Free Double Fudge Brownie Murder (Hannah Swensen series Book 18) by Joanne Fluke Page B

isn’t exactly the right word , Hannah’s mind corrected, but she ignored it. “Only for a couple of months,” she replied, shooting her youngest sister a warning glance. Andrea didn’t need to know that both her older and younger sister had been involved with the same college professor. “Here comes Ross,” she said, giving a little wave in his direction. “I wonder if he managed to get a ticket.”
    “Here you are,” Ross said, handing an envelope to Hannah. “The best four seats in the house. We even get to go backstage during intermission and talk to some of the performers.”
    Hannah opened the envelope and frowned slightly. “But . . . we already had three tickets. And you have four more in here.”
    “They’re better tickets than the ones Norman gave you. These are premium tickets. They come with appetizers, free drinks, and that backstage visit I told you about. Not only that, we don’t have to battle the crowds. With these tickets, we’re entitled to enter through a special door and leave the same way.”
    “These must have cost a lot more than the other tickets,” Hannah said.
    “They did, but that’s okay. You’re worth it.”
    Ross smiled at her and Hannah felt warm all over. She also felt slightly guilty over the tickets that Norman had given her. “I wonder what I should do with the other tickets.”
    “You could give them away,” Andrea suggested. “There’s a family of three in the room next to ours and their daughter was talking about wanting to go to Cirque Du Soleil. They’re sitting at that table by the door, having breakfast.”
    Hannah reached into her purse and handed the envelope to Michelle. “Go over there right now and see if they want them. It would be a real shame if they just go to waste. And if you see our waitress on your way over there, send her over with another menu.”
    Michelle was clearly surprised. “You’re still hungry?”
    “Not really, but I want to try a baked doughnut. I noticed that they had several kinds listed in the menu.”
    “A baked doughnut?” Ross looked puzzled. “I didn’t know doughnuts could be baked. I thought they were always deep fried.”
    “That’s exactly what I thought!” Andrea said. “It’s one of the reasons I don’t let Tracey have them very often. She gets a doughnut every Sunday and French fries on Wednesdays at the café when she visits me at the office after school.”
    When Michelle came back to their table, she was smiling broadly. “You should have seen Judy’s face when I offered them the tickets.” She turned to Hannah and Ross to explain. “Judy is their daughter’s name. She’s ten. Andrea and I talked to her mother at the pool. Judy was so excited, she bounced up and down in her chair.” Michelle handed a menu to Hannah. “Here you go. I didn’t see our waitress, but Judy and her parents had already ordered so they sent this menu for you.”
    Hannah opened the menu and found the page listing the baked doughnuts. She read down the list and was amazed at how many varieties there were. “They have chocolate, strawberry, cherry, vanilla, lemon, and something called confetti.”
    “Cherry,” Andrea said, deciding immediately and then she turned to Michelle. “How about you?”
    “Since they don’t have maple, I’ll take lemon.”
    “Ross?” Hannah turned to him.
    “Confetti. It sounds interesting and I want to see what it is.”
    “And I’ll have chocolate,” Hannah decided.
    “No surprise there,” Michelle said.
    “If I like it, I’ll get another for you to take up to Mother,” Hannah said, by way of explanation.
    Five minutes later, no one at the table uttered a peep. They were all too busy eating doughnuts and sipping coffee. Ross was the first to finish his confection and, after he’d taken a final sip of his coffee, he gave a satisfied sigh. “These are really good.”
    “Mmmm,” Hannah murmured by way of acknowledgment as she chewed her last bite of chocolate doughnut.