Free Sweet Somethings (Samantha Sweet Mysteries) by Connie Shelton Page A

afternoon shadows made the place a little gloomy but
high windows at each end gave enough light for their purposes.
    “I was under the impression she
knew Sarah Williams or that somebody else at the Chamber of Commerce had talked
her into volunteering,” he said as Sam showed him inside.
    The mention of Sarah’s name
reminded Sam that a couple of days had passed in a blur and she’d heard nothing
new from Marc Williams. She should give him a call this evening.
    “Whoa, look at this!” Rupert had
slit open one of the tall, flat boxes and he now peeled back the top to reveal
an elegantly printed panel with the Qualitätsschokolade logo overlaid across a superb hi-def photo showing bricks of chocolate.
    Together they lifted the panel to
reveal another. The other flat box contained two more. The set of four were
designed to snap together for a booth backdrop.
    “They told me they would send some
colorful advertising materials. This will be perfect in the dais area you set
aside for the judging, Sam. I can see our celebrity judges sitting in front of
this beauty.”
    Sam had slit the tape on a large
cube-shaped box. Cloth banners of the same royal blue used in the corporate
logo would drape elegantly above the scrumptious photos.
    “Look.” She held out a roll of
stickers, small enough to go on vendor badges and to be given out to kids who
roamed the festival. “And . . . goodie bags for the vendors! What a great idea,
including recipe ideas using their various chocolates. Everyone will love
these.”
    Rupert was poking around in the
box, like a kid with his Christmas stocking. “Chocolate truffles,” he said. “I
recognize these; they’re one of the more exclusive Swiss brands. There’s a huge
box of them. We can give them out to everyone who stops by the judging stand.”
    “And these . . .” Sam held up
gift-bagged mugs with packets of hot chocolate mix. “. . . these will make
great door prizes. People hang around longer if they might win a prize. Rupert,
this is so cool. How can I ever thank you enough for finding this sponsor?”
      He actually looked a little bit humble. “Well,
you are letting me do some sneaky promotion for my secret nom de plume.”
    “Speaking of promotion, I’m making
you and Bentley the MCs of this deal. You work out the timing for prize
drawings and coordinate the tastings so the judges get around to all the entries.”
    Sam thought again of Sarah, sad
that she wasn’t here to enjoy the festivities. After all, she’d been the one to
start the ball rolling for the festival in the first place.
    Rupert had stacked the photo panels
neatly so they would fit in the back of Sam’s pickup when it came time to take
them to the hotel ballroom.
    “I can take the prizes and other
small items with me now,” he offered. “If you want some of these things out of
your hair.”
    “Anything. Take any and all of it
that you wish.” See, Carinda? I’m not a
controlling bitch.
    Carinda really had gotten to her this afternoon. Sam wanted to drop it but
couldn’t let go of that image of the rail-thin woman stomping back to her car,
throwing insults as she went. The woman was over-the-top batty, and the sooner
this whole event was over, the better.
      Beau pulled into the long driveway just as
Rupert was driving out. He walked over to the open barn door and Sam showed him
the display materials they had just unboxed.
    “Pretty amazing, huh? I think our
little festival is taking on a really professional tone.”
    He nodded with a grunt.
    “Beau?”
    “Grr. It’s Mulvane. Now he’s
calling my department, a little worried that so many of the Flower People are
showing up. It’s getting out of hand, he says, and he wants me to supply a
security detail.”
    “Can you even do that?” She
watched as he swung the barn door into place and latched it.
    “I pointed out to him that no one
is breaking the law, and that it was only a few days ago he was chasing me off
his land, saying he had the