A mental image of a pirate, even though it was fueled by movies and Halloween costumes, was easily forthcoming. Pirates wore eye patches, and brandished black powder pistols. They had jeweled or hoop earrings, tight pants, and shirts unbuttoned practically to their waists. Sometimes they were missing a tooth or had a gold cap over one of their front teeth. If the pirate was Captain Hook, he had a hook for a hand.

“Nothing there,” Hannah said aloud, shaking her head. “There aren’t any romantic pirates except Jack Sparrow . . . and Lafayette.”

Perhaps the pantry would give her some ideas. Hannah got up and walked across the kitchen to the pantry. She was surveying the shelves with a frown on her face when she heard someone calling her name.

“Hannah?”

Hannah recognized the voice immediately. It was Lisa and she was in the kitchen. But what was Lisa doing here when she had the rest of the day off?

“In here,” Hannah said, sticking her head out the pantry door. “What are you doing back here? I thought you were going home to relax this afternoon.”

“I changed my plans. Herb’s got a meeting with Mayor Bascomb at noon and he’s not sure how long it’ll last. He’s taking Dillon with him, and Sammy’s got a play date with Vespers at the parsonage. I dropped him off at Grandma Knudson’s and I just couldn’t face the idea of going home alone. So I came here.” Lisa stopped speaking and gave a little sigh. “Besides, I keep thinking about that man and wishing I’d seen him there by the side of the road so I could have warned you.”

“It was raining too hard to see much of anything, Lisa.”

“I know that, but I keep wishing anyway. I knew I’d get depressed if I just stayed home and then I remembered how you bake whenever you’re upset. I thought I might as well try that here.”

“Makes sense to me. You can help me come up with a new cookie.” Hannah stepped out of the pantry and reached behind her to turn off the light.

“What kind of a cookie?”

“A pirate cookie. Winnie Henderson is having a pirate birthday party for her grandson and we have to come up with a theme cookie.”

Lisa poured herself a cup of coffee from the kitchen pot, sat down at the workstation, and waited for Hannah to join her. “Can you use your Berried Treasure Bar Cookies?” she asked.

“That won’t work. Winnie wants a cookie, not a bar cookie.”

Both women sat there thinking for several minutes and then Lisa began to smile.

“What did you just think of?” Hannah asked her.

“I thought of our Surprise Cookies. And then I thought of Little Snowballs. Why can’t we combine the two into one new cookie no one’s ever had before?”

“You mean . . . Little Snowballs made bigger with surprises inside of them?” Hannah asked her.

“Yes. We could put all sorts of things inside if they were a little bigger. How many do we need?”