Free One Dead Cookie by Virginia Lowell

selected two tall glasses.
    “How about a glass of wine instead?”
    Ellie hesitated only a moment before exchanging the tumblers for two wine glasses,
     which she brought to the table, along with the merlot from dinner. “For medicinal
     purposes,” Ellie said. “Today I ran in the morning, followed by a kung fu class at
     noon, and then I tap-danced until the league meeting. Between you and me, I’m a bit
     achy. In a good way, of course.”
    “Of course.” Olivia divided the remaining wine between their glasses. “Mom, can I
     ask you something? It’s about what Jason told me earlier. I’ll understand if you’d
     rather not say anything. I’m asking because Jennifer does workfor The Gingerbread House now, and I need to know if I can trust her.”
    “And you are curious, as well,” Ellie said. “You were always so curious, even as a
     tiny—”
    “The timer for the cookies is going off in three minutes, Mom.”
    “Have I mentioned how impatient you’ve always been?”
    “Not since yesterday.”
    “I’ll wait a bit, then. Now you asked about Jennie….” Ellie took a slow sip of her
     merlot. “I really don’t know much about her. I tried to investigate a bit after Jason’s
     experience, but information was hard to come by.”
    “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that before,” Olivia said.
    “No one is perfect,” Ellie said. “You know, it’s odd how little contact we here in
     Chatterley Heights have with a town that’s only ten miles down the road. I suppose
     it’s because our two school systems draw children from different areas. Twiterton
     has become something of a bedroom community for DC, so the families tend to be wealthier.
     They are attracted to more urban sorts of leisure activities, I imagine. I do know
     a few of the women who live there, but you must have met many more than I have. I’m
     sure they come to The Gingerbread House. There’s nothing else like it anywhere nearby.”
    “I get lots of business from Twiterton, but they don’t stick around to chat,” Olivia
     said.
    “I suppose not. Well, I never did learn a great deal about Jennie. I don’t remember
     her last name, but it wasn’t Elsworth. She might be married now.”
    “I guess she could be using a married name,” Olivia said, “though she didn’t mention
     a husband. Or a divorce.”
    “After the episode Jason described to you,” Ellie said,“we mostly talked about Charlene, his girlfriend. Jennie’s name came up only in passing.
     Jason did mention that Jennie said she’d lost another family member. A sibling, I
     think.” Ellie started as the timer dinged. She peeked into the oven, and said, “Done
     to perfection. They smell delicious.” She put the cookie sheet on a cooling rack and
     slid another batch into the oven.
    “So on top of having a mom on drugs and no dad, Jennifer lost a sibling. No wonder
     she doesn’t discuss her past,” Olivia said as she lifted the cookies off the sheet
     with a spatula and slid them onto another cooling rack. “You know, Mom, it would be
     easier and quicker to cool the cookies if you’d line your cookie sheets with parchment
     paper, plus you wouldn’t have to scrub the sheets so hard to clean them.”
    “So you keep telling me, Livie, but I can’t help thinking what a waste of resources
     that would be.”
    “Mom, we’re talking about art here. Decorated cookies are worth a few wasted resources.”
     The cookies needed to cool a few minutes before they were ready for tasting. This
     first batch contained lavender oil and a scattering of lavender buds. They looked
     gorgeous, but beauty was only half the battle. If they weren’t melt-in-the-mouth delicious,
     it was back to the recipe board for Olivia. With only three days left before the party,
     Olivia was feeling the pressure. At least she had a starting place. It was the second
     batch she was really worried about, since she had no idea what finely ground lemon
     verbena tasted