A Maple Cookie Homecoming

By Judy Ann Davis

When Julien Franklin returns home for Christmas after retiring from the military, his first mission is to taste his home town's maple cookies and find office space for his civilian website business. He's delighted to find the apartment above The Book Bin bookstore is for rent and owned by his old high school sweetheart.

Natalie Pinkett, widow and single parent, has some tragic secrets gnawing at her soul, but she needs to rent the empty rooms to help with her many expenses. To complicate matters, an old love will be literally working above her head—and he owns a rambunctious puppy her daughter has fallen in love with.

Can Julien woo the pretty bookstore owner and get her to reveal her painful past? Will the two be able to cross the divide of twenty-four years and find love again?

• Language: Unknown
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781509238194

Judy Ann Davis

Judy Ann Davis began her career in writing as a copy and continuity writer for radio and television in Scranton, PA. She holds a degree in Journalism and Communications from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. Throughout her career, Davis has written for industry and education. Over a dozen of her short stories have appeared in various literary and small magazines, and anthologies, and have received numerous awards. UP ON THE ROOF AND OTHER SHORT STORIES, is a collection of nineteen of her short works. Her first novel, RED FOX WOMAN, published in 2010, is a western, mystery and romance and was a finalist in the International Book Awards and USA Book News Best Book Awards. KEY TO LOVE was her second fictional work, and UNDER STARRY SKIES was her third fictional work, a sequel to RED FOX WOMAN. Her novel, KEY TO LOVE, is a contemporary romantic suspense. Her latest novel, FOUR WHITE ROSE, is romantic suspense with a hint of paranormal and was a finalist in the Book Excellence Awards and Georgia Romance Writers' Maggie Awards. Her only novella,"Sweet Kiss," is part of the Candy Hearts Series. She is a member of Pennwriters, Inc. and Romance Writers of America, and divides her time between Central Pennsylvania and New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Visit her at: www.judyanndavis.com and www.judyanndavis.blogspot.com You can find her on Facebook: Judy Ann Davis and on Twitter: @JudyAnnDavis4

Book preview

She crossed the room, knelt down beside the tree, and searched for the plug. Naturally, she muttered through a disgusted hiss, the plug would be located at the very back against the wall.

Sliding down on her stomach, she grunted and inched herself under the low branches just as a deep male voice asked, Can I help?

Startled, Natalie jerked upright. Her head crashed into some low hanging branches. Ornaments, dislodged from the tree, rained down and bounced onto the floor, rolling away.

Yeeeoow, she shrieked and slid backwards into the still lit, but semi-dark room.

It’s only me, Julien said.

Do you always sneak around? she grumbled, shaking needles from her hair and shoulders. You’re lucky you’re not wearing this tree.

My, my, someone is prickly tonight.

She rubbed the top of her head and glared at him. Now I have to crawl back there twice to get those darn lights turned off.

A deep laugh rumbled out over her head. Here. He held out his hand to help her up. Are you hurt?

No, she said and swatted at the top of her head. Everyone loves pine pitch in their hair, right?

Praise for Judy Ann Davis

Storyteller Judy Ann Davis weaves her award-winning tales to make her readers laugh, maybe cry, but always able to relate the unique characters and the dilemmas they encounter.

~Long and Short Reviews

~*~

Four White Roses, a contemporary romantic mystery, was a finalist in the Book Excellence Awards, the Georgia Romance Writers’ Maggie Awards, and the American Fiction Awards.

~*~

Huckleberry Happiness, a historical novella, was a finalist in the Oklahoma Romance Writers’ of America Short Awards.

~*~

Over a dozen short stories of author Judy Ann Davis have appeared in various literary and small magazines

A Maple Cookie Homecoming

by

Judy Ann Davis

Christmas Cookies Series

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

A Maple Cookie Homecoming

COPYRIGHT © 2021 by Judy Ann Davis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Tina Lynn Stout

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Edition, 2021

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-3819-4

Christmas Cookies Series

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

Old friends are like stars.

You can’t always see them,

but your know they are always there.

~ Anonymous

Special thanks to family and friends,

who like cookies, Christmas,

and a cozy holiday read.

Other Wild Rose Press Titles by Judy Ann Davis:

Under Starry Skies

Key to Love

Four White Roses

Sweet Kiss

Huckleberry Happiness

Chapter One

There was something magical about his small, rural hometown of Linden, Vermont, Julien Franklin decided as he parked his pickup along Main Street to study it. Even after living away for over twenty-four years, he could easily see little had changed.

Fat snowflakes, just in time for the Christmas season, were spinning and bouncing in the air. The small shops lining both sides of the street were aglow with colorful lights and holiday displays of candy canes, dancing snowmen, and funny little gnomes with red hats. The globes on the lamp posts, sporting pine wreaths with burgundy bows, sent a string of white haloes hovering in the inky sky. Even the local hardware store displayed the old familiar, air-filled Santa rocking in the breeze out front.

Beside him, a small copper, white, and black-colored dog, still a puppy by most standards, peered up at him and whined.

I know, Mozart, it’s been a long trip, hasn’t it? He had flown to Atlanta with a friend when both of them were discharged from the Army. He knew Ted had planned to stay behind with his family in Georgia for a few weeks before joining him after the New Year to set up their new business, but what he didn’t know was how he was hoodwinked into taking a puppy off Ted’s mother’s hands.

The little fur ball was the last of the litter, a Miniature American Shepherd. He was also a reject. His shiny black coat was speckled on one side, but not on the other. Julien thought the markings were unique, even if they didn’t meet any snooty judge’s criteria for a show dog. And he of all people knew what it felt like to be a loner. When he had asked Ted’s mother why she had named the pup Mozart, she confessed the overly zealous runt seemed to settle down when music was played.

Julien sighed. He didn’t know if he could stand one more rendition of Deck the Halls after playing Christmas music for a solid eighteen hours on the radio during the drive northward. He patted the pup on the head and picked up a newspaper he had purchased at the gas station outside town. The For Rent ads listed an available apartment. Much to his joy, he found it was a two-bedroom apartment located above The Book Bin bookstore three blocks down Main Street.

The bookstore, owned and run by old Mrs. Smith, was his favorite place to go as a kid. Mrs. Smith always had a corner area set aside for customers to sit, get a free cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and snag one of the town’s ever-famous, maple cookies made by the town bakery with genuine maple syrup from the local sugarhouses.

The pup whined again. Okay, I hear you, squirt. He threw his truck into drive. Let’s get us some good hometown cookies.

Minutes later, when he parked his truck in front of The Book Bin and walked inside, it was nothing like he remembered, except for the polished wooden floor and a fancy walnut bookcase along one wall.

A little girl, actually a curly-haired pint-sized imp, who appeared to be nine or ten years old at best, slid off her stool behind the counter. Beside her lay an open arithmetic book with a page filled with multiplication problems. Can I help you? she asked, setting her pencil down and pushing the book aside.

Julien’s gaze circled the room. The refreshments were still in the front right corner of the store, but in the far back nook, round tables held various groups of adults who were playing cards, putting together a jigsaw puzzle, or quietly having some sort of meeting. To the far right, an opening into what was once a small toy shop added another room to the establishment.

The new room, running the entire length of the bookstore from front to back, was filled with tables and chairs, and children and young adults of all ages. Books and backpacks