When the cheesecakes are cool, open the can of cherry pie filling and place three cherries on top of every mini cheesecake. Divide the cherry juice equally among the 24 mini cheesecakes.

Refrigerate in the muffin tins for at least 4 hours before serving. (Overnight is even better.) Then take them out of the tins, carefully remove the cupcake papers, and place them on a silver platter for an elegant dessert at a finger food party.

Hannah’s Note: I made these with Comstock Dark Cherry Pie Filling and came up 4 cherries short. Lisa’s can of regular cherry pie filling had 72 cherries, 3 for each of her Mini Cherry Cheesecakes.

Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you prefer, you can use fresh fruits glazed with melted jelly instead of the canned cherry pie filling. You can also use any other pie filling you like.

Chapter

Chapter

Fourteen

Hannah was sitting at the work island in the kitchen of The Cookie Jar, taking a well-deserved break. She’d just finished making Dean Lawrence’s cheesecakes and they were sitting in state in the walk-in cooler, along with the tray of Jane’s Mini Cherry Cheesecakes that Lisa had made. Both types of cherry delectables would be thoroughly chilled and ready for delivery to Dean’s office in the morning. Hannah would perform that duty. There was no way she would let Lisa come into contact with the seasoned Romeo alone in his fancy Winnebago.

A chuckle escaped Hannah’s throat as she thought of what would happen if Lisa delivered the goodies and the Bad Boy Director made another pass at her. There were some in town who might still consider her a blushing bride, but Lisa was far from innocent when it came to dealing with amorous males. According to Hannah’s youngest sister, Michelle, who’d been Lisa’s classmate at Jordan High, one particular basketball player had ended up benched for a week with a black eye after he tried to get fresh with Lisa on a date. No, Hannah’s concern wasn’t for her partner. Lisa could and would take care of herself. And her concern wasn’t for Dean Lawrence, either. If Lisa was forced to use what Michelle had called her “wicked left hook,” he would deserve that and then some. Hannah’s concern was for Ross and what it would mean for Crisis in Cherrywood if his director got benched for medical reasons.