Sweets Forgotten (Samantha Sweet Mysteries Book 10) by Connie Shelton Read Free Book Online Page A

on his way to a trade
show and won’t be back in Taos for another three or four days.”
    Sam stood up and stacked the
dishes. “I’m afraid I didn’t bring anything home for dessert, but there’s ice
cream in the freezer.”
    His smile told her he’d rather
have the ice cream than a pastry any day. He picked up the leftover chicken and
bowl of potatoes and followed her to the kitchen.
    “So, on a completely different
topic,” Sam said as she rummaged in a drawer for the ice cream scoop, “I don’t
suppose there’s any late-breaking news on Jane?”
    He paused with the freezer door
open.
    “Sorry, darlin’. There’s only so
many hours in the day. I had Dixie send the photo out to surrounding
jurisdictions. Just as I was leaving for the day she said there was one
response from a town in Colorado. Pagosa Springs, I think.”
    He pulled out the new carton of
vanilla and proceeded to scoop as he talked.
    “For now, Jane’s safely in the
hands of Melissa and her colleagues so you don’t need to worry about her. I’ll
let you know what we find out, and chances are good that she’ll be on her way
back to her worried family by this time tomorrow.”
    Back in the living room, Sam took
two bites of her ice cream but felt her earlier tiredness return. When Beau
finished off both servings and carried the bowls to the kitchen she found
herself dozing on the couch.
    Beau came back and kissed her
gently on her left temple. “Hey there. You ought to go on to bed. I’ll check
the horses and dogs and lock up everything. See you upstairs.”
    He didn’t have to suggest twice.
She thought once again of the carved box in the safe, feeling very tempted to
handle it a little to rid herself of this lethargic mood. But past experience
had shown that touching the box at night wasn’t a good idea if she wanted any
sleep at all. She walked past the closet with the safe and headed upstairs.
    By the time she had completed her
little nightly routine, Beau was in the bedroom peeling off his undershirt. She
spent a moment enjoying the view of his rippling muscles.
    “You know why you’re so tired
this week?” he asked. “I think you’re not busy enough. You’re between seasons
at the bakery and your crew handles everything there really well.”
    She wiggled her eyebrows at him
as he crawled in bed beside her. “I can think of one thing that would keep me
busy for awhile right now.”
    His sexy smile still melted her
heart. “Well, that too. But what I was going to suggest is that you help me
with this murder investigation.”
    Sam ignored that suggestion and
reached for his elastic waistband.

 
 
    Chapter
6

 
    Sam pulled her bakery van into
the alley behind the shop and gathered her pack and the now-empty bank deposit
bag. When she looked up, Kelly’s car sat nose to nose with hers, directly
behind Puppy Chic. Her daughter had a big smile and her eyes sparkled. Sam
hoped her own sexual afterglow wasn’t quite so evident.
    “So … I’m guessing that the big date
last night went well?” Sam teased.
    “Yeah. Yeah, it did.”
    “You gonna tell me his name?”
    “Not just yet. I don’t know if
it’ll last. We’ve only had two dates, Mom. And no sex yet. Really, I’m not
jumping into a new relationship that quickly!”
    “Okay, fair enough. When it comes
to a serious guy, I trust you to pick someone who’s good for you, someone I’ll
like, and who’ll produce beautiful grandchildren for me.” Sam laughed and
shifted her pack to the other shoulder. “I’d better be getting to work. I’m sure
the crew has been at it quite awhile already.”
    Kelly’s gaze slid over to where
Julio’s Harley was parked near the bakery’s gas meter. She gave that dreamy
little smile again and headed for the back door of the dog grooming shop.
    Julio? Oh my god, could he be—?
    She shook off the thought and
stepped into the bakery kitchen. “I just saw Kelly outside. She seems pretty
happy today.”
    “Oh, that’s