A Sappy Love Story

by Diane Kelly

  When she finished her review, she had a rough estimate of the value of the company’s hard assets, which included the land, building, trucks, supplies, and equipment.

  $1.2 million.

  Whoa. She’d never really thought about it before, but her grandparents had been wealthy. Of course their wealth was tied up in the company and they’d lived a relatively modest existence, but on paper they were loaded.

  Armed with this number, and knowing that the customer base and goodwill of Sappy Pappy’s added even more value to the mix, she summoned Jeremy back to Pappy’s office.

  “One point two mil?” Jeremy said when she shared the results. “Wow.”

  “Wow is right.” She hesitated a moment, tentative about broaching the subject of a buyout. But she realized they’d have to discuss the matter at some point and now seemed as good a time as any. “Pappy left the company to us. I think he wanted it to stay in the hands of people he trusted.”

  Jeremy nodded in agreement.

  “The problem is,” Annalise continued, “I’ve got only twenty grand in savings. There’s no way I can buy out your share. Besides, it doesn’t make sense for me to own the company when I don’t even live in Minnesota. Would you want to buy my half?”

  “I’ve got around forty grand in mutual funds,” Jeremy said, “and another sixty thousand in my retirement account. But that would still leave me short half a million dollars.”

  Not exactly chump change.

  “If you liquidate your retirement fund,” Annalise said, “you’ll owe income tax on the funds plus an early withdrawal penalty to the IRS.”

  “Ugh.” Jeremy looked up in thought. “The attorney mentioned getting a loan. I could see about that.”

  Annalise hated to burst his bubble, but she had to be honest with him. She explained that, per the financial records, Pappy had been paying himself a salary of $70,000 a year, plus a bonus based on profits like he paid to his staff. “You’d need someone to handle the business end of things. Even if you were able to hire someone for less money and took the difference as a draw for yourself, it would take you years to pay off the loan.” Not to mention the fact that he’d likely get married at some point in the not-too-distant future and have all kinds of family expenses to cover. “Do you really want a large debt like that hanging over your head?”

  Jeremy exhaled a long breath. “I suppose not. You being a silent partner isn’t an option, either. We’d have to hire someone to run the business part, and it wouldn’t be fair to you for your inheritance to be tied up in the company.”

  True. Rather than receiving a lump-sum windfall that could enable her to buy a house in LA, the money would merely trickle in. It was nice of Jeremy to acknowledge this fact and not push her.

  He stared down at his boots for a moment before turning his brown eyes on her again. “So we have to sell the company?”

  Annalise’s heart twisted. The mere thought of selling the company felt like such a betrayal. Pappy had left the company to her and Jeremy. Clearly he hadn’t wanted it sold. But what else could they do? “I suppose so,” she said finally. “I don’t see another way.”

  Jeremy’s gaze bore into her, almost as if he were willing her to provide another answer. But what other answer could there be? With Pappy gone, she had no family in Minnesota. It didn’t make sense for her to move so far away from her parents and give up her job at the city auditor’s office, especially now that she’d received a promotion. Did it?

  Jeremy broke eye contact, stood, and turned away. “I’ve got a few more things to tinker with. I suppose you’ll be calling those folks who inquired about buying the company?”

  Annalise sighed. “What can it hurt?”

  CHAPTER TWELVE - JEREMY

  What could it hurt? It could hurt him, that’s what. Couldn’t Annalise see that there was another obvious option? She could move to Minnesota and run the company with him. They’d done just fine when Pappy and Grammy had gone on their trip to Florida. They’d stayed on top of things. Annalise had even managed a minor crisis when their bottle supplier had gone belly-up without notice. She’d jumped on the phone and found another glass bottle company in less than four hours. She’d even negotiated a new customer discount on their first order.

  They could do this. But they could only do it together.

  He’d just have to make her see that she belonged here. She belonged in Minnesota. She belonged at Sappy Pappy’s. And she belonged with him.

  He was going to do it. He was going to take a chance.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN – ANNALISE

  So far, so good. The general manager of Sunrise Breakfast Foods hadn’t balked when she’d told him the price tag for Sappy Pappy’s would be two-million dollars. Of course she’d padded the numbers a little, leaving some room for negotiation and concession.

  “What about the current employees?” she asked. “My grandfather has a great staff and we’d like for them to keep their jobs.”

  “Sure, sure,” the man said. “We’d be glad to keep them on.”

  “Wonderful!”

