Lisa sighed deeply. “I hope they weren’t fighting about Ronni Ward.”

“You heard about that,” Hannah commented. She wasn’t surprised, but if the news had reached The Cookie Jar, people were definitely talking. No wonder Bridget had been so angry with Ronni at Bertanelli’s!

“Of course I heard. All I have to do is walk around with the coffee carafe and I hear everything that’s happening in Lake Eden. I heard all about Bridget confronting Ronni only ten minutes after it happened.”

“How?” Hannah was curious.

“A couple of Jordan High seniors were talking about it. The girls were here, and one of the boyfriends was texting his girlfriend on her cell phone.”

Hannah winced. She wasn’t sure which offended her more, the fact that all the Jordan High kids were sending text messages with improper spelling and no punctuation, or the fact that texting was fast becoming accepted as a word.

“I heard her telling her friends about Mrs. Murphy and Ronni,” Lisa went on. “There was something about a food fight and how they’d better not go out there for pizza for a while, but I’d been standing there for too long and I had to move on.”

“Invisible waitress trick,” Hannah said to Andrea. “It works every time.”

The bell on the door jingled, and all three of them turned to see who’d come in. Hannah gave a little wave as she recognized the man under the hooded parka with fur that hid most of his face.

“Hi, Phil.”

“Hi, Hannah. It’s snowing again, in case you hadn’t noticed.” Phil hung his parka on the coatrack by the door, but before he could take an empty seat at the counter, she hurried over to take his arm.

“Follow me, Phil. I’ve got something special boxed up for you in the kitchen.”

Once she’d settled Phil at the stainless steel workstation and presented him with a cup of coffee and two Minty Melts, she poured coffee for herself and joined him. It would take a bit of finessing, but it was the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject of Janice’s job opportunity at Kiddie Korner.

“These are really good cookies, Hannah.” Phil wiped his mouth with the napkin. Then he picked up his second cookie and took a large bite. “They remind me of peppermint schnapps.”

“Really?” Hannah was puzzled. “But peppermint schnapps tastes like peppermint. It doesn’t taste like chocolate…” Hannah hesitated as she realized she’d never actually tasted peppermint schnapps. “It doesn’t taste like chocolate, does it?”

“No, but it should. It would be a lot better that way.”

Hannah waited until Phil had taken the last bite. Then she whisked away the napkin and slid one of her distinctive bakery boxes in front of him.

“Is that it?” he asked her.

“Yes. Take a peek and tell me what you think.”

Phil opened the box and stared down at the giant-sized cookie inside. When he looked up he was grinning from ear to ear. “That’s perfect, Hannah!”