Melt the chips and the butter in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 90 seconds. Stir to make sure the chips are melted. If not, heat in 20-second increments until you can stir them smooth.

Hannah’s Note: Keep this dip fairly hot so that it’s thin and it won’t glop up when you dip in the cookies. If it cools and thickens too much, just return it to the microwave for 10 seconds or so to heat it so it’s thinner.

Dip the cookies, one by one, so that one-third to one-fourth of the cookie is chocolate coated. Place the cookies back on the wax paper (or the parchment paper) faceup to dry and harden the chocolate.

When the chocolate dip is dry (approximately 1 hour), store the cookies between sheets of wax paper in a cool place.

Yield: approximately 8 dozen (depending on cookie size) pretty and tasty cookies.

These cookies can be frozen in single layers between wax paper.

Chapter Six

“What’ll it be, Hannah?” Florence stood behind the meat counter with a little white cap perched on her head. It reminded Hannah of the doilies her great-grandmother had used on the candle stands of the old pump organ that had stood in her parlor. “I’ve got a really nice pork roast.”

“It looks wonderful, but I don’t have time to cook it. Mike’s coming over at six for dinner.”

“Does Norman know that?”

Hannah bit back a sharp retort and reminded herself that in a town the size of Lake Eden, everybody knew everybody else’s business. “I don’t know if he does or not.” And then, because she was tired from her long day and more than a bit out of sorts, she zinged one in. “I guess you like dentists more than cops right now, right?”

Florence just looked at her for a moment, and then she started to laugh. “You nailed that, Hannah! I’m partial to Norman right now because he replaced one of my fillings for free.”

“So if you’d been robbed and Mike had recovered the money, you would have been partial to him?” Hannah pressed her point.

“Maybe so. In fact, I’m almost sure of it. And I guess that means they’re interchangeable?”

“Not interchangeable, but equal. You like them equally and you can’t choose between them in the big picture.”

“You’re right. But in the small picture, they keep bobbing up and down. One’s on top on one day, and the other’s on top on the next day.” Florence stopped speaking and gave Hannah an assessing look. “Is that how you feel about them?”

“It’s like my mother taught me…a woman never discusses her age or her love life.” She paused to let that sink in, and then she went on. “Unless, of course, she’s with a friend. And since you’re a friend, that’s exactly how I feel.”