“Uh-oh.” Sam watched as he slumped over the wheel, setting off the horn. “Call an ambulance.”
She dashed out the door, hit by a blast of cold air, but she didn’t pause. She reached the door of the truck about the same time as three other people who’d heard the blast of the old horn.
“Sam, what’s up?” Riki asked, wiping her hands on a towel. She still had shampoo suds on her plastic apron.
“He must be having a heart attack. Jen’s calling for help.”
“I also have dialed the 911,” said Ivan Petrenko, emerging from the bookstore.
Sirens sounded nearby, coming from the fire station that was only two blocks away. Within a minute, paramedics were at work on Victor Tafoya and the neighbors huddled under the purple awning at Sweet’s Sweets. The awning that would have to be fitted to a new window. Sam felt her eyes begin to prickle again.
“Miss Samantha, is all right. See? Is breathing with the mask thing.”
“Oh, Ivan, I know. It’s not that.”
Riki, too, hovered near Sam and with her friends nearby, the emotion let go. She waved them inside her shop where Jen was already pouring lattes all around.
“Mr. Tafoya just gave us an eviction notice,” Jen told Riki and Ivan, as they all took seats at one of the tables.
“Eviction! Well, that is just not going to happen,” Riki said, the Americanism sounding cute with her accent. “Is it, now, Ivan?”
“Certainement pas. Fight this we shall do!”
“How?” Sam moaned. “I can’t afford to take him to court and drag this out. Plus, now that his son will be in the governor’s office, there’s no way I’d win.”
“Let me work on it,” Riki said. “The old man is a branch of the same tree as his son. He’s been hitting on me ever since I moved into this building. Well, as they say, two can play at that game.”
Sam laughed at the image of petite, twenty-something Riki flirting with the seventy-five year old Tafoya and the tension was broken.
“I’ve got to finish Ivan’s cake,” she said, picking up her mug. “You stay and finish your coffee.”
Riki stood, as well. “I shall be visiting our landlord in hospital, right after I finish bathing Toodles—oh no, I left Rasper under the dryer!” She abandoned her latte and dashed out.
By four o’clock Sam had put Tafoya’s threat into perspective. Between momentary bouts of tears, she decided that if she were forced to move she could do it.
Meanwhile, she’d been too busy to dwell on it. Most of the ambulance watchers had migrated into the shop for pastries and coffee, so the morning had passed quickly. Working on auto-pilot, Sam finished three more custom orders and mixed up dough for afternoon cookies which always came out of the oven as the school kids began walking by on their way home. The chocoholics cake had turned out beautifully and she carried it to the front when Ivan walked into her shop.
Riki came in just as Ivan had finished giving lengthy praise of the way Sam and Becky had duplicated the layout of his store in chocolate. “Is too beautiful to eat,” he kept saying.
“I must say, I think he’s right,” Riki said.
“Well, you decide what you want to do. It won’t keep forever,” Sam told them.
“Oh, Sam, by the way, I think I have news that will make you happy.”
“You talked to Mr. Tafoya?” Sam held her breath.
“In a way.”
“Ohmygod, you didn’t . . .”
Riki’s face screwed up in a grimace. “Get physical? As you Yanks would say, yuk!! I can’t imagine it.”
Sam chuckled out loud.
“No. Basically, I threatened him. Sort of told him that if he evicts you, he might as well put up three ‘To Let’ signs because Ivan and I would move out as well.”
Ivan looked a bit panicky at that news.
“And he caved?” Sam asked.
“Indeed. In this economy he can’t exactly afford to lose three tenants in one day. And it’s not like he would put any of us out of business—there are plenty of empty retail spaces in this town at the moment.” She gave a smug smile. “I might have also mentioned that we have a connection or two in the media these days.”
“So I’m staying?” Sam still couldn’t quite believe it.
“We’re all staying.” Riki gave her a long hug and Ivan murmured something in Russian that involved making the sign of the cross. He took his cake and scooted out the door.
Sam hugged Riki again as the younger woman headed back to her dogs. She held the door for a customer who had her arms full with a boxed sheet cake.
“Have a magical day!” Jen called out to the woman.
Sam raised an eyebrow as the door closed. “Magical?”
“Absolutely. People always mention the special feeling they get in here, the ‘magic.’ I just pass it along.”
Jen polished the rounded glass on the antique display case. “Think about it, Sam. Magic is everywhere. I feel so lucky to stand here and watch the sun rise over the mountain every morning. There’s magic in those big fat snowflakes out there or in golden leaves against a brilliant blue sky.”
“And in that freshest of greens when the trees leaf out in spring?”
“You got it. People just have to look for the magic—I’m only reminding them.”
Sam looked around her shop, taking in the display cases, the smell of fresh rich coffee and spicy chai, the café tables and chairs where customers often lingered with their morning papers and indulged in a second pastry. The windows showcased her latest creations and the beveled glass door and purple awning in front gave the shop the ambiance she’d envisioned for years before it actually opened. Her vision had manifested itself with every bit of the special feeling for which she’d hoped.
Beau walked in, to find her dabbing at her eyes. “What’s this?”
After Sam gave the condensed version of the day’s drama, he smiled. “Well, I have a little good news, myself.” He straightened and pointed at the badge on his chest.
“Sheriff?” Sam said. “They’ve made you sheriff?”
“Acting, temporary sheriff. Somebody has to run things until Padilla’s done facing the music.”
“So, can I hug the sheriff?” She put her arms around his neck before he answered.
Outside, the snowflakes had grown fatter, falling like downy feathers, giving the shrubs a powdered sugar feel. Jen was right. Magic.
More stories with Samantha and Friends!
Samantha Sweet breaks into houses for a living.
But she’s really a baker with a magical touch, who invites you to her delightful pastry shop—Sweet’s Sweets.
Don’t miss the next book in this series!
Holiday Sweets
It’s the Christmas season and a chocolatier shows up at Sam’s shop, offering to create a special line of hand-dipped chocolates for her customers. He is willing to work for no pay, just to prove himself.
But when she learns that he has connections to the wooden box that seems to give Sam her mystical powers, she learns that dark forces may do just about anything to take it away from her.
Sign up for Connie’s free email mystery newsletter and get announcements of new books, discount coupons, and the chance for some ‘sweet’ deals.
www.connieshelton.com
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
Holidays Can Be Murder - a Christmas novella
The Samantha Sweet Series
Sweet Masterpiece
Sweet’s Sweets
Sweet’s Sweets
Published by Secret Staircase Books, an imprint of
Columbine Publishing Group
PO Box 416, Angel Fire, NM 87710
Copyright © 2011 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.
Printed and bound in the United States of America
ISBN 1456533509
ISBN-13 978-1456533502
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 information 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 illustration © Geraktv
First trade paperback edition: January, 2011
First e-book edition: January, 2011
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Sweet's Sweets: The Second Samantha Sweet Mystery ssm-2 Page 21