"Have some pizza, Hannah." Andrea looked concerned as she noticed the direction of Hannah's gaze. "You don't want him. He's a jerk and he wasn't fair to Bill."
"Right."
"Not only that, they deserve each other. I saw her batting her eyes at the man in the next booth while Mike was reading the menu. She's probably about as loyal as Mike is."
"Right."
"So have some pizza and forget about Mike. You're better off without him. You wouldn't want to be seen with the kind of man who…" Andrea stopped speaking as her phone rang. She dived into her purse with her hand to retrieve it. "Hello?"
Hannah spared Mike one more glance and then reached out for the pizza. She'd be darned if she'd let him spoil a perfectly good pizza for her!
"Hi, Doc. I didn't think doctors worked on Sundays."
Hannah bit into the pizza and chewed thoughtfully. It must be Doc Knight, getting back to Andrea about some question she'd asked.
"I've got a couple of minutes if you don't mind me chewing and talking at the same time. Hannah and I just ordered a pizza."
Hannah took another bite of her pizza and frowned slightly. It wasn't quite as good as it had been in the past. Of course, the last pizza she'd eaten in Bertanelli's had been with Mike. And they'd been seated in the very same booth where he now sat with Shawna Lee.
"Oh, no!" Andrea groaned, snapping Hannah out of her unhappy thoughts. "You know me, Doc. I've never been anemic in my life. You're kidding, right?"
Hannah's full attention shifted to her sister. Andrea had sounded positively panic stricken.
"All right, I will," Andrea said with a deep sigh, "but I hope you know what you're doing. You have no idea how awful this is going to be for me."
Hannah’s frown was a full-scale glower by the time Andrea said goodbye and turned off the phone. "What did Doc say? You're going to be all right, aren't you?"
"I'll be fine as long as I follow his advice."
"Which is?" Hannah asked, leaning back and waiting.
"I'm anemic and I'm retaining water. Those two things aren't good for the baby. I'm supposed to up my prenatal vitamins to two a day, I have to get at least nine hours sleep, and I can't have any salt in my diet."
"Uh-oh," Hannah groaned, looking at the pizza.
"You take it home with you. I can't have any more." Andrea looked extremely depressed.
"I can understand why you're upset," Hannah said, waving at the waitress and gesturing for a carry-out container.
"No, you can't. I haven't told you the worst part yet. Doc wanted to stick me in the hospital until the baby was born, but he said he wouldn't as long as I agreed to a restriction."
"What restriction?"
"I can't be on my feet for more than four hours a day!"
"Uh-oh," Hannah said with a wince. For a person like Andrea, who was usually on the go for most of her waking hours, Doc's restriction would be a real hardship. "Try to look on the bright side, Andrea. It's only for a couple more weeks."
Andrea opened her mouth. Hannah had the uncomfortable feeling that she was about to get blasted with a mega-dose of her sister's ire when Andrea's cell phone rang again. "Saved by the bell," she murmured, as Andrea answered the phone.
"Hi, honey," Andrea chirped, in a real effort to be cheerful. That told Hannah that her caller was either Tracey or Bill. "Harry Wilcox? Of course I remember him! He's okay, isn't he?"
Hannah listened as she scooped the pizza into the carryout box the waitress had brought, but she didn't learn much of interest by hearing Andrea say yes five times in a row.
"Let's go, Hannah." Andrea dropped her phone in her purse and stood up. "Bill just got a call from Harry Wilcox and he wants us to come back to the house right away."
Hannah met Harry Wilcox, a veteran Winnetka County Deputy, during Bill's first year on the force. Harry had been Bill's mentor and also his first partner. "Harry and his wife are okay, aren't they?"
"They're fine. It's just that Harry heard about Sheriff Grant^ murder and he called Bill to talk about it. Bill says Harry had an idea about why the sheriff might have been killed."
"Okay. I'm ready." Hannah grabbed the takeout box and was about to leave the booth when Andrea grabbed her arm.
"Let's walk past Mike's booth on the way out. When he says hello to us, we can cut him dead."
"Really, Andrea!" Hannah did her best to sound shocked. "Don't you think that's a little childish?"
Andrea thought about it for a moment and then she dipped her head in a nod. "I guess it is a little childish. I don't blame you for not wanting to do it."
"Did I say that?" Hannah countered with a grin. "We'll walk on by and let him see what he's missing."
The two Swensen sisters linked arms and set off in tandem toward Mike's booth. They arranged fixed smiles on their faces and they kept their eyes straight ahead. Hannah sneaked a glance at Mike's booth and her smile slipped alarmingly. He was paying so much attention to Shawna Lee he didn't even notice them.
Hannah marched straight past the booth without a second glance. As she opened the door and ushered her sister out, she vowed that Mike would pay for not even glancing their way. She wasn't sure how, but she'd exact a price one way or another.
Chapter Fifteen
Andrea gave an exasperated sigh as Hannah approached her house. "Bill did it again!"
"Did what?"
"He put the trash cans in front of the driveway again. Do you want me to move them so you can drive in?"
"Don't bother. I can park right here behind Bill's car. There's plenty of room."
Once Hannah had parked, Andrea led the way to the front door and fumbled in her purse for her keys. "I hope Harry called at the right time."
"What time is that?"
"Before Bill finished cleaning the attic. If I'm lucky, he didn't get to that big box by the chimney and I won't have to answer a bunch of questions about why I saved all those back issues of fashion magazines."
"Hi, honey!" Bill called out as they walked into the house. "Bring Hannah back here to the kitchen. I made coffee for her."
Hannah followed Andrea into the kitchen and they sat down at the kitchen table. Once Hannah cupped her hands around the mug of coffee that Bill had brewed, and inhaled the fragrance, she smiled. "This is real coffee!"
"It's French roast. I ground the beans myself," Bill told her, and then he turned to Andrea. "Doc Knight called here and I gave him your cell phone number. There's nothing wrong, is there?"
Andrea sighed. "Nothing that a little rest won't cure. I'm anemic and I'm retaining water."
"I was afraid it would be something like that. It's a good thing I'm home, because now I can take care of you. Doc gave you instructions, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did." Andrea rolled her eyes behind Bill's back, and Hannah did all she could do to not laugh. "We can talk about that later. Tell us what Harry had to say. Hannah's got to get home soon."
"I'll tell you just as soon as you get on the couch and put your feet up. Your ankles are swelling again. Come on, Hannah. Bring your coffee and come into the living room."
Once Andrea was settled on the couch, Bill told them the gist of his conversation with Harry. "He said Sheriff Grant gave him a choice between early retirement with full benefits or a demotion in rank. It was all because of a case he was working."