said Gary's called in every morning.”

”Did Gary mention seeing Max at the convention?”

”No. And s.h.i.+rley can't call him to ask, because Gary won't tell her where he's staying.” Betty's face crinkled in a huge smile and she moved closer. ”Gary's a bachelor and this is his big chance to live it up a little, if you know what I mean. At least that's what s.h.i.+rley thinks.”

”s.h.i.+rley's probably right. Do you think that Max is doing the same thing?”

”Max?” Betty looked utterly astounded. ”If you knew him as well as I do, you wouldn't even think it. Max has only two pleasures in life: money and more money.”

Hannah gave the appropriate laugh, even though she'd heard that particular comment about Max about a million times before. ”Did you know that Max had an early-morning meeting in his office on Wednesday?”

”He did?” Betty seemed genuinely surprised. ”But he was supposed to leave at five-thirty, and that's awfully early for a meeting. Are you sure?”

”That's what I heard.”

Betty thought about it for a moment and then she shrugged. ”Anything's possible, especially if it was about money. I know that Max was in the office early. They asked him to give the opening speech and I typed it up for him on Tuesday night. I left it on my desk and it was gone when I came in the next morning.”

”You're sure that Max picked it up?”

”I'm positive. He left a yellow sticky, reminding me to order new file folders.”

Hannah decided not to tell Betty that Max had still been at the dairy at six-fifteen. It would only worry her. ”Have you tried to call Max at the convention?”

”Of course I have. They told me he wasn't registered at the Holiday Inn, but I didn't expect him to stay there. Max is very picky and he just hated his room last year. It was right next to the ice machine.”

”How about the other hotels in town?”

”I tried them, but they all say he's not registered.”