  “Of course they’d have to relocate to St. Paul, but we’d pay their moving expenses.”

  “St. Paul? What do you mean?”

  “We’ve got a large facility here. It wouldn’t be cost-effective for us to operate a second location, especially a smaller one that’s so remote.”

  Her heart sagged. “You’d close the facility in Thief River Falls?”

  “Eventually,” he said. “We’d keep it open for a month or two until the equipment could be transported to our current facility but, yes, it would be closed.”

  She was quiet a long moment, thinking. It was bad enough that the company would be run by outsiders, but for the factory here to be closed seemed an outrage, as if Pappy’s legacy was being erased.

  The man seemed to sense her reluctance. “I understand Pappy was your grandfather, but you’ve got to separate your personal feelings. We’re willing to pay top dollar and you’d be a fool to turn our offer down. This is business, and this is how business is done.”

  Was it? If so, maybe she’d rather be a fool.

  She closed her eyes and put her free hand to her forehead. “Some other companies have expressed interest, too. As you said, this is business and we’ll need to fully explore our other options before making a decision.”

  “You won’t get two million from anyone else,” the man said, an edge to his voice now. “I guaran-damn-tee you that.” He switched tactics, playing hardball now. “You’ve got until the end of the workday Monday to make a decision. Come five o’clock my offer is off the table.”

  Rage erupted in Annalise. Who does this jerk think he is? And who does he think he’s dealing with? If he were standing in front of her right now she’d pour a bottle of Pappy’s Syrup over his head. Annalise might not know exactly what to do, but she did know one thing for certain. Pappy would’ve never treated anyone, even a competitor, this way. He had manners and integrity.

  “No need to wait until Monday,” she said, glad to hear that her voice sounded steady and calm, in total contradiction to how she felt. “I can give you my answer right now. It’s ‘no, thank you.’” With that, she gently set the receiver in the cradle to disconnect the call. Then she picked it up and slammed it down. “Bastard!”

  Hot with anger, she stepped over to the window and slid it open a couple of inches to cool herself off. Big mistake. A gust of wind blew through the narrow opening, scattering the papers on her desk and bombarding her with ice crystals. At least it cooled her down.

  She returned to the desk and picked up the phone again, this time dialing the second competitor who’d left a message earlier in the week.

  “Glad to hear from you,” the man said. “We’d love to keep Sappy Pappy’s up and running. Your grandfather built quite a company. He must’ve been doing something right.”

  Pappy had done a lot of things right, and this guy was, too. So far he was telling her exactly what she wanted to hear.
“So you’d agree to keep the factory in Thief River Falls in operation and retain all of the employees in their current jobs?” The last thing she’d want is for some conglomerate to replace Jeremy and demote him to the rank and file.

  “We sure will,” the man said.

  This sounded too good to be true! Which meant it probably was. Where’s the catch? “You wouldn’t change the name or the logo or anything like that?”

  “We’d be crazy to,” the man said. “People trust Sappy Pappy’s. They know that if his picture is on the label the syrup is going to taste great.”

  It was true. Pappy’s syrup had won the blue ribbon at every county fair from Kansas City to Saskatoon, and the Minnesota Maple Syrup Producers’ Association had honored him with their “Super Sap” award three times.

  “So nothing will change?” Annalise asked. “Nothing at all?”

  “That’s right. Nothing of consequence will change.”

  A-ha. There it is. “What exactly do you mean by ‘nothing of consequence?’”

  “We’ve run some formulas by our taste testers. We’ve found that we can replace up to a third of the maple syrup with a molasses and corn syrup combination without affecting the flavor.”

  “But Sappy Pappy’s is pure maple syrup,” Annalise said. Not some concoction whipped up in an industrial lab.

  “And that’s why it can’t be produced economically. Our plan is to make a minor modification to the recipe so we can lower the price and make Sappy Pappy’s affordable for everyone. We want to see your grandfather’s face on more breakfast tables. Don’t you?”

  “Not if it means sacrificing quality.”

  “Well, you think about it, hon, and let me know.”

  Hon? Seriously? “No need for me to think about it,” she said. “Pappy would never have agreed to this. And neither will I.”

  “All right. If you change your mind you know where to reach me.” Click.

