Read Wedding Cake Murder for Free Online Page B

of Jell-O in it.”
    Hannah hid a smile. When she’d driven Andrea to the hospital to have Bethie, Andrea had admitted that she bought the cake, ready-made, at the Lake Eden Red Owl Grocery store and simply added the Jell-O.
    “This cake uses Jell-O powder that’s added to the cake batter,” Aunt Nancy told them. “You use three colors of Jell-O in one layer and three colors of Jell-O in the other layer.”
    “It sounds intriguing,” Delores said.
    “It is, and it’s also very pretty. The layers are stacked on top of each other and that means you could get all six colors and flavors in every slice.”
    “It sounds perfect.” Hannah smiled at Aunt Nancy. “Thanks for being here. Your help is . . . well . . . invaluable.”
    “I’ll taste the test cake,” Delores offered.
    “Thank you, Mother,” Hannah said, and then she turned back to Aunt Nancy. “This is sounding better and better. What do you think I should do for the ‘free-for-all’? It’s the last challenge in the competition and . . .” she referred to her notes, “it consists of any baked or cooked dessert the contestant chooses to make.”
    “You’ll have to think about that one,” Delores said. “You make so many good desserts. There’s always your great-grandmother’s apple pie. Everyone’s crazy about that.”
    “I know. It’s a really good pie. But everybody’s going to be going all out for that final challenge. Do you think it’s special enough?”
    “Maybe,” Aunt Nancy said. “Do you use a top crust, or a French crumble?”
    “Hannah makes it both ways and gives us a choice,” Andrea told her. “I like the French crumble best.”
    “And I like the top crust with a slice of really sharp cheddar on the side,” Michelle said.
    Delores looked slightly embarrassed. “I usually have two pieces so I can taste them both. And I like vanilla ice cream on top of both of them.”
    “I like the French crumble with sweetened whipped cream,” Lisa gave her preference.
    “This is beginning to sound better and better,” Hannah said. “I could do all the variations with the crusts and the toppings. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like apple pie.”
    Andrea looked thoughtful. “I think you should offer the judges nutmeg on top of the whipped cream. Chef Christian always says that freshly grated nutmeg is a gift from the gods.”
    “Good idea!” Hannah turned to smile at her. It seemed that Andrea had learned something from watching Christian Parker’s show. Then she glanced up at the clock on the wall and came close to groaning out loud. It was a quarter to three and she’d asked Norman to meet her at three for coffee. She had to ask him if he’d be a groomsman at the wedding and she wasn’t looking forward to the encounter. She liked Norman. Perhaps she even loved him. That wasn’t it, at all. Even though they were friends, it was bound to be a very uncomfortable encounter.
    Hannah shut her notebook with a snap. “Thanks so much for helping me. I couldn’t do it without you. I think that’s enough planning for today. Can we all meet here again tomorrow at two o’clock? Michelle and I will bake tonight and we should have some samples by then for you to critique.”
    Michelle waited until Delores and Andrea had left, and Lisa and Aunt Nancy had gone back out to the coffee shop. When they were alone, she turned to Hannah. “What’s going on? I saw you glancing at the clock. Is Ross coming here?”
    “No, he’s going to come back to the condo for dinner at six, but then he has to go to Jordan High to cover the basketball game. The Gulls are playing the Browerville Tigers tonight.”
    “KCOW is going to televise high school basketball?”
    “They are now. It was Ross’s suggestion, and they decided to give it a try. Ross told them he was sure it would increase their viewers.”
    “I think he’s right. Everyone in town supports the Gulls.”
    “I know. And even if people go to the game, they’ll still record