A Sappy Love Story

By Diane Kelly

Annalise Quimby has just been offered an enticing raise and promotion when she receives the news that her beloved grandfather has passed away. When she leaves California to attend his funeral in Minnesota, she discovers that Sappy Pappy Sorensen has left his maple syrup factory to both Annalise and Jeremy Wannamaker, Pappy's right-hand man and Annalise's long-time crush. Joint ownership poses no end of potential complications. To make matters worse, it's nearly February, the sap will soon begin to run, and a blizzard is on its way. How will Annalise and Jeremy resolve this sticky situation?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diane Kelly
• Release date: Feb 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311793751

Diane Kelly

Diane Kelly is a former state assistant attorney general and tax advisor who spent much of her career fighting, or inadvertently working for, white-collar criminals. She is also a proud graduate of the Citizens Police Academy of Mansfield, Texas. Diane combines her fascination with crime and her love of animals in her stories, which include the Paw Enforcement series, the House-Flipper Mysteries, and the Mountain Lodge Mysteries. Diane now lives in North Carolina, where she spends her days catering to her demanding cats or walking her dogs in the region’s beautiful woods.

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A SAPPY LOVE STORY

Copyright © 2016 by Diane Kelly

Cover design by Lindsay Kelly

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, downloaded, transmitted, decompiled, reverse engineered, stored in or introduced to any information storage and retrieval system, in any form, whether electronic or mechanical without the author’s advance written permission. Scanning, uploading, or distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without permission is prohibited by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic versions, and do not participate in, or encourage pirated electronic versions.

Be sure to read all the great stories in the Stolen Hearts collection!

Hearts, Howls and Heroes by Trinity Blake

The Trouble with Larry by  Angela Harris

Heart's Desire by Cadia Cox Cadia Cox

My New Girl Fiend by  Hadley Holt

A Sappy Love Story by  Diane Kelly

Stolen Memories by Sherrel Lee

And check out these other books and novellas by Diane Kelly!

Full-length novels (available in both print and digital formats):

Love, Luck, & Little Green Men

Paw Enforcement

Paw and Order

Laying Down the Paw

Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure

Death, Taxes, and a Skinny No-Whip Latte

Death, Taxes, and Extra-Hold Hairspray

Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria

Death, Taxes, and Hot Pink Legwarmers

Death, Taxes, and Green Tea Ice Cream

Death, Taxes, and Silver Spurs

Death, Taxes, and Cheap Sunglasses

Death, Taxes, and a Chocolate Cannoli

Digital novellas and short stories:

One Magical Night

Five Gold Smuggling Rings

Death, Taxes, and a Sequined Clutch

Death, Taxes, and Mistletoe Mayhem

ENJOY EXCERPTS AT THE END OF THIS STORY!

A SAPPY LOVE STORY

CHAPTER ONE - ANNALISE QUIMBY

It was a Monday morning in late January when Annalise Quimby wove her way through the maze of cubicles. She greeted her coworkers and did her best not to spill her chai tea as she headed to the six-by-six space in which she’d spend the next eight hours siting on her ass. Thank goodness she’d attended an early morning vinyasa yoga class. Otherwise, her blood would likely congeal in her veins.

She plopped the aforementioned ass into her rolling chair and stashed her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk. Her workspace might be small, but it had a lot of personality. She’d decorated her cubicle with a half dozen photos of her favorite outdoor spaces, all of them candid shots taken at her grandparents’ place in the northern woods of Minnesota. The thick woods, filled with maple trees. The mirror-like pond where she listened to frog song in the summers and ice skated in winters. A pretty fawn, her head raised as she spotted Annalise snapping her photo.

But her favorite snapshot was the one where she stood between her grandparents on the snow-covered porch of their rustic log cabin. The photo had been taken a couple of years ago, before her grandmother passed away, leaving fond memories and the scent of cold cream behind. A bright red knit beanie attempted, unsuccessfully, to corral Annalise’s frizzy blond hair. The padded snowsuit did nothing to enhance her figure but, then again, neither did her thick thighs and disproportionately underdeveloped chest. Unlike the tall, thin women who ran amok in southern California, she wasn’t exactly supermodel material. But she’d been told she had pretty eyes and a nice smile. Of course she’d been told this by those tall, thin women, who’d taken one look at her in her extra-large yoga pants and felt the need to take pity. Whatever. Her thighs might be thick, but they were also quite strong. She was one of the few in her yoga class who didn’t wobble when standing on one leg. Take that, skinny bitches.

Of course another reason she liked the photo so much was because Jeremy was in the background. Annalise’s father, who’d snapped the pic, had focused on his daughter and in-laws, inadvertently capturing half of the young man. One scuffed work boot, one leg clad in jeans, one strong shoulder and arm covered in flannel. Half of his dark hair. One bearded cheek. One gorgeous brown eye. Jeremy’s small, split image seemed appropriate given he was not in the forefront of Annalise’s life, but was always there in the background, his place incomplete, uncertain, and undefined.

Forcing those thoughts, like Jeremy, to the back of her mind, she fished a pink conversation heart from the bowl on her desk. Valentine’s Day would be here in three weeks and, despite being single, she looked forward to the holiday. Born with an insatiable sweet tooth, she appreciated any excuse to stuff her mouth with candy. She held the heart up to read the message. U R LOVED. Hmm. That was news to her. She hadn’t had a date in three months and the last one had been a disaster. When a guy asks a girl whether she wants to go out for seafood, she doesn’t expect him to take her out on a deep sea fishing boat to catch the dinner first! Given the ten-foot swells, she’d spent the entire trip fighting seasickness and trying not to fall overboard into the Pacific. Needless to say, when he’d called her for a second date, she’d declined. We clearly have different interests, she’d said.

She popped the candy heart into her mouth and got right to work, most of which involved reviewing financial records, updating spreadsheets, and searching for misplaced files, typical tasks a staff accountant in the City of Los Angeles Auditor’s Office dealt with on a daily basis. As it was nearing the end of January, the accounting departments of the various city bureaus were working to wrap up their annual reports for the preceding year, readying their books for review. The busy spring audit season would start in another couple of weeks. Sigh.

Okay, so auditing local government agencies certainly wasn’t the most exciting job around, but it was steady work and paid the bills. Her coworkers were friendly, her boss appreciative and reasonable. The job would earn her a nice pension, too, assuming she stuck with the city for another twenty-two years.

Twenty two years . . . It might as well be forever.

Despite the pension, the thought of spending all her working years in this office made her feel tired. A little disappointed, too. When she’d decided to major in business at UCLA, she had imagined herself running her own business one day. Maybe a café or clothing boutique. In retrospect, they’d been silly aspirations for a young woman who couldn’t cook worth