“Was there actually an oilman?” Sam wondered.
“We haven’t found any evidence of one. So far, Lila’s plans for hooking up with a rich guy only took her as far as Chad Smith.”
Sam slipped her arm around Danny’s waist and gave him a hug. “For the record, you are a much better catch—any day.”
“And very lucky you avoided that trap,” Beau added with a smile. “Can’t imagine what life would be like with someone who lives so many lives and gets into that kind of debt without thinking.”
A beam of light slid across the wall, reflected off the windshield of a car pulling up the driveway. Sam didn’t recognize the vehicle, but she knew the perky girl who bounded from the back seat and dashed up the front steps.
On the front porch railing, Eliza reached out a paw toward Ana. They touched noses, and the little redhead giggled. The two gazes met, and Sam swore her granddaughter and the cat communicated, perhaps in their own secret language.
Chapter 49
The Sunday evening sunset lingered over the valley north of Taos, taking its time, much the way the sunrise that morning had done. Sam and Beau stood on the back deck at the ranch, watching Danny as he moved about inside the casita. The cattle in the north pasture were settling down, lowing occasionally.
“It was a nice day,” Sam said, hooking her arm through his. “Ana had a great time, and I think all the adults did too.”
“Did you hear Evan ask me if I wanted the sheriff job back?”
Her breath caught. “No … What did you say?”
“I took it as a joke—he doesn’t actually want to give it up.” He smiled at her and then winked. “I said no. And I told him I don’t even want to go back as a deputy. Ranching has its own challenges, but most of them come from the animals or the weather. I don’t want to deal with people, their insane actions and motives. Not yet anyway.”
She squeezed his arm. “It still feels like it’s too soon for that.”
The sun dipped behind the distant horizon and the air immediately felt colder.
“But don’t you still miss it, in some ways?”
His eyes took on a faraway look and his answer seemed faintly wistful. “Not in the sense you’re thinking. I miss the camaraderie of the guys, the times after the danger was over and we sat around having coffee and recapping our victory. I miss being involved in the feeling that I’ve made the world a tiny bit safer for people who just want to go about their days.”
“You don’t miss the action, the chase?”
Unbidden, the moment when Chad pulled the knife flashed through her mind, the gut-wrenching feeling that he was about to harm one of the deputies. When Beau shook his head in answer to her question, she understood. Completely.
* * *
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Thank you,
Connie Shelton
There’s more coming for Samantha and family!
In the meantime, if you’ve missed any…
Turn the page to get the links to all of them.
Watch for a new Charlie Parker in early 2021,
A teen girl becomes Charlie’s newest client when she walks into RJP Investigations with tears in her eyes and a thick police-investigation folder in her hands. Cassie Blake’s mother vanished from their home when Cassie was just a baby, leaving no clues and plenty of questions. The police chalked it up as either a young woman who got tired of being a mother, or a tragic murder victim whose body was never found. Either way, Charlie sees a lot of herself in this kid and can’t resist taking on the cold case.
Get Sweethearts Can Be Murder at your favorite online retailer, available in 2021
And, in my other series, The Heist Ladies …
It’s Amber’s turn to call upon the Heist Ladies for help in this wrap-up to the series. The team’s youngest member has taken a computer programming job and is on her way to a promising career. But a business trip to Europe with a fun side jaunt in Paris ends badly when Amber’s luggage is searched by authorities and discovered to contain contraband. Even if she can convince them she’s innocent, Amber knows she’s been taken in by a con artist, and, well … that’s the specialty of the Heist Ladies. Will the women be able to catch this oh-so-charming bad guy before he can pull the same sleazy con on someone else?
Get Show Me the Money at your favorite online retailer, available spring of 2021
Author’s Note
Dan, Stephanie, Shirley—each of you contributes and makes my writing life so much easier and so much more complete. Deepest gratitude to all. And to my beta readers who catch the many little things that my eye misses: Marcia, Sandra, and Judi—you are the best!
And especially to you, my readers—I cherish our connection through these stories.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
* * *
Books by Connie Shelton
The Charlie Parker Series
Deadly Gamble
Vacations Can Be Murder
Partnerships Can Be Murder
Small Towns Can Be Murder
Memories Can Be Murder
Honeymoons Can Be Murder
Reunions Can Be Murder
Competition Can Be Murder
Balloons Can Be Murder
Obsessions Can Be Murder
Gossip Can Be Murder
Stardom Can Be Murder
Phantoms Can Be Murder
Buried Secrets Can Be Murder
Legends Can Be Murder
Weddings Can Be Murder
Alibis Can Be Murder
Escapes Can Be Murder
Old Bones Can Be Murder
Holidays Can Be Murder - a Christmas novella
Sweet Masterpiece
Sweet’s Sweets
Sweet Holidays
Sweet Hearts
Bitter Sweet
Sweets Galore
Sweets Begorra
Sweet Payback
Sweet Somethings
Sweets Forgotten
Spooky Sweet
Sticky Sweet
Sweet Magic
Deadly Sweet Dreams
Spellbound Sweets – a Halloween novella
The Woodcarver’s Secret
The Heist Ladies Series
Diamonds Aren’t Forever
The Trophy Wife Exchange
Movie Mogul Mama
Homeless in Heaven
And watch for Show Me the Money, coming in 2021
Children’s Books
Daisy and Maisie and the Great Lizard Hunt
Daisy and Maisie and the Lost Kitten
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Deadly Sweet Dreams
Published by Secret Staircase Books, an imprint of
Columbine Publishing Group, LLC
PO Box 416, Angel Fire, NM 87710
Copyright © 2020 Connie Shelton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of informati
on contained in this book we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency herein. Any slights of people, places or organizations are unintentional.
Book layout and design by Secret Staircase Books
Cover images © Unholyvault, Andreas Meyer, Makeitdoubleplz, Andrey Anishchenko
First trade paperback edition: October 2020
First e-book edition: October 2020
* * *
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shelton, Connie
Deadly Sweet Dreams / by Connie Shelton.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1945422911 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1945422928 (e-book)
1. Samantha Sweet (Fictitious character)--Fiction. 2. Taos, New Mexico—Fiction. 3. Paranormal artifacts—Fiction. 4. Bakery—Fiction. 5. Women sleuths—Fiction. 6. Chocolate making—Fiction. I. Title
Samantha Sweet Mystery Series : Book 14.
Shelton, Connie, Samantha Sweet mysteries.
BISAC : FICTION / Mystery & Detective.
813/.54