Sweets Forgotten (Samantha Sweet Mysteries Book 10) by Connie Shelton Page A

sense that you want to tell me something,” Sam said.
    “I just don’t trust her, Sam. You
know that.” Becky’s normally cheerful demeanor had been off for two days now.
    “You said you thought she might
be faking her amnesia. Is that it?”
    “Well, what was last night all
about? Did she go home? If she wasn’t at the shelter, where did she go?”
Becky’s arms were folded tightly across her chest now.
    “I suppose you asked her. The two
of you seemed to be staring daggers when I walked in awhile ago.”
    “I did. I came right out and
asked.”
    “And she said …?”
    “Nothing, really. She doesn’t
even have a reasonable explanation.”
    “Maybe she doesn’t owe you one.”
Sam bit her tongue. “Sorry, what I mean is that maybe she doesn’t owe any of us
an explanation.”
    Becky’s toe tapped impatiently.
“Beau’s department and the social services folks have been called to help her.
If she already knows who she is, shouldn’t she let them know?”
    “If that’s the case, yes, she
should. But we don’t know her story. Maybe there’s a reason she can’t go home
or … I don’t know. There could be a lot of reasons she doesn’t want to go
back.”
    “Or she did go back and just—I don’t know!”
    “Maybe she ran into someone she
knew, came up with money for a motel room … We can’t know for sure unless she
wants to talk about it.”
    Becky’s muttered response conveyed
the idea that she wouldn’t trust Jane even if she did decide to talk about it.
    “Okay. For now, all I can do is
take this whole situation at face value. Beau is still checking out some
leads.” Although, as Sam recalled, he really had none. “Let’s get back to
work.”
    “Are you going to let her stay
and work on the chocolates with you?”
    “It’s a big, complicated order.
So, yes, I probably will.”
    Becky didn’t seem very happy
about that. Finally, her shoulders relaxed. “I trust you, Sam. And I love my
job. I won’t give Jane any trouble, but I really want to caution you to watch
her.”
    “This can’t go on for more than
another couple days,” Sam said, reaching out to give Becky a hug. “Go back to
that beautiful anniversary cake you were doing and send Jane out. I’ll talk to
her privately.”
    Sam had her phone in hand when
Jane walked down the steps to join her.
    “I need to call Melissa Masters.
She deserves to know what happened last night and whether to keep a bed for you
tonight.”
    Jane pushed a strand of hair
behind her right ear. “I, uh—”
    “If you remember where you live,
that’s wonderful. You should go home.”
    “I don’t! I don’t remember
anything!”
    Sam wished she had Beau’s eye for
spotting truth versus lies.
    “If you went places in town maybe
someone who knows you stopped and greeted you?”
    “No, that didn’t happen.”
    “Okay. Good enough. Let me call
Melissa and be sure you have a bed at the shelter tonight. During the day you
can come to work here. I really would appreciate your assistance with the
chocolate.”
    Jane fidgeted from one foot to
the other. “Sam, please don’t make me go back there. I hated it. They’re nice
people who run the place, but I just didn’t fit in. The women were so
down-and-out, so abused. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t handle it.”
    “Where did you stay last night?”
    Jane hung her head. “Here.”
    “At my shop?” She certainly had
not been around when Sam left at ten p.m.
    “No, I mean, not right here. I wandered the plaza until
all the shops closed, then I found an unlocked car down the block. There was a
blanket in the backseat.”
    “Jane! You can’t do that. It’s
not safe. Someone could have come along and harmed you.”
    “I know. It was dumb. If you
could loan me some money I’ll stay at a motel. I’ll work for free to pay you
back.”
    She sounded so truly desperate
that Sam couldn’t bring herself to insist upon the shelter. “I’ll just let
Melissa know you’re okay. Then we’ll