Sweets Galore: The Sixth Samantha Sweet Mystery (The Samantha Sweet Mysteries) (5 page)

Dear Ms. Sweet,

I am writing to inform you—

The door opened and Sam glanced up
to see Jake Calendar. Kelly was walking toward Puppy Chic and Sam couldn’t read
anything in her daughter’s step to let her know how the visit had gone. Jake
didn’t appear to notice Beau standing by the display case; he stood beside Sam
and gave a curious stare at the letter in her hand. She folded it, stuffed it
back in the envelope and jammed the envelope between two catalogs.

“I’m so proud of her,” Jake said
in the way two parents might reminisce at their kid’s graduation.

Like you had anything to do with that.
She noticed that Beau was
studying Jake. She called him over and introduced them—first names, no details
about Jake.

“Beau is my fiancé,” she said with
pride.

He slipped an arm over her
shoulders. Jake took the hint, made a few polite noises and left. When Sam
looked up at Beau she saw the questions in his eyes.

“Lunch?” she asked.

They walked out to his cruiser and
he suggested a place they liked, where it would be quiet enough to talk but
busy enough to keep the conversation private.

“So that was Jake.”

“That was Jake.”

“He in town long?”

“I certainly hope not.” Sam
launched into the explanation of how Jake had showed up out of the blue and
immediately asked her for money, how he’d figured out about Kelly and insisted
on a meeting.

“Sounds like it was a little rough
between you and Kelly. No wonder you slept like a kitten on uppers last night.”

“Was I tossing around that badly?”

He gave a rueful smile. “Yeah. So,
now that he’s met Kelly, what next?”

“You saw what just happened. She
went back to work, he made it sound all chummy. I guess I’ll have to get her
version of it to see how she handled it.”

“How are
you
handling it? Is there still a spark?”

“Beau! No.
No.
” There had been a huge spark thirty-plus years ago but she
truly felt nothing but irritation for Jake now.

Beau edged a glance her way,
reading her face.

“There isn’t. No more than you
felt for Felicia Black when she showed up in your life awhile back. At least Jake
isn’t making romantic overtures toward me.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched but
he didn’t interrupt.

“He’s got a girlfriend with him.
She’s probably younger than Kelly. It’s disgusting to see a middle-aged man act
that way.”

 
He let her vent and by the time they’d pulled
into a parking slot along Bent Street both had relaxed. Sam rummaged through
the pile of mail in her lap, pulled out the letter she’d only begun to read and
carried it with her. They were shown to a table outdoors under an elm tree and
they placed orders for their favorites without even looking at the menus.

“So, what’s in the letter?” Beau
asked.

Sam settled back in her chair and
opened it.

Dear Ms. Sweet,

I am writing to inform you of the death of your great-uncle, Terrance O’Shaughnessy
of Galway, Ireland.

She felt her brows pull together.

As Mr. O’Shaughnessy’s personal representatives, our firm is charged
with disposition of his assets and I am pleased to inform you that there is a
bequest in your name. Please call me at the number above, as I need details to
finalize the enclosed airline reservations for yourself and your companion.

My condolences at your loss.

Yours sincerely,

Clinton Hardgate

“Ireland?” Sam passed the page
over to Beau and took a look at the other sheet. It appeared to be a printout
for two airline tickets, first class, from New York City to Shannon, Ireland.

“Who’s this uncle?” Beau asked.

“Good question. I’ve never heard
of him.” Sam studied the two pages again. “I don’t know . . . this could be some
kind of scam. You know, send us your bank account number and we’ll give you
this
free
thing.”

Beau looked at the description of
the plane tickets. “It’s dated the twenty-second. That would be the day after
our wedding. Could someone know about that?”

“I don’t see how. My family from
Texas, those of us in the wedding party, our closest friends—they’re the only
ones who know the date. We didn’t even put an announcement in the newspaper.”

Their sandwiches arrived and Sam
slid the pages back into the envelope.

“I’ll do a little background
research when I get back to the office,” Beau said. “We can find out if this
law firm is legit and maybe see if there really is a Terrance O’Shaughnessy in
Galway.”

