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Authors: Joanne Fluke
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had some other packages in the trunk, but I didn’t get close enough to notice the store names.”
“Okay.” Hannah drew a deep breath. “You don’t know anything for sure, so let it go, at least until a store reports lost inventory. They do that, don’t they?”
“Every Friday. You’re right, Hannah. I can’t jump to conclusions. I just didn’t like the look on her face when she spotted me. It was like she was afraid I’d question her or something, and she’s never looked at me like that before.”
“I understand,” Hannah said taking his arm and giving it a little squeeze. “Perhaps it was nothing. You must have been tired after working at the station all day and then putting in a shift at the mall.”
“I was. But I wasn’t imagining that look.”
“Okay. Let’s drop it for now and think about something really important.”
“What’s that?”
“Shall we ride Santa’s Magic Sleigh first, or go talk to Larry about his cookie order?”
“Let’s go talk to Larry,” Mike decided. “I’ve got a couple of questions for him.”
“What questions?”
“It’s about the sign I saw on the checkout booth we passed on our way in.”
“What sign?”
“The one that said, We sell below cost and make it up on volume.”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open. “But…but…” she sputtered. “That’s impossible!”
“I know it is. I want to find out if that’s Larry’s idea of a joke, or if he really believes it.”
As she walked down the snowy path with Mike, Hannah just shook her head. Although she’d been dreading it, she now hoped her mother would invite her to small business class again. Larry Jaeger’s sign was bad business whether it was a joke, or not. That meant she had something to contribute to the bad business practices segment of the class. The more she thought about it, the funnier it became and Hannah chuckled all the way to Elf Headquarters. She could hardly wait to tell Miss Whiting about this!
HOLLY JOLLY COFFEE
1 cup strong coffee, steaming hot
1 packet hot cocoa mix (the kind that makes one cup)
1/4 teaspoon orange extract _*
_
Mix everything up together and top with sweetened whipped cream.
Chapter Six
“W ho is it?” a male voice called out when Mike rang the bell.
“Mike Kingston and Hannah Swensen,” Mike replied.
“Hold on. I’m coming.”
A moment later, Larry Jaeger opened the door. It was clear he’d been sitting on the couch watching football, because there was a half-empty beer bottle on the coffee table, along with a bag of chips and a container of onion dip.
As Hannah moved closer to the giant flat screen television, she spotted familiar purple and gold uniforms. She glanced up at the rectangle at the top of the screen to see who the Vikings were playing, and read that the opponent was LA. No punctuation was present, and that meant the team could be Louisiana or Los Angeles. Rather than hazard a guess and risk exposing her pigskin naivety, Hannah settled for her favorite football ambiguity. “How about those Vikings,” she commented, giving a little shrug.
“They’re doing it again,” Larry replied, leading them over to the chairs directly across from the couch. “They were ahead at the end of the half, but now they’re blowing it. I’ll just kill the sound so we can talk.”
Hannah watched Larry as he hunted for the control. If she had to describe him in one word, that word would be “average.” Everything about him was average, from his hair, a color midway between light and dark, his medium build, and his standard height. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, a plaid shirt, and a pair of pull-on deerskin boots.
Although Larry looked ordinary, Hannah knew he wasn’t. You couldn’t live in Lake Eden without hearing stories about the budding businessman who had devised unique ways of raising money. Larry had been a wheeler dealer even back in high school.
And now he was at it again. Larry’s Christmas tree lot was packed with
“Okay.” Hannah drew a deep breath. “You don’t know anything for sure, so let it go, at least until a store reports lost inventory. They do that, don’t they?”
“Every Friday. You’re right, Hannah. I can’t jump to conclusions. I just didn’t like the look on her face when she spotted me. It was like she was afraid I’d question her or something, and she’s never looked at me like that before.”
“I understand,” Hannah said taking his arm and giving it a little squeeze. “Perhaps it was nothing. You must have been tired after working at the station all day and then putting in a shift at the mall.”
“I was. But I wasn’t imagining that look.”
“Okay. Let’s drop it for now and think about something really important.”
“What’s that?”
“Shall we ride Santa’s Magic Sleigh first, or go talk to Larry about his cookie order?”
“Let’s go talk to Larry,” Mike decided. “I’ve got a couple of questions for him.”
“What questions?”
“It’s about the sign I saw on the checkout booth we passed on our way in.”
“What sign?”
“The one that said, We sell below cost and make it up on volume.”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open. “But…but…” she sputtered. “That’s impossible!”
“I know it is. I want to find out if that’s Larry’s idea of a joke, or if he really believes it.”
As she walked down the snowy path with Mike, Hannah just shook her head. Although she’d been dreading it, she now hoped her mother would invite her to small business class again. Larry Jaeger’s sign was bad business whether it was a joke, or not. That meant she had something to contribute to the bad business practices segment of the class. The more she thought about it, the funnier it became and Hannah chuckled all the way to Elf Headquarters. She could hardly wait to tell Miss Whiting about this!
HOLLY JOLLY COFFEE
1 cup strong coffee, steaming hot
1 packet hot cocoa mix (the kind that makes one cup)
1/4 teaspoon orange extract _*
_
Mix everything up together and top with sweetened whipped cream.
Chapter Six
“W ho is it?” a male voice called out when Mike rang the bell.
“Mike Kingston and Hannah Swensen,” Mike replied.
“Hold on. I’m coming.”
A moment later, Larry Jaeger opened the door. It was clear he’d been sitting on the couch watching football, because there was a half-empty beer bottle on the coffee table, along with a bag of chips and a container of onion dip.
As Hannah moved closer to the giant flat screen television, she spotted familiar purple and gold uniforms. She glanced up at the rectangle at the top of the screen to see who the Vikings were playing, and read that the opponent was LA. No punctuation was present, and that meant the team could be Louisiana or Los Angeles. Rather than hazard a guess and risk exposing her pigskin naivety, Hannah settled for her favorite football ambiguity. “How about those Vikings,” she commented, giving a little shrug.
“They’re doing it again,” Larry replied, leading them over to the chairs directly across from the couch. “They were ahead at the end of the half, but now they’re blowing it. I’ll just kill the sound so we can talk.”
Hannah watched Larry as he hunted for the control. If she had to describe him in one word, that word would be “average.” Everything about him was average, from his hair, a color midway between light and dark, his medium build, and his standard height. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, a plaid shirt, and a pair of pull-on deerskin boots.
Although Larry looked ordinary, Hannah knew he wasn’t. You couldn’t live in Lake Eden without hearing stories about the budding businessman who had devised unique ways of raising money. Larry had been a wheeler dealer even back in high school.
And now he was at it again. Larry’s Christmas tree lot was packed with
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