  He was lucky she couldn’t reach him right then or she’d have throttled him. Molasses? Corn syrup? No way! He might as well have suggested they add arsenic to the recipe. Not happening. Ever. No matter what it takes.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN - JEREMY

  When he finished oiling and cleaning the equipment, he returned to the office. Annalise sat in the chair staring off into space, deep worry lines between her eyes, her face flushed with emotion. She hadn’t noticed him yet, and he took advantage of the opportunity to watch her for a moment or two. He hated to see her this distraught. Looked like her phone calls hadn’t gone well.

  “Everything all right?” Jeremy asked.

  She looked up and shook her head. “Not at all. The first company planned to shut down the operation here and move everyone to St. Paul. The second one wanted to tweak Pappy’s recipe.”

  “What’s to tweak?” Jeremy raised his palms. “It’s pure maple syrup. One ingredient.”

  “That’s what I told him. He had the audacity to suggest they’d add corn syrup and molasses!” Her worry lines deepened. “How ludicrous is that?”

  “You’re using big words,” Jeremy said. “That means you’re really pissed.” Did he know this girl or what?

  She laughed and her face relaxed. “Do I do that? Use big words when I’m mad?”

  “Yup,” he said. She also wiggled her toes when she was happy and tapped her index finger on her lip when she was thinking. She probably wasn’t even aware of it.

  Scritch. Scritch-scritch. The sound of tree limbs scratching against the window cut into their conversation. Jeremy stepped over and took a peek outside. Snow whipped around the trees, which were barely visible now. The front end of the storm had arrived.

  “We better get back to the house,” Jeremy said. “It’ll be white-out conditions soon.”

  He grabbed her parka from the coat tree and held it open for her. As she turned her back to slip into it, he couldn’t help himself. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to sneak a whiff of her fruity shampoo. She nearly caught him when she turned around to grab her scarf and hat.

  He took her arm as they headed out into the gale. Holding onto her thrilled him, even if there were several layers of fabric between his skin and hers. Still, it was a close, intimate gesture, and she hadn’t fought him on it or stiffened awkwardly as she so often had before.

  He helped her into the passenger side of his truck and was all but blown around to the driver’s side. Fortunately, they wouldn’t have to walk through these conditions again. They’d park in the garage when they returned to the cabin.

  Annalise leaned forward toward the dash, looking up at the sky through the windshield, her left leg jittering as they drove. “At the rate this snow is coming down, the cabin will be completely buried in an hour or two.”

  Jeremy tossed a grin her way. “I always thought it would be cool to live in an igloo. Maybe have a polar bear as a pet.”

  She cut him a look. “These cold temperatures must be affecting your brain.”

  He chuckled. His brain was just fine. It’s just that the thought of being trapped in an isolated cabin with Annalise didn’t worry him in the least. He couldn’t think of anyone he’d prefer to be snowbound with. Besides, being stuck in the cabin would give him the opportunity he’d been looking for. If she tried to sneak off to her bedroom alone with her cocoa again tonight, he’d do anything he could to convince her otherwise . . .

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN – ANNALISE

  When they pulled in at the cabin, Annalise hopped down from Jeremy’s truck and was inside the house before the garage door closed behind them. Zamboni and Flurry met her at the door that led from the garage into the mud room.

  “Hi, you two. Need a potty break?”

  Their wagging tails told her they did. She let them out back. Fortunately, a small stand of evergreens provided a relatively protected space. The dogs trotted outside and lifted their noses into the air, scenting the wind.

  Jeremy came into the kitchen and set about making two mugs of hot chocolate. He didn’t bother asking whether she wanted any. He knew her well enough to know she never turned the stuff down, just like he’d known she used big words when she was angry. It was flattering to realize he’d been paying attention all these years.

  When the dogs returned to the cabin, she grabbed an old towel from the shelf in the mud room and let them back inside. “A-ha!” She pounced on Flurry, getting the dog dried off before she could shake wet snow all the walls. Zamboni managed to evade her attempts to dry him, running into the kitchen and shaking there, sending up quite a spray.

  When the dog stopped shaking, Jeremy glanced down at the steaming mugs in his hands. “I hope you don’t mind a little dog hair in your cocoa.”

  Annalise laughed as she took the mug from him. “A little fur never hurt anyone.”

  He set his mug down on the stove, reached up, and pulled the rum from the cabinet. He put a splash in her drink, then one in his. With a mischievous grin, he turned back and put a second splash in hers, then a third.

  She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

  “Nope.” He added another healthy splash to his mug. “Just trying to keep you warm and take your mind off the storm.”

  There were some other ways he could take her mind off the storm. Ways that would be even more hot and satisfying than this cocoa . . .