Obsession Falls (The Haven Brothers, #1)

by Claire Kingsley

She also had like a million kids, so working from home suited her. Okay, she had four. But still.

“Where was there a dead squirrel?” “Audrey’s house,” Mom chimed in. “Who’s Audrey?” Dad asked. “The girl Josiah saved from her ex-boyfriend at the Timberbeast.” His thick brows drew in closer. “Why did a girl’s ex-boyfriend have a dead squirrel?” I dropped my fork onto the plate. “That’s what I’d like to know.”

Please

“Then why are we talking about dead squirrels?” Dad asked. “Because Josiah likes her,” Mom said. I groaned. “The squirrel?” Dad asked. “No, Audrey.” “Who’s Audrey?” “One of your tenants,”

Please (again)

“She likes him?” Zachary’s voice was full of skepticism. “Then yeah, dude, you should definitely take her out. You don’t know when you’ll get a chance like that again.”

“Of course there’s someone else. Why wouldn’t there be? You’d think he would have told me he had a girlfriend.” I got a jar of pickles out of the fridge. No idea why. “Although maybe she’s not his girlfriend. Maybe there are a lot of someone elses. She could be one of many.” I put the pickles back.

“I’ve been trying really hard to not like you.” “If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it’s not working.”

The idea forming in my mind wasn’t so much a plan—that sounded too organized—as a loose concept.

She has the concepts of a plan

“Who’s that?” I asked Josiah. “Harvey Johnston. He’s not exactly all there. Used to hate the squirrels but now he builds them tiny picnic tables and stuff.”

Slay Harvey

“What if we outfit them with tiny bulletproof vests?” “Huh, okay. I’m not sure if we think there’s much danger of the squirrels being shot.” He turned to Sheriff Cordero. “What do you think, Sheriff?” He shook his head. “We’re not concerned about gun violence against squirrels at this time.”

Please there are tears in my eyes this is so unserious

Damn woman was turning me into a cuddler.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Sticking to you like Velcro.” I squeezed him and felt him start to relax. “I’m not leaving you unless you make me.”

I was so angry I wanted to put my fist through a wall. But then I’d have to fix it and I hated repairing drywall.

Josiah is a realist

“I’m serious. Can’t you just ask him out? You know you want to.” “I’ve thought about it. But I’m too old-fashioned. I need a man to make the first move. And he’s obviously not going to.” Josiah’s brow furrowed and he looked between Sandra and Rocco a few times. “Hey, Rocco.” Rocco looked over. “Yeah?” “You want to go out with Sandra?” It was hard to tell in the dim light, but I could have sworn Rocco actually blushed a little. “Well, yeah.” “Then would you hurry up and ask her out? This is getting stupid.”

Plus, she had Marigold, who was, in Audrey’s words, a wedding expert. Which didn’t make sense to me, considering Marigold had never been married, but what did I know?