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

right,” Becky said.
“Kelly had a big date last night, didn’t she?”
    “Apparently so,” Sam said with a
smile as she hung up her pack and slipped on a clean baker’s jacket.
    Julio gave his usual quiet “Good
morning” and started measuring butter and sugar into the Hobart. She turned off
her Mom Radar and decided she better relax about this. Kelly’s bouncy demeanor
was nothing new, and the sweet smile this morning might have been aimed at
something entirely other than the bike. It had to be. Kelly and Julio, a
couple? Nah, their temperaments were so different. Sam just couldn’t see it.
    She chided herself as she picked
up the stack of order sheets for the day and spread out the orders to
prioritize them. Beau was right—the shop certainly wasn’t overly busy right
now. Between now and the weekend there were only three weddings and six
birthdays. Becky had the autumn flower wedding cake well under way, as
evidenced by the dozens of sugar flowers which hung upside down by their stems
to dry. One of the other weddings was a very traditional cake with lots of
piping and string work. Strings got tricky and Becky hated doing them, so Sam would
handle that one herself. The third was a simple fondant-covered two tiers, with
satin ribbon and fresh flowers. The bride had ordered the flowers, which would
be delivered by the florist on Saturday, then Sam would quickly put the cake
together and deliver it Saturday for the Sunday afternoon ceremony.
    She made certain the cake flavors
were noted and that nothing required a special topper or decorative element she
didn’t have on hand. Everything seemed well under control. Maybe she really
could be helping Beau in some way. She was nibbling on the cap of her pen when
her phone rang.
    “Hey, girl, what’s up?” Her best
friend, Zoë. They hadn’t seen each other in a couple of weeks.
    “We need to get together, maybe
‘do lunch’,” Sam joked.
    “Just say when.”
    “Actually, lunch might be tricky
but how about if I pop by for a cup of tea after work today?”
    Zoë seemed delighted with that
idea. “I have a special Assam that’s waiting to be opened.”
    With a plan in place, Sam set her
phone down and picked up the nearest order form. Five minutes later she was
happily piping brightly colored frosting onto a five-year-old’s birthday cake,
turning a square cube of layers into the backdrop for the latest popular
cartoon characters, some little munchkins who lived in a cave world and came
out often enough to fight off criminals in the way only preschoolers can
imagine that they would. That one went into the fridge and she’d just begun a
fairy princess castle, complete with sugar cone turrets, when she heard
animated voices out front.
    Jen’s voice came through, asking
someone to wait, only moments before Jane Doe came walking through to the
kitchen. Evidently, Beau’s Colorado lead had not worked out.
    “Hi, Sam.” Jane wore the same
clothing as yesterday. She or someone else had taken the time to sew her ripped
sleeve seam back together and the blouse had been laundered. “Melissa took me
by the sheriff’s office but I guess they didn’t have any news for me. They
wanted me to go back to the shelter but there’s nothing to do there. A lot of
the women have jobs and leave during the day or else they are out on interviews
or appointments with their counselors. I thought maybe I could help out here?”
    Sam stuck a smile on but wasn’t
feeling the love. Just because Jane had saved a batch of chocolate from
destruction yesterday didn’t mean she had to adopt the woman and keep her
around all the time, did it? She brought herself up short. This poor lady was
lost and hurt and no doubt feeling completely disoriented. The least Sam could
do was to be hospitable.
    “Let’s get you a cup of coffee
and something to eat first,” she suggested.
    Jen took Jane’s elbow and subtly
steered her back to the front room.
    “Okay, now what can we do to keep
her