Sugar And Spice (29 page)

She’d just dumped the contents of two nearly empty containers of take-out Chinese food on top of the rice in the third container to make a sort of Oriental hotdish from the leftovers of her dinner when there was an irate yowl from her resident feline. Moishe, the orange and white tomcat she’d found shivering on her doorstep over two years ago, had cornered the duck’s foot she’d bought for him between the refrigerator and the stove. He’d tried to hook it, but it was back, out of paw’s reach.

“Okay, hold on a second.” Hannah retrieved the yardstick that hung on a nail next to the broom closet and attempted to extricate the oriental treat. Moishe didn’t eat duck’s feet. He simply played with them until he got bored and then he buried them in his litter box.

Moishe gave her his best kitty smile as she fished around with the yardstick, attempting to snag it without dislodging the dust mice that were surely lurking in the small narrow space that never saw the light of day. The smile consisted of a crinkling of his eyes and a slight opening of his mouth, but that was good enough for Hannah. She got the aquatic appendage on the fourth try, grabbed it before Moishe could get it, and gave it a quick rinse under the kitchen faucet

There was another yowl before Hannah was through drying it with a paper towel. “Here you go,” she said, holding it out to him. “You can take it into the living room, but it’s curtains for quackers if you lose it in back of the television. There must be a hundred wires back there, and there’s no way I’m going to even try to get it out until daylight.”

Moishe took the duck’s foot with another kitty smile that Hannah interpreted as a thank-you. Then he turned and headed for the living room with his head held high and his tail gently switching back and forth.

There were three high-pitched electronic dings in rhythmic succession and Hannah reached up to turn off her stove timer. She’d mixed up one of her famous cherry cheesecakes to save time tomorrow at The Cookie Jar. The cheesecake was best if it was chilled for at least a day, and two days was even better.

She’d store it in her own refrigerator overnight and put it in the walk-in cooler at the shop tomorrow.

The cheesecake looked good, and Hannah set it on a wire rack to cool. Then she went off to join her furry roommate who’d managed to flip the duck’s foot into the commode and was standing there staring at it balefully.

CHERRY CHEESECAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.,

rack in the middle position.

For the Crust:

2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (measure AFTER crushing)

¾ stick melted butter (6 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon almond extract

Pour melted butter and almond extract over cookie crumbs. Mix with a fork until they’re evenly moistened.

Cut a circle of parchment paper (or wax paper) to fit inside the bottom of a 9-inch Springform pan. Spray the pan with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray, set the paper circle in place, and spray with Pam again.

Dump the moistened cookie crumbs in the pan and press them down over the paper circle and one inch up the sides. Put the pan in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the cheesecake.

For the Topping:

2 cups sour cream

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

One 21-ounce can cherry pie filling*
(I used Comstock Dark Sweet Cherry).

*
If you don’t like canned pie filling, make your own with canned or frozen cherries, sugar, and cornstarch.

Mix the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Set the unopened can of cherry pie filling in the refrigerator for later.

For the Cheesecake Batter:

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

3 eight-ounce packages cream cheese at room temperature (total 24 ounces) 1 cup mayonnaise

4 eggs

2 cups white chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli’s 11-ounce bag)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the blocks of cream cheese and the mayonnaise, and whip it up at medium speed until it’s smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 2 minutes. (Chips may retain their shape, so stir to see if they’re melted—if not, microwave in 15-second increments until you can stir them smooth.) Cool the melted white chocolate for a minute or two and then mix it in gradually at slow speed. Scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla, mixing it in thoroughly.

Pour the batter on top of the chilled crust, set the pan on a cookie sheet to catch any drips, and bake it at 350 degrees F. for 55 to 60 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, but DON’T SHUT OFF THE OVEN.

Starting in the center, spoon the sour cream topping over the top of the cheesecake, spreading it out to within a half-inch of the rim. Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Cool the cheesecake in the pan on a wire rack. When the pan is cool enough to pick up with your bare hands, place it in the refrigerator and chill it, uncovered, for at least 8 hours

To serve, run a knife around the inside rim of the pan, release the Springform catch, and lift off the rim.

