Free Sweet Masterpiece - The First Samantha Sweet Mystery by Connie Shelton Page B

place one last time and apply a couple coats of
neutral paint to the walls in the red room. He was right, the house
would stand a better chance of selling quickly without strange
symbols painted on red walls. She’d have probably done it in the
first place but needed an okay to lay out money for refurbishment
on a property.
    Now, she lounged in bed for an extra thirty
minutes reliving the picnic dinner and last night’s beautiful
setting. Maybe the extra wine was making her lazy today. Maybe the
niggling thought that a fling with Beau Cardwell might not be such
a bad thing . . . just maybe, that was the source of her
unaccustomed languor.
    After awhile she couldn’t postpone getting to
work. She rummaged in the closet for her painting jeans, the ones
that had already met with the touch of a brush, and an old shirt.
Her hair was too short to gather into a ponytail but she decided a
bandana over it might help keep it out of her face during the job.
She stashed her watch and the favorite opal ring that she usually
wore into her new jewelry box. Again, she swore that the stones on
it glowed more brightly after she’d touched the box.
    A quick stop at the hardware store for two
gallons of paint and she was headed out to the Martinez place. The
red bedroom felt less ominous this time, with sun shining in the
window and all the weird artifacts gone. In no time at all, she’d
pulled down the heavy drapes and hardware and began rolling paint
onto the dark walls. As expected, it would need at least two coats,
but the stuff dried quickly and by the time she finished the fourth
wall the first was about dry enough. She stopped for a granola bar
and cup of coffee from the Thermos she’d brought. The second coat
went on even more quickly and the trim work was minimal. She
glanced at her wrist but remembered that she’d left her watch at
home. Not that it mattered.
    She bagged up the throwaway paint roller set
and the empty cans and set them out for garbage collection, locked
the house and was on her way.
    Back at home a message on the machine told
Sam that the Casa de Tranquilidad spa near Santa Fe wanted eight
dozen specialty cookies for a reception. She’d worked with them
before, supplying cakes and pastries for different events. Driving
down there to deliver was a little bit of a hassle but they paid
well and it was a way to get her business name out in front of a
whole new clientele. She returned the call, got the details, and
inventoried her supply of ingredients. Wrote up a little shopping
list. Before she quite made it to the door the phone rang
again.
    “Hey, Rupert, what’s up?”
    “Girl, I can’t write a word today. I’m just
in such a whirl over the big find.”
    “You haven’t heard back from the appraiser in
New York already, have you?”
    “Oh, no. They’ve probably just received the
piece. They’ll need a few days at least.”
    “I’m just on my way out to the store. Can we
chat a little later?” Sam explained about the big cookie order.
    “Can I come with you?” He sounded so eager
that she couldn’t say no. And he might actually be of help. Rupert
was pretty efficient in the kitchen. Maybe she could get him to
operate the cookie press while she decorated or something like
that. His place was right on the way so she told him she’d pick him
up in ten minutes.
    They were standing in the checkout line at
Smith’s when her cell rang. Beau.
    “Would it be convenient for you to stop by my
office on Civic Plaza at some point today?” he asked. “I’ve
finished with Anderson’s personal papers and thought you might need
to include them with the other contents of the home.”
    Normally she didn’t keep papers from the
homeowners, but in this case she could offer to hold onto or
dispose of them, whatever was required.
    “How about in five minutes? I’m nearly there
now.”
    Rupert decided to go inside with her. “If
you’re dating this guy, I need to pay more attention.”
    Sam bristled. “It was