It Had to Be Love (An It Had to Be Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

loved them and her little sister, Laura, more than anything else in the world.
    After her pup had gulped down his food, and she’d changed into a T-shirt and comfy yoga pants, she settled on the couch with her laptop. Sherlock curled up by her feet and fell fast asleep.
    She sent a thank-you e-mail to her mother, then navigated to the town webpage to see for herself what the missing letter business was all about. The headline stated: Old Mystery Dating Back to Prohibition Days Solved At Last?
    She scanned the article. Seemed Mrs. Beechum, the mayor’s new assistant, had been looking for an old document and stumbled upon a sealed envelope in a file. After the childless Arthur Anderson died, someone went into his home office and put anything legal-looking into the file, and then dumped it off to the town clerk at the time, who was an Anderson too. A scanned copy of the note in question appeared on a pop-up screen.
     
July 20, 1995
To the Residents of Anderson Butte,
My relations ribbed me for marrying a Grant, as Jane’s did the same for marrying me. And you all never understood why we were such devout teetotalers when brewing whiskey was where the Anderson family fortune originated. But, being a man of the cloth, it was the lifestyle choice Jane and I made. I can’t wait to watch how you all deal with this from my perch in Heaven above.
Before Jane died a few years back, we couldn’t decide who deserved the Andersons’ world-famous whiskey recipe my father entrusted me with, along with the location of where he’d hidden many barrels of it during Prohibition. The aged whiskey alone will bring a fortune, but we never felt right profiting from something we opposed the consumption of. But my father asked me to be sure the recipe was passed along if the drinking laws ever changed, so I feel obliged.
It was an Anderson who concocted it, but a Grant died helping him hide it, so we decided whoever kicked the bucket last (me) would pick an appropriate place to bury the recipe and the location map. If they aren’t found, then God has played his hand and all will end up for the best.
If it is found, it’s probably too much to hope you’ll work together and perhaps use the profits for the betterment of the whole town. So whichever Anderson, Grant, or any other finds it first can have it. Happy digging. Here’s a few clues to the location:
     
There’s a sealed box buried not too deep—about three feet.
It’s by something that existed before paved streets.
It provides shade and shelter, but beware of a fake.
It’s located not too far west of the lake.
There’s even a pattern to where it is placed.
Find that design, go to the south, and dig at its base.
If you hit metal, you’re in the right place!
     
    Tara chuckled at the thought of Ryan having to recite that silly poem to her. No wonder he’d hesitated. Although, if he liked to read as much as he claimed, he might be as big a Keats fan as she was. Maybe she’d ask the next time she ran into him.
    A vision of her almost wiping his chin popped into her brain again and she cringed. What was she thinking? She needed to avoid the man at all costs.

    Ryan called up his e-mail. The first one was from Aunt Gloria.
    Tara paid for your dinner tonight. And I saw the way you smiled at her. Maybe she’s THE ONE?
    Tara had probably paid for his meal because Missy had forgotten the instructions for his temporary crown. When he and Missy had been at Brewster’s the other night, she’d told him Tara took her job very seriously and everything happened by the book.
    He tapped back, She likes Ben, and please put both our meals on MY tab.
    P.S. Did you save my pie?
    He hit “Send,” then navigated to the screen that showed the status of his applications. Still no news on any of the jobs he’d applied for.
    Next he pulled up the background check he’d already done on Tara when they vetted her the first time, and tried to find something he might have overlooked.
    He didn’t see