“Hannah! Sorry about that. I started to doze off on the couch and Norman told me to come in here. He said you wouldn’t mind.”

“Well

I guess I don’t,” Hannah conceded, “but what are you doing here in the first place?”

“I brought the pizza.”

“What pizza?”

“The pizza Norman ordered from Bertanelli’s. I was sitting there waiting for my pizza when he called in his. Ellie told me they were short a delivery guy, so I figured I’d just bring them both out here and we could eat together.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, wondering what sort of numbers that would rack up on the scale of coincidence. “You want some coffee? I just put on a pot.”

“Sure. Is Ross here?”

“He’s in the living room talking to Norman.”

“Great. I have to tell him that the kids are trying to skate on the ice rink at the park.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s fake ice and it’s going to be all marked up by the time they shoot there on Friday.”

“Fake ice?” Hannah was surprised. This was the first she’d heard of it, but it made sense to her. It was possible to have a warm spell before Friday that might render the ice rink unusable. “What are they going to do about the snow if the weather warms up?”

“They’ll use fake snow. They’re going to use it anyway, just to make it look better.”

“Okay,” Hannah said, too tired to ask the other questions that occurred to her. “If you don’t mind, I’m beat and I’m going to bed. Will you tell Norman and Ross?”

Mike looked shocked. “Sure, but you’re kicking us out without coffee?”

“I’m not kicking you out at all. Help yourselves to coffee and any cookies you find in the cookie jar. Stay as long as you like, but just don’t wake me when you leave. And since you’re the official law enforcement officer, would you please make sure you’re that the last one out and the door locks behind you?”

“You can be sure of that!” Mike said, putting both hands around her waist to turn her around and give her a gentle nudge toward the bedroom.

Chapter

Chapter

Sixteen

It was ten o’clock on Wednesday morning and Lisa had just opened The Cookie Jar for business. Dean Lawrence had approved the Mini Cherry Cheesecakes enthusiastically, and Hannah had returned to The Cookie Jar to bake and chill another four batches for the cocktail party scene that would be shot that afternoon. Moishe was holding court at the round table by the window, Lisa was waiting on a customer, and Hannah was in the kitchen with Andrea, baking the cookies she’d intended to bake the previous evening.