Place a piece of waxed paper on a flat plate and tip it upside down over the top of your cheesecake.

Invert the cheesecake so that it rests on the paper.

Carefully pry off the bottom of the Springform pan and remove the paper from the bottom crust.

Invert a serving platter over the bottom crust of your cheesecake. Flip the cheesecake right side up, take off the top plate, and remove the waxed paper.

Spread the cherry pie filling over the sour cream topping on your cheesecake. You can drizzle a little down the sides if you wish.

“They’re in love,” Serena said, sounding very sure of herself. “You don’t kiss like that unless you’re in love.”

“Kiss like what?” Gary wanted to know.

“Like a raging fire that sears the emotions and scorches every inhibition to a cinder. That’s the way they described it in the book I’m reading.”

There was silence for a moment while everyone digested Serena’s response. Then Spenser gave a little laugh. “Can you tell us in plain English?”

“Of course. They kissed like they were trying to swallow each other’s tonsils.”

“Yuck!” both twins exclaimed in unison.

“I feel sick,” Hope added, folding her arms over her stomach.

“I know it sounds gross, but just wait until you’re older,” Serena advised. “Then it’ll seem like fun.”

Gary and Larry locked eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and then both of them shook their heads in tandem.

“There’s no way I could…” Gary started the thought.

“…be that old.” Larry finished the sentence for him.

“You’ll see,” Serena said, still supremely confident. “It’ll happen to you too. But let’s get back to Miss Jansen and Mr. Sherwood. They’re in love and they’re going to get married. You just watch and see if I’m right.”

Joy began to frown. “But you can be in love without getting married.”

“You’re only seven. How do you know?” Spenser asked her.

“Our mother told us,” Hope spoke up. “She’s been in love lots of times, but she’s only been married twice.”

“Three times,” Joy corrected her.

“Not yet!” Hope insisted, her lower lip beginning to quiver. “It won’t be three times until tomorrow. And that’s why we couldn’t go home for Christmas. She’s going on her honeymoon.”

The twins glanced at each other, and then Larry said, “It’s the same for us, except…”

“…opposite,” Gary finished his sentence. “Mom and Dad are getting divorced and they fought so much over…”

“…which one got to take us, the judge said we’d be better off staying here.” Larry ended the story.

“I’m here because I’ve got nowhere else to go,” Spenser declared. “My dad’s dead and Mom’s on assignment in Africa.”

“What’s she doing there?” Serena asked the question that was plain on all their faces.

“She’s a photographer, a good one too. She didn’t want to work over Christmas, but she just switched jobs and they might have fired her, or something like that. I wanted to go over there to be with her, but she said it was too dangerous.” Spenser stopped speaking and gave a deep sigh. “I should’ve talked her into it so I could protect her.”

There was another silence, broken only when Serena cleared her throat. “You did the right thing by staying here, Spense. She would’ve worried about you the whole time you were there, and neither one of you would’ve had a good time.”

“I guess…” Spenser shrugged, but it was clear he felt better. “What about you, Serena? Nowhere to go?”

“I’ve got somewhere to go. I just didn’t want to, that’s all. I spent enough Christmases in the Home.

Believe me, this is a lot better!”

“Maybe, but it’s not very exciting,” Gary complained. “I wish something really…”

“…exciting would happen,” Larry finished the thought for his twin.

“Something exciting is going to happen,” Serena declared. “Mr. Sherwood is going to ask Miss Jansen to marry him. And we’re going to know about it before anyone else in the whole school!”

Hope started to smile. “We’ll know first and we can tell everybody else when they come back.”

“That’s right,” Joy said, sounding delighted. “All our friends will wish they’d stayed here.”

Spenser looked doubtful as he turned to Serena. “How do you know Mr. Sherwood’s really going to ask her?”

“I just know, that’s all.”

“Then it’s like my dad used to say…put your money where you mouth is.”

“You mean you want to bet?”

“Why not? If you’re so sure you’re going to win, you should go for it, right?”

