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Baking soda would make them puff up to high in the oven and then they’d fall like craters.”
    “That’s what my publisher thought and I told her I’d check with you.”
    Hannah took the three-ring binder Lisa handed her and glanced down at the Fudge Cupcake recipe. “It’s baking powder, Kurt. One and half teaspoons of baking powder.”
    “That’s what we thought.”
    “I’m really sorry about that,” Hannah said, her cheeks coloring in embarrassment. “I proofread all those recipes before I sent them to you, and that mistake got right past me.”
    “It happens, especially when you know how it’s supposed to be written. You read right past the error and don’t notice it. But that’s only one of the reasons I called. I’m driving in for the Christmas dinner party.”
    “That’s great! Then you can taste the recipes yourself!”
    “I’m looking forward to it. I just got off the phone with the staff photographer. I wanted him to come along to take some food photos and some candids of the crowd for the cookbook.”
    “That would be perfect, especially if he can get a picture of Mother’s antique cake knife. It’s gorgeous, Kurt, and we’re going to use it to cut one of the cakes.”
    “That would have been a great photo.”
    “Would have been?”
    “That’s right. Our photographer can’t make it, and that means we may have to re-stage some of the food photos.”
    “Maybe not,” Hannah said, glancing over at Norman. “I know a local photographer and I’m sure he’d be willing to take some photos of the party for you. Hold on and I’ll ask him.”
    Norman nodded at Hannah before she could even ask. “Tell him I’ll be glad to bring my camera, but I don’t have any experience with food photography. I know it’s highly specialized.”
    “I heard that,” Kurt said in Hannah’s ear. “Tell him anything he gets is all to the good. I’m going to leave the office early. If the traffic’s not terrible, I should get to Lake Eden around five or five-thirty. Where will you be?”
    “At the community center. We’re closing the shop at three and I’ll be there early to help Edna in the kitchen.”
    “Better tell him it’s snowing here,” Norman reminded her.
    “I heard that,” Kurt responded before Hannah could tell him. “Maybe I’ll leave a little earlier than I planned, just to be on the safe side. See you tonight, Hannah.”
    Hannah was smiling when she hung up the phone and turned to Norman. “Do you have time to run back to Granny’s Attic for a second before you go back to the dental clinic?”
    “Sure. What do you need?”
    “It’s only fair to tell all the contributors that our editor is coming to the party. But I really don’t have time to call everyone.”
    “So you want the mothers to call for you?”
    “All they have to do is make one call. They’re part of the Lake Eden gossip hotline. It’s like a telephone tree. If they call one person, that person calls another couple of people. And then those people call other people and before you know it, the whole town knows. I figure that if you get to Mother and Carrie by one, everyone in Lake Eden will know before one-thirty at the latest.”

Chapter 5
    “So how do I look?” Hannah asked, turning around for the benefit of her I-couldn’t-look-less-interested-if-I-tried roommate, who was perched n the back of the couch.
    Moishe glanced her way for a moment, but then he went back to staring at the television. Since Hannah had tuned it to one of the animal channels and they occasionally showed documentaries about flightless birds and small furry rodents, she guessed she couldn’t blame him. Basic instinct was compelling. It was the reason why Moishe was hoping for easy prey, even if it turned out to be pheasant behind glass screen.
    Hannah had also relied on basic instinct when she’d dressed for the party tonight. She was wearing the most alluring outfit she owned, a brand new cobalt-blue knit dress with a flared