Read Sweets Forgotten (Samantha Sweet Mysteries Book 10) for Free Online Page A

any problems here at Sweet’s Sweets. It was more like
having a guest who’d popped in unannounced and Sam felt she needed to be
courteous and come up with ways to entertain her. The bakery was busy enough on
any given day to keep her entire crew moving at full speed; entertaining
visitors during the work day was putting a strain on her normally ready smile.
    She picked up the tray of
Sherlock-themed cupcakes and walked toward the bookshop next door. If she
hadn’t heard from Beau by the time she’d delivered them she would call him.
True, his other investigation was more important than this one but, seriously,
it was getting late in the day and what was she supposed to do with Jane after
closing time?
    “Ah, bon soir , Miss Samantha!” Ivan Petrenko, the quirky Russian who
owned the bookstore greeted her with enthusiasm. “You have bringing the
chocolate goodies for the week!”
    Sam tended to forget the stories
of his colorful past—which supposedly included a daring escape from communist
Russia, a life in France where he reputedly became a renowned chef, and a
career in a top New York restaurant before he landed in Taos—until she
conversed with him and tried to work out his odd blend of languages and syntax.
    “You mentioned the club was
reading Arthur Conan Doyle this week, so we went with a sleuthing theme,” she
said, setting the cupcakes on a table with a display of nineteenth-century
detective articles, along with the featured book.
    “She is perfect, these treats,”
Ivan said, handing Sam a check. “How is going, your day?”
    “Pretty well. We’re busy but it’s
not as crazy as it will get when the holidays begin.”
    He gave her an odd look,
reminding her that the word ‘crazy’ had several interpretations. There was no
telling which one Ivan was picturing in his head right now.
    “A woman showed up this morning.
She apparently has amnesia,” Sam said. “You know that word, right?”
    “Oh, da , is the forgetting of memory.”
    “Something like that. She doesn’t
know her own name or where she lives. Beau is trying to find out if anyone has
filed a missing person report but I haven’t heard back from him yet and she’s
just hanging around my shop.”
    He gave a sympathetic nod.
    “Hey, maybe I should send her
over here. Seeing some of the books might remind her of something.”
    Ivan gave a noncommittal European
shrug. “I am opening until six. Book club come at six-thirty.”
    “I’ll think about it,” Sam said
on her way out the door.
    What would happen if she sent
Jane over and the woman wandered away? Beau might come up with some relatives
and then they wouldn’t be able to find her again. Plus, what if Jane’s amnesia
was caused by a traumatic event and something in the bookshop reminded her of
it so strongly that she freaked out. Sam couldn’t envision herself or Ivan
being able to handle the situation if the woman truly went berserk.
    She paused on the sidewalk and
pulled out her phone. Bothersome or not, there was only one way to find out
what, if anything, Beau had learned.
    “Hey, darlin’,” he said. His
voice sounded harried. “Sorry, but I haven’t had a minute to follow up on your
lady.”
    “Beau, she isn’t ‘my lady’ and I
really don’t want her to become mine. I really need somewhere to send her
before we close up shop for the day.”
    A quick flash went through her
head, the idea of taking Jane home with her for the night. But the earlier
vision of the woman suddenly turning into a whole different personality came
back at her. No. Jane needed some kind of professional help.
    “I know, I know,” he said. “I
haven’t had any luck with our local databases and there’s been no time to take
the search further. I’ll call Melissa Masters and have her come by your place.
Her department is equipped to deal with these things.”
    “Thank you.” Sam breathed a sigh,
reminding herself there were times when it really wasn’t necessary to fix
everything