“I imagine there could be dozens
of
O’Shaughnessys
,” Sam pointed out. “I’ll ask my
folks too. They’ll be here this afternoon.”

She felt a ripple of anticipation.
She tended to become irritated with her mother’s intrusive questions when they
spoke on the phone, but her dad had always been a calming influence and it
would be good to see him, to get a better feel for his health and state of
mind. And then there were the aunts and uncles, most of whom she hadn’t seen in
at least twenty years. It would be nice to turn the bakery over to the
employees and simply relax with family for a few days.

“It’s not like we couldn’t do it,”
Beau was saying.

“Go to Ireland? Well, we do have
passports. We’ve arranged time off work. And it sounds a lot more intriguing
than our driving trip. I mean, the Grand Canyon will still be there next year.”

Beau glanced at the envelope.
“Before we get too excited, we better find out if there’s any way this could be
legit.”

“Take it with you so you’ll have
all the information. Let me know what you find.”

“Okay. But don’t be surprised if there’s
some scam artist behind it all.”

They paid their tab and Beau
dropped Sam off at the bakery. She walked in to find that Becky had stepped up
to finish the sugar flowers for Sam’s cake. She approved the results and they
set the flowers aside to dry, getting back to the daily bakery orders and
finalizing the audition cake for Vic Valentino with the small fireworks Julio
had supplied. Sam didn’t ask—as the sheriff’s fiancée she didn’t really want to
know—where he’d gotten them.

Although Sam had told the wannabe
singer to come after four o’clock Jen announced his arrival at a little after
three. Sam carried the cake out front and watched with amusement as he focused
on the skinny little figurine of himself with his gelled hair and spangled
suit.

“I
love
it!” He pointed to the spotlights and the microphone. “It’s so
me
!”

She asked Jen to assemble a box
for it.

“That producer is going to be
blown away,” Valentino said. “I’ll get on
You’re
The Star
for sure.”

The show whose producers were
still scrambling for funding. Even if Vic had the talent to make it to national
television she had serious doubts that this particular show would ever see
airtime. She didn’t have the heart to say it to the young man though. She
watched him place the cake into the back seat of a rundown Chevy and back out
of his parking slot. Good luck, she thought as she saw the old beater drive
away.

Her phone rang as she headed back
to the kitchen.

“Mom, I meant to tell you earlier,
but after we talked this morning Jake invited me to dinner. He wants a little
more time together. I told him I would meet him in front of his hotel.” Kelly’s
voice still seemed a little cool.

Sam gave herself a couple of beats
before she spoke. “Your grandparents are coming in this afternoon. They’ll want
to see you.”

“I know, and I’d forgotten about
that when I said yes to Jake. But he said he’s probably leaving town in the
next couple days. And I’ll have time with them all the way through the
weekend.”

“Whatever you think,” Sam said.
“By the way, they don’t know much about Jake. Until I know whether he’s going
to become a permanent factor in your life, I’d rather not bring up the subject
with them. Okay?”

She sighed as she hung up. Her own
apprehensions about Jake Calendar were irrelevant right now. Kelly would do
whatever she wanted to. Sam could only hope she would keep her head straight
and not be rude to the rest of the family.

No sooner had that thought emerged
than Sam heard a familiar voice.

“Oh. My.
Lord
. This place is just so
cute
!”
Nina Rae Sweet had a voice that could fill an arena whenever she got excited.

Sam quickly scanned the kitchen,
happy to see that Becky’s stack of orders was under control. She’d nearly
finished a traditional birthday cake for one of their older customers; there
was only a child’s cake to finish today, a carousel with bright striping and
fat ducks instead of horses. Julio had just placed baking sheets with six dozen
cookies into the oven for the late-afternoon crowd and was in the process of
washing up the mixing bowls and utensils.

“Showtime, guys,” she murmured
before turning to walk out to the front.

“Samantha Jane! I just
love
it!” Nina Rae rushed forward, her
rail-thin arms outstretched. How her mother managed to stay so slender Sam had
never figured out. As always, her chin-length hair had been freshly done in her
favorite shade of mink and the precise waves stayed exactly in place. Her
makeup never changed except for her eye shadow color, which always went with
the outfit of the day, this time a subtle beige pantsuit.

