Hannah walked on until she came to a likely prospect. It was a small space that had previously belonged to a flower shop. It had changed hands and the new name was stenciled on the door. It read, DORO’S DOUGHNUTS, in thick gold script, and Hannah had all she could do not to knock on the door and demand entrance.

“Hannah?” A voice called her name, and Hannah turned to see Andrea. “You’re not going in there, are you?”

Hannah stepped away from the door. “Of course not. I just smelled the doughnuts and wondered where they were.”

“Good thing I got here when I did,” Andrea said. “How did you do on your diet yesterday?”

“I had a small glass of orange juice, two scrambled eggs, and a piece of whole wheat toast for breakfast.”

“That sounds good. Did you scramble the eggs in butter?”

“No, I used a nonstick cooking spray. They couldn’t have had many calories. They were perfectly tasteless.”

“Excellent.” Andrea favored her with a smile. “How about the toast? Did you butter it?”

“Absolutely not,” Hannah said, grateful that Andrea hadn’t asked about the jar of apricot jam on the top shelf of her refrigerator.

“How about lunch?”

“I’d love to, thanks,” Hannah quipped, but she sobered when Andrea frowned at her. “I had a green salad with two tablespoons of diet dressing on it. I did have a cookie for dessert, though. Lisa wanted me to try a new recipe, and I baked a quarter batch at home. Her cousin Tiffany sent it to her.”

“What kind of cookie was it?”

“They’re called Pistachio Winks, and they’re really good. We’re going to bake them today and try them out on our customers.”

“I’ll have to try one when I come in later. I just love pistachios. But I’m getting sidetracked here. You only had one cookie for lunch, right?”

“That’s right.” Hannah decided not to mention the fact that she’d eaten several more cookies for an afternoon snack, along with a bowl of vanilla ice cream, just to see if the combination would work.

“How about dinner?”

“Sausage,” Hannah said, leaving it at that. She’d been thinking about her missed opportunity at Bertanelli’s and how she deserved a last meal before starting her new exercise regime. She’d sworn Ellie to secrecy over the phone, and she’d picked up a double order of garlic bread and a supreme pizza with everything on it to take back to her condo for dinner.

“Did you have any potatoes or rice with the sausage?”

“Of course not. I know better than that.”

“And you know that a dieter’s biggest downfall is late night snacking?”

Hannah could testify to that. She’d eaten every one of the candy bars she’d been saving to make Brownies Plus.