Hannah took a deep breath and fought her urge to cave in without a whimper. Tall, rugged, and more handsome than any man had a right to be, Mike wasn’t easy to deny. “I can’t tell you. You know the rules. The recipe tester has to remain anonymous. Otherwise there could be hard feelings.”

“But I really need to know. I might have forgotten to put something in the recipe.”

“What?” Hannah asked. She remembered Mike’s recipe and there were only two ingredients.

“I need to make sure I wrote down horseradish sauce and not just horseradish. If the tester uses straight horseradish, it’ll be too spicy for some people.”

“No problem, Mike.” Hannah’s response was immediate. “You specified horseradish sauce.”

“But how do you know, unless… you’re testing it!”

Hannah groaned softly under her breath. Mike was the head detective at the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department, and he’d picked up on her blunder right away. “Uh … I can’t confirm or deny that.”

“Of course you can’t, but thanks for putting my mind at ease about that horseradish sauce. How about tonight? Do you want me to pick you up?”

“I think it’d be better if we met at the community center. I’m going to leave work around three, head home to get dressed and pick up the food I’m bringing, and get there early to make sure Edna has all the help she needs in the kitchen.”

“Okay. I’ll see you there.”

Was that a sigh of relief she’d just heard in Mike’s voice? “You sound happy that you don’t have to pick me up.”

“It’s not that. I’d pick you up if you needed me. It’s just that Shawna Lee asked me if I’d take her to the party.”

Hannah closed her eyes and counted to ten. Shawna Lee Quinn had been Mike’ secretary in Minneapolis and he’d convinced her to follow him to Lake Eden. She’d landed a job in the Winnetka Sheriff’s Department and Mike had found her an apartment in the complex where he lived. He insisted that they were just friends, and Hannah had done her best not to be jealous, but it was difficult to stave off the green-eyed monster when the Southern beauty who’d been crowned Miss Atlanta called Mike every time her car wouldn’t start.

“Hannah? Is something wrong?”

Hannah took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought we had a date.”

“We do. I’m just giving Shawna Lee a lift there, that’s all. She’s meeting someone and she’s got her own way home.”

“Oh. Well …okay,” Hannah said, hoping that the person Shawna Lee was meeting would show up and she wouldn’t turn out to be a third wheel on their date.

“You’re really a nice person, Hannah.”

“What brought that on?” Hannah asked and immediately wished she hadn’t. She’d broken one of her mother’s cardinal rules: If a man compliments you, don’t argue with him. Just smile and say thank you.