Deadly Sweet Dreams Read online

  “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 for taking the time to read Deadly Sweet Dreams. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and is much appreciated.

  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

  The Samantha Sweet Series

  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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  Contact by email: [email protected]

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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