"Garland told me. He was so excited about being a father at last. He said he had to tell someone. And he knew he could trust me."
"And you never told anyone else?"
"Not even my wife. I figured it was nobody's business."
"Did Garland tell you the girl's name?"
"No, and I didn't ask."
"How about Janie's biological father?" Jack shrugged. "I don't know his name, and I don't think Garland or Isobel do, either. The girl said that he got married before she found out that she was pregnant, and so she never told him. You're not going to tell Janie about this, are you?"
"No." Hannah shook her head. "It's your secret, and I promise I'll never tell her."
"That makes me feel a whole lot better. Say, Miss? Lisa said you were going to build a snowman. Aren't you a little old for that?"
Hannah laughed. "I'm much too old, but I'm helping my sister and my niece, Tracey."
"That name's familiar. Do I know her?"
"You met her yesterday morning and you showed her your animal collection. You even taught her about opposable thumbs."
"I did?" Jack smiled. "Well, good for me! She must have been that pretty little blond girl that asked me all those questions."
"That's Tracey."
"My daughter use to ask questions nonstop. I hope she didn't catch on that I made up the answers half the time."
"Here she comes now," Hannah said, gesturing toward Lisa and Janie, who were walking across the park toward them.
"I see her. They grow up fast, don't they? Who's that other girl with her?"
"Janie Burkholtz," Hannah said, waiting for some kind of reaction from Jack.
"Oh, yes. Did you know that her parents used to live right next door to me? They moved away from the . . . white stuff a couple of years ago. Somewhere in the south, I think she said."
"Florida." "That's right. I remember now. Let's go meet them, miss. Looks like they're bringing hot coffee."
-22- Hannah walked over to meet Andrea and Tracey, who were just getting out of their car. Tracey was dressed appropriately in a bright-pink snowsuit with a matching ski cap and mittens, but Andrea had worn an outfit that was geared more toward a fashion magazine photo shoot. Her coat was made of powder blue suede. It was decorated with white fur around the collar and the hemline, and she wore matching gloves of thin powder blue leather. Her designer boots matched her gloves, and the only concession she'd made to the contest they were about to enter was a white fur hat that barely covered her ears.
"What's wrong?" Andrea asked, realizing that her sister was staring at her.
"Your outfit. There's a snowdrift in our spot and we're going to be up to our . . ." Hannah paused and glanced at Tracey, who was hanging on her every word. ". . . you-know-whats in it. Tell me you've got Bill's snowmobile suit and choppers in the trunk."
Andrea shook her head. "Don't you like my new coat? I made a special trip out to the mall this morning to pick it up."
'It's gorgeous, and it'd be just fine if you were trying out for the part of the winter fairy.'
'I know it's not exactly practical,' Andrea conceded. 'I just thought there might be photographers here and I wanted to look my best.'
'Well, don't blame me if you catch a cold while we're building our snow-woman.'
'Snow-woman?' Tracey asked, tugging at Hannah's sleeve. 'I thought it was a snowman contest, Aunt Hannah.'
'It is, but snowman is generic. It's like when they said all men were created equal in the Declaration of Independence. They meant both men and women.'
'Right,' Andrea murmured to Hannah, taking Tracey's hand and starting out across the snow. 'Tell that to Bill. I made more money than he did last month, and he still calls my career a little hobby.'
Once they'd said hello to Lisa and her father, and Andrea had given Janie a big welcoming hug, Hannah picked up the two shopping bags and they headed to their designated spot. They'd just figured out who should roll which ball when the whistle blew and the contest began.
'You're shivering,' Hannah commented, lifting the snowball that Andrea had rolled for the torso and settling it on top of the one she'd rolled for the base.
'I know, but I look good,' Andreas said with a grin, sticking out her tongue at Hannah.
'Careful,' Hannah warned, picking up the ball Tracey had rolled for the head and plopping it down on top of the torso. 'If you leave your tongue out for too long, it'll freeze and crack off.
'Are you fighting with Mommy?' Tracey asked, sounding a little worried.
'No,' both Andrea and Hannah replied at once, and then they laughed.
'Aunt Hannah was just teasing,' Andrea explained. 'Sisters do that sometimes. It doesn't mean that we don't love each other.'
Hannah reached out to tweak the pom-pom on the top of Tracey's pink knitted cap. 'Kids always squabble when they're growing up. You'll understand when you have a brother or a sister.'
"Will you get the shopping bags, honey?" Andrea said to Tracey, and the minute that Tracey had gone to collect them, she turned to Hannah with a frown. "I wish you hadn't said that. Now she's going to be bugging me about having a baby brother or sister, and Bill and I want to wait for at least a year."
"Sorry," Hannah said, turning away to hide her grin. She was sure she knew something that Andrea didn't. Bill would be tickled pink and so would Andrea, once she'd gotten used to the idea.
"Let me see what's here." Andrea began to rummage through the bag that Tracey brought her. She plucked out a straw hat decorated with chiffon ribbons and silk flowers and held it up. "This looks like it came from a wedding."
"It did. I was a bridesmaid when my college roommate got married."
"It's almost a shame to use it. It's really rather nice." Andrea gave Hannah a sharp look. "I won't find the velvet hat from my wedding in here, will I?"
"Of course not," Hannah told her, silently thanking Janie for saving her from that particular blunder.
"Good. You really ought to wear it again, Hannah. It's still fashionable and it looks wonderful on you."
Hannah nodded and decided to change the subject, since the hat in question was as flat as a pancake. "If you don't mind, I thought I'd put one of my Cookie Jar aprons on our snow-woman."
"That's a good idea. It never hurts to advertise." Andrea turned to Tracey, who was digging through the second shopping bag. "Did you find anything you like, honey?"
Tracey held up a long rope of fake pearls. "I like these, Mommy. Now I'm looking for earrings to match."
"There aren't any," Hannah told her, walking over to glance at the contents of the bag. "But that's okay, because our snow-woman doesn't have ears. I think there's a pair of big sunglasses in the bottom. They're from a store display and they ought to fit her."
By the time the final whistle blew, their snow-woman was dressed and ready. The three of them walked over to the sidelines to chat with Janie, Lisa, and Jack Herman while the judges were deliberating.
"Do you think we'll win, Aunt Hannah?" Tracey asked her.
"I don't know, but we made a good snow-woman. I think she's just perfect."
"So do I." Tracey gave a little sigh. "I wish we could keep her, but I know we can't. She'll melt down into a puddle and go belly-up."
Andrea overheard her daughter's comment and her eye- brows shot up in surprise. "Belly-up?"
"That's what fish do when they die. We have guppies at school, and every time one goes belly-up, we tell Miss Cox and we get to have a fish funeral. Miss Cox says they go to the great fish tank in the sky, but they don't."
"They don't?"
"No. She just flushes them down the toilet after everybody leaves. I forgot my sweater once and when I went back to get it, I caught her."
Hannah felt an instant rush of sympathy for Janice Cox, who'd had to explain that to Tracey. "What did Miss Cox say?"