Hannah wasn’t surprised when the table emptied and a dozen teenagers headed over to the stairs where Janice was waiting. Many Lake Eden kids grew up taking care of younger siblings, and they enjoyed helping.

“Herb Beeseman checked and the cable’s out, but if some of you older kids want to watch a movie, there’s a whole shelf of them up in the senior center. And down here, we’ll have dancing and” — Mayor Bascomb paused and let the tension build until everyone was leaning forward, just waiting for the word — “dessert! And speaking of dessert, Edna wants me to read you this list. It says, Candied Pecans, Christmas Date Cake, Poppy Seed Cake, Chocolate Fruitcake, Lady Hermoine’s Chocolate Sunshine Cake, Coconut Green Pie, Pumpkin Pie for a Thanksgiving Crowd, Pecan Pie for a Holiday Crowd … . Do I need to go on?”

“No!” several people shouted in unison, and laughter filled the air.

“Well, I could go on. I haven’t even started in on the cookies, and we’ve got at least a half-dozen different kinds. And for those who want to be healthy, there’s whole box of oranges that were shipped here from California with a cluster of kumquats on top. You know what a kumquat is?”

the no’s outnumbered the yes’s and Hannah could understand that. A kumquat was rather exotic, and not many were seen in Minnesota.

“Hannah? Tell them what it is!”

Hannah wanted to tell the mayor to buzz off, but all eyes were on her and she had to answer. “It’s a small citrus fruit that’s not worth the trouble of peeling. But you should try one and make up your own mind.”

Laughter erupted at Hannah’s answer, and Mayor Bascomb looked pleased. “Edna says to tell you that the dessert table’s all ready. There’s enough to feed an army so you can get right up and help yourselves.”

“He did a wonderful job!” Lisa breathed, staring at Mayor Bascomb with a mixture of shock and admiration. “I guess I never realized that he was so … so …”

“Diplomatic?”

“Maybe, but what do you mean by that?”

“I mean, he told people that they were locked in and they couldn’t go home. And they love him for it.”

“I guess that is diplomatic. But how does he pull that off?”

“Years of practice,” Hannah said, and she didn’t add, lying to his wife. “Come one, Lisa. We need to find Mike and tell him that nobody left while you and Herb were upstairs.”

“Hannah!” Delores called out, swooping down on her eldest daughter.

“Hello, Mother. Where’s Winthrop?”

“In the necessary, dear. Need I say more to someone who’s familiar with Regency England?”

It took a moment for the memory banks to attain warp speed, but then Hannah remembered that necessary in Regency England was a men’s room in today’s terms. “Okay, Mother. I understand.”

“Did you use the knife to cut your cake, dear?”

“I certainly did,” Hannah said truthfully, not mentioning that it had also been used to cut certain parts of Brandi’s anatomy. “Norman took pictures and Kurt wants to use one in the cookbook.”