The front door to The Cookie Jar opened and a handsome young man walked in. He was wearing casual clothes, but they fit him perfectly and Hannah had the feeling that they were expensive. She assumed that he was someone from the movie crew she hadn’t met and gave him a smile of welcome.

“Hi, Hannah!” the man greeted her. And then he read the blank expression on her face and laughed. “You don’t recognize me?”

Hannah’s mind churned as fast as a master butter-maker’s tub gone berserk. It was no use. She had no idea who the young man was. She was about to shake her head and admit it when he pointed to the discrete gold stud in one earlobe.

“P. K.?” Hannah guessed, remembering the night engineer from KCOW Television who’d let them watch outtakes from the Hartland Flour Bakeoff.

“It’s me. When they made me a feature reporter, I ditched the ponytail and the beard.”

“You kept the earring,” Hannah commented.

“Yes, but I had to tone it down a little. The diamond was too flashy for the camera. This one’s brushed gold.”

Hannah got P. K. settled with a couple of cookies and a mug of coffee and then she sat down across the table from him. “So

what brings you here?”

“Burke Anson. KCOW sent me out to interview him for my segment of Night News at Ten. I do the entertainment news.”

“Good for you! But I thought you wanted to direct.”

“I do. And I’ll get there eventually, now that I’m moving up the ladder. Burke said I could catch him here between scenes. He wants to do the interview at The Cookie Jar if that’s all right with you.”

“Here?” Hannah was surprised. “Why not on the set?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he thought it would be too distracting. He said to meet him here and since I’m the one asking and not the other way around, he gets to call the shots.”

“Right.” Hannah wondered why she didn’t get to call the shots, especially since Burke wanted to use The Cookie Jar for a backdrop without even asking her.

“We’ll only use a small corner of the coffee shop, and I’ll make sure to mention where we are,” P. K. said, practically reading her mind. “It’ll be good advertising for your business. And Dee-Dee will do it, too. You know how she gives teasers before the commercials?”

“You mean when she announces what’s coming up next?”

“Exactly.” P. K. cleared his throat and went into a credible imitation of Dee-Dee Hughes, co-anchor of Night News. Stay tuned for an exclusive interview with Burke Anson at The Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, right after these words from our sponsors.”

Hannah laughed. P. K. had mastered Dee-Dee’s voice perfectly. “Do you need me to move tables or anything?”