“That’s nice of you, but…” Hannah stopped and began to frown.

“But what?”

“I don’t want to talk myself out of a big sale here, but isn’t that sending the wrong message?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re giving them candy. And candy is practically solid sugar. I thought dentists wanted their patients to avoid a lot of sugar.”

“Not necessarily. We encourage our patients to brush and floss after eating sweets, but we don’t tell them not to eat candy. If everyone ate correctly and practiced impeccable dental hygiene, there wouldn’t be any need for dentists. And then I’d be out of a job!”

Hannah turned to stare at him. She thought he was joking, but she wasn’t completely sure. Then she saw the corner on his mouth twitch slightly and she knew he was pulling her leg. “I’ve never thought of it from that perspective before. And it seems we’re in the same boat.”

“We are?”

“If everyone ate exactly what they should and never treated themselves to sinful desserts, I’d be out of business, too!”

Chapter Three

Hannah stood staring at the back door of her building for a moment and then she sighed. “I wonder what she’ll do when we come in.”

“She’ll run.”

“You think?”

“I’m positive. From what you said, she sounds like an intelligent girl. She knows it’s illegal to break into a locked store.”

“But she only broke in because it was cold outside.”

“I know.”

“And she tried to pay me for staying overnight by making candy and cleaning my kitchen.”

“That’s true, but she still broke in twice that you know of.”

“Once,” Hannah corrected him.

“But the lights in the window are on. Doesn’t that mean she’s here tonight?”

“Oh, she’s here. But I gave her tacit permission to stay.”

“You left her a note?”

“No, I left her a sandwich and a plate of cookies. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t want her in my shop.”

“All right. Let’s say she figured out that the sandwich and the cookies were for her and she ate them. And she’s all bedded down inside for the night. I still think she’ll run when you come in.”

Hannah thought about that. Norman could be right. Someone desperate enough to break into a shop and sleep on the floor might think the sandwich and cookies were a trap to catch her. “So do you think that I ought to just leave her alone?”

“Absolutely not. For all you know she’s underage and her family is worried sick about her. What we should do is talk to her, find out her story and see if we can do something to help.”

“You said we,” Hannah pointed out. “Does that mean you want to get involved?”

“I’m already involved. I got involved when I agreed to drive you to the shop. There may be something I can do to help her. For instance…what if she has a crippling overbite?”

Hannah burst out laughing and immediately clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. They had to be quiet, and that was difficult when Norman was so funny. She wanted to reach out and give him a hug, but she resisted the impulse. Although she didn’t think he’d misinterpret it, she couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. “I know we should talk to her,” she told him, “but what if you’re right and the minute she sees us, she bolts?”