made a little well in the center of the mug and poured in the wet ingredients. Once they had been stirred in, she added the Nutella and stirred that in.
All that was left was the finishing touch. Hannah scattered mini chocolate chips over the top, carried the mug to the microwave, and heated it on high for ninety seconds. Since it didn’t look quite done, and her microwave wasn’t the most powerful that was now on the market, she gave it another twenty seconds and then removed it from the microwave, using oven mitts.
“It smells fantastic!” Lonnie said, eyeing the mug with a smile. “I can hardly wait to . . .” He stopped speaking, realizing that Hannah had carried the mug over to the stovetop and set it on a cold burner. “What are you doing?”
“It has to cool for at least a minute and a half,” she told him. “If you tried to eat it now, you’d burn your mouth.”
“And it might be worth it,” Michelle said, coming into the kitchen. “What did you make, Hannah? This whole condo smells like chocolate.”
“Chocolate Cake in a Mug,” Hannah told her.
“I’ve never had that!”
Hannah chuckled. Her sister sounded extremely envious. “I’d make one for you, but didn’t you tell me that Andrea was coming over with her newest Whippersnapper cookie?”
“Yes, but it’s not chocolate!”
“I’m not having one, either. And neither is Norman.”
Norman began to grin. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I saw you make it and I remember exactly what you did. You’d better put away those ingredients before I decide to make one for myself.”
“Sit down and have a cup of coffee with us,” Hannah said, gesturing toward the empty chair at her soon-to-be-an-antique Formica kitchen table. “Lonnie’s going to eat his chocolate cake before we continue with the interview.”
Michelle exchanged glances with Hannah, and Hannah knew she’d caught the reference to chocolate. She sat down in the chair next to Lonnie and smiled at him. “I don’t suppose you’d give me one bite of your cake, would you?”
Lonnie returned her smile. “You know I will. We always share good things. And . . . I guess . . . bad things, too.”
“That’s the way it should be,” Michelle replied, slipping her arm around Lonnie’s shoulders and giving him a little hug. Then she turned to Hannah. “Isn’t that cake cool enough yet?”
“Yes, it is,” Hannah said. She’d been keeping an eye on the clock and a bit over ninety seconds had gone by. She got up to touch the side of the mug and gave a little nod. “It’s cool enough. I’ll get a spoon.”
“Two spoons,” Michelle corrected her.
“Three spoons,” Norman added to the spoon count.
“Okay, fine. Four spoons,” Hannah said, reaching in the silverware drawer and carrying four spoons to the table. “You start, Lonnie.”
Lonnie dipped in his spoon, pulled it out loaded with the chocolate-laden cake, and handed it to Michelle. “You first,” he said.
It was Hannah’s turn to exchange glances with Norman. He’d caught Lonnie’s selfless gesture, and both of them knew that Lonnie was truly in love with Michelle.
“Wonderful!” Michelle said, once she’d tasted the cake. “Your turn, Lonnie.”
Lonnie took a spoonful, ate it, and sighed. “Oh, boy, that’s good!” he commented.
“I’m next,” Norman said, dipping in his spoon before Lonnie could get a second bite.
Hannah watched as Norman tasted the cake. Then she smiled as a rapturous expression appeared on his face. “Fantastic!” he said.
“I’m not going to take your comment at face value unless you notarize your tongue,” Hannah told him, dipping her spoon into the mug and tasting the lightning-quick cake she’d just made.
“Well?” Norman prodded her.
“It’s really, really good,” Hannah replied, handing the mug back to Lonnie. “Eat the rest and have a little more coffee. And then we’ll finish your interview.”
Once Lonnie had made short work of the cake, Hannah rinsed out the cup, set it in the sink, and returned to the table. “Okay,” she said, glancing at Michelle.
“I think I’ll call Andrea and see what time she’s going to get here,” Michelle said, noticing the glance Hannah had given her and correctly interpreting the unspoken request. Michelle rose from the table, wrapped her arms around Lonnie to give him a little hug, and nodded at Hannah. “Thanks for letting me have some of your cake, Lonnie,” she said, straightening up and moving away from the table. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”
Hannah watched her youngest sister go and thought, again, how