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

and you didn’t mention it.”
    “I know. I just didn’t want to jinx the interview. I really want that job. If I get it, I’ll be based in Lake Eden. I’d like to live there.”
    “Even after living in Hollywood?” Hannah was amazed that anyone would want to leave the entertainment capital of the world and come to sleepy little Lake Eden.
    “ Especially after living in Hollywood.”
    Hannah was still puzzled. “But you seemed to love it. And everything sounded so exciting when you talked about the studios and the people you met. Won’t you be bored in Lake Eden?”
    “Lake Eden’s not boring, not with you and your family there. The fast pace out there is getting to me, Hannah, not to mention the high cost of living. A steady job with a steady income sounds like heaven to me about now.”
    “But . . . you have friends in California. You talk about them all the time.”
    Ross shrugged. “That’s true, but I have friends in Lake Eden, too. There’s you, your whole family, and Doc. And there are all the people I met and liked when I produced the movie in Lake Eden. I just hope I get this job, Hannah. Lake Eden is where I really want to be.”
    Hannah didn’t say anything. She was too afraid to even breathe. It sounded as if Ross wanted to come back to Lake Eden because of her, but she didn’t want to ask in case she was wrong. There would be time for a more private conversation later, after the dinner and when they were alone. But would they ever be alone?
    “I’m going to have the duck,” Michelle announced, shutting her menu with a snap. “How about you, Andrea?”
    “Chicken Cordon Bleu. I love that and I want to find out if it’s as good as Sally’s.”
    “Red meat for me,” Doc said, turning to smile at Delores. “How about you, Mrs. Knight?”
    Delores laughed. “For just a second there, I thought you were talking about your mother. I’m going to have to get used to my married name. The new Mrs. Knight will have the ginger-artichoke salad, salmon en croute, and a German Chocolate Cupcake for dessert.”
    “They have German Chocolate Cupcakes?” Doc’s face lit up in a smile. “I love German chocolate cake.”
    “So do I,” Ross said, turning to Hannah. “You used to make a great chocolate cake when we were in college.”
    “Then you’re bound to like German Chocolate Cupcakes,” Hannah told him, “since cupcakes are little, individual cakes.”
    Michelle turned to the dessert page and held it up. “Look. They have a whole cupcake menu. I’ve never seen so many different kinds. It looks like they have a cupcake for every kind of cake.”
    “Except one,” Hannah corrected her.
    “Which one?”
    “I bet you won’t find angel food cupcakes on that list.”
    “They’re alphabetical.” Michelle looked at the top of the page. “You’re right, Hannah. They don’t list angel food cupcakes. I wonder why they don’t have them.”
    “They don’t have them because it takes a special type of pan to bake an angel food cake. I’ve seen cupcake-size Bundt pans, but I’ve never seen cupcake-size angel food cake pans.”
    “But couldn’t you make them in regular cupcake pans?” Andrea asked her.
    “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it would work. Angel food cake needs that tube in the middle of the pan so the cake will bake evenly.”
    “I understand that. But Bundt pans have tubes in the middle. I’ve even got some.”
    “You have cupcake-size Bundt pans?” Hannah couldn’t help but be amazed. Andrea baked quite a few types of whippersnapper cookies. They were her specialty. But as far as Hannah knew, Andrea had never baked a cake, not even from a mix.
    “I have them, but I’ve never used them. You know I don’t bake cakes or cupcakes.”
    “Then why did you buy them?” Delores, another non-baker, asked the obvious question.
    “I didn’t buy them. Bill’s aunt gave them to us for a wedding present.” Andrea turned to Hannah. “Do you want them? I’ll never use