“You’ve got the
purple
. . . and look how good those
pastries . . . well. Oh, and you know the
first
thing we spotted? Those cakes you have in that front window display. They’re
just absolutely—gorgeous.”

She turned to Jen. “You know, I
can’t believe Samantha opened her shop almost a year ago and we hadn’t gotten
out here to see it.”

Jen started to reply but Nina Rae
was looking in another direction.

“And
look
at these cute little tables and chairs! A person just couldn’t
help
coming in off the street for a nice
cup of coffee and a
pastry
, now could
they?”

Jen closed her mouth and nodded.

“Samantha, you look so
good
, honey. Beau has been good for you.
I can just tell it.”

Sam started to answer but Nina Rae
was onto something else already.

“Well, do I get to see the
kitchen? Unless it’s, you know, out of bounds or something. But you know, I’d
love
to see your work space.”

Sam pointed toward the curtain
across the doorway that divided the two rooms.

“How are you, Daddy?” she asked as
her mother breezed past and she got the chance to hug her father. He looked a
little thinner than last January when she and Beau had made a quick trip to
Texas to see them.

“I’m fine, Sammy. Life is
treatin
’ me good.”

When he’d first retired from his corporate
accounting position, Howard Sweet was a little at loose ends, Sam recalled. But
he’d quickly taken up golf and fishing, two pastimes that kept him out of the
house and on the go quite a bit. And when indoors, he usually had some type of
sports program on the TV. She had to admit that he seemed content.

An exclamation from the back told
Sam that her mother had spotted the birthday cake that Becky was finishing. She
signaled for Jen to join them so she could handle all the introductions at
once. Once she knew all their names, it seemed Nina Rae had questions for
everyone.

Sam spent a moment neatening the
papers on her desk then called Kelly to see if she was free to pop over and say
hello. When she arrived, Kelly greeted her grandparents with hugs.

“I want to see
your
cake, Samantha, and of course your
dress,” Nina Rae said. “Hasn’t your mama done just a fantastic job with the
bakery, Kelly?”

“The cake isn’t finished, Mother,”
Sam said, saving Kelly from having her cheeks pinched.

Nina Rae turned back to Sam.
“Well, it wouldn’t be, not yet, but do you have a design done up?”

Sam showed the sketches and the
sugar flowers she and Becky had made earlier. Even that bit of information
seemed to pacify Nina Rae and distract her from the subject of the dress. There
was no way Sam intended to model it at this point. She made a mental note to go
by Kelly’s and try it on again to see if she’d made any progress with her
weight loss.

“Now, Aunt Bessie and Uncle Chub
will be here by suppertime,” Nina Rae said once they’d finished a quick tour of
the kitchen. “They flew from Oklahoma City into Albuquerque and they are
meeting up with
Lub
, who’s going to drive them up
here.”

She turned to Jen. “Chub doesn’t
drive out on the highway much anymore.”

Sam had already given Beau and her
staff a little primer on the odd nicknames in her family. Chub was Charles,
Howard’s brother. How he’d gotten the name Chub was a little unclear, as he’d
never been the least bit overweight. Their son Lester had immediately been
stuck with
Lub
, which might have happened because as
a kid he
was
rather pudgy but the
name Chub had already been assigned to his father.

“There’s something about the
South,” Sam had warned her crew. “Your childhood nickname stays with you
forever. Anyplace else they would have ditched those names well before high
school, but not in Texas. There are grown men who think nothing of being called
Bubba or Toots or Dusty.”

“So what was your childhood
nickname?” Becky had teased.

She changed the subject.

“Now do Bessie and Chub know which
hotel they’re at?” Nina Rae asked.

Sam assured her that everyone had
received complete instructions. Inside, she had qualms about the fact that they
were at the La Fonda, the same place Jake was staying, but since none knew each
other and Kelly had been warned about spilling the secret, Sam could only hope
everything would be all right until Jake left town.