Winnie answered the door herself. She was wearing an apron and she wiped her hands on a towel before she shook Mike’s hand and gave Hannah a hug. “Hi there. What brings you out here all this way?”

“This,” Hannah said, getting right to the heart of the matter by pulling the pie plate out of the bag. “Is this one of yours, Winnie?”

“Looks like it,” Winnie said, taking the pie tin from Hannah’s hand. “If it is, somebody sure doesn’t know how to wash dishes!”

“I found it in the woods close to here,” Mike explained. “And Hannah said you’d had a blackberry pie stolen on Friday morning so we thought it might be yours.”

“Is there any way you can tell for sure?” Hannah asked, hoping for a positive identification.

“Sure is. Follow me to the kitchen. I’ll just give it a soak and then I can tell.” Winnie led the way to the kitchen and dropped the pie pan into the sink, which was already full of soapy water. “Have a seat at the table.”

“Something really smells good in here,” Mike said as they sat down at the big, round, oak table.

“Don’t know what that could be unless it’s fried chicken, biscuits, green beans and carrots, and Graham Cracker Cake. You two hungry? There’s plenty enough for two more. Connor and the boys will be trooping in here to eat about five minutes from now.”

Mike shook his head. “Thanks, Winnie, but I had a big breakfast less than three hours ago.”

“I didn’t ask you when you ate breakfast. I asked you if you were hungry.”

Mike grinned. “So you did. I’m not hungry, but that fried chicken smells really good. I think I could choke down a leg or two.”

“That’s what I thought. Your mouth started watering the minute you stepped through the door to my kitchen. Coffee while you wait?”

“No, thanks,” Mike said quickly, and Hannah knew he remembered Winnie’s extra-strong, boiled coffee. He’d managed to drink one cup the last time they were here together, but Hannah suspected that it had probably given him indigestion.

“How about you, Hannah? You hungry?”

“I was born hungry, Winnie. I can’t eat too much, though. I’ll have one piece of chicken, one of your biscuits, and a piece of that Graham Cracker Cake. I’ve never had Graham Cracker Cake before.”

“You’ll like it. And you’ll like it even better when I write out the recipe for you. It’s so easy that making it’s like falling off a log.” Winnie walked over to the sink and pulled the pie pan out of the dishwater. “That’s better. Just let me rinse it off and I can tell you if it’s mine or not.”