“Right. But…I don’t have any money.”

“Then bet something else.”

“Like what?”

“Like how about doing my chores for a month if you lose?”

Serena glanced around at the rest of the kids who were intent on their conversation. It was clear she didn’t want to back down. “It all depends on what you have to do.”

“I have to pick up after Queenie every day.”

“Mrs. Caulder’s toy poodle?”

“Right,” Spenser answered what he knew would be her next question. “I know she’s small, but she can…well…let’s just say it takes me at least a half hour to do it.”

Serena shrugged. “That doesn’t sound so bad. I wouldn’t mind walking Queenie around.”

“Oh, you don’t get to walk her. Mrs. Caulder does that. What you have to do is pick up all the…uh…stuff in Dr. Caulder’s backyard. And if you miss any, he’s not exactly delighted, if you get what I mean. So is it a bet?”

Serena thought about that for a minute. “Not unless you have to pay if you’re wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“This goes both ways. If you lose and I win, you have to do my chores for a month.”

“Deal,” Spenser declared, holding out his hand.

“But don’t you want to know what my chores are?”

“Doesn’t matter, since I’m not going to lose. But just for the purposes of discussion, what are they?”

“I have to help Mrs. Dryer clean up the kitchen after supper.”

Spenser’s hand quivered with the effort not to pull it back. He’d heard that Mrs. Dryer made her helpers scour every surface of the kitchen after every meal.

“So do you want to back out?” Serena asked smugly.

“No way. It’s a deal by me. Let’s shake on it.”

The other four watched as Serena and Spenser shook hands. Then Joy hopped off the bed.

“I want to bet too,” she said. “I’ll do Gary’s chores if we lose, and he can do mine if we win.”

“Deal,” Gary said quickly, holding out his hand so that Joy could shake it.

“Me too,” Hope declared, holding out her hand to Larry.

“That’s it then,” Spenser said. “It’s the boys against the girls. If Mr. Sherwood asks Miss Jansen to marry him before Christmas is over, we have to do the girls’ chores. Is that right, men?”

“Right!” the twins chorused.

“And if they don’t get engaged before Christmas is over, the girls have to do our chores. Right, girls?”

“Right,” Hope said.

“Yes,” Joy added, turning to Serena.

“It’s a bet,” Serena confirmed. “We’ll write it down so there won’t be any misunderstandings, and we’ll all sign it. And then you boys have to go to your own room. It’s late and we need to get some sleep.”

Hope waited until the boys had left and then she turned to Serena. “You’re not sleepy, are you?”

“No. I think I’ll read another chapter in my book. But first I want to get a glass of water.”

Joy gave a little giggle as she caught on. “From the front bathroom at the top of the stairs?”

“So you can see how our bet is going?” Hope added.

“You girls are pretty smart for your age,” Serena said as she got up and headed for the door.

“Don’t they ever get tired of kissing?” Gary asked, as Spenser returned to their room.

“I guess not. They’re still at it.”

“You’d think their lips would start…” Gary stopped and waited for his twin to finish the sentence, but Larry was sitting in front of his laptop computer, surfing the net.

“Forget him. He’s in another world. You’d think their lips would start to what?” Spenser asked.

“Swell up, or get chapped, or something,” Gary completed the thought by himself, but he started to look a bit worried. “They’re doing an awful lot of kissing down there. Do you think Serena might be right and we could lose?”

“The only way we’ll lose is if we sit back and don’t do anything to break things up.”

“What things?”

“Them. We have to figure out a way to break up Miss Jansen and Mr. Sherwood.”

“But that’s not fair!”

“I know, but if we don’t do it, we’ll lose. Do you and Larry really want to spend a month doing chores for the girls?”

Gary wavered. “I don’t know. What do they have to do?”

“Hope and Joy have to go to Mrs. Caulder’s house and pass around trays at her Wednesday night musicales.”

“That’s not horrible.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you’d ever heard Mrs. Caulder sing. And she sings at every musicale.”

“We could always wear earplugs.”