Obsession Falls (The Haven Brothers #1)

I waved back. Someone from the SPS walked by at least once a day. It was heartwarming to realize they weren’t just looking after the squirrels.

“So, has your stalker struck again?” Sandra asked on her way back to her desk.

“Not so far.”

It had been almost a week since the spray paint incident. Sometimes I wondered what was worse, finding the stalker had struck again, or the anticipation of what he might do next.

“It sucks that someone’s doing that to you,” Ledger said.

“Thanks. It’s so frustrating. I wish I knew why.”

“Have you considered that it might be a jealous ex? I don’t mean yours, I mean one of Josiah’s.”

“I’ve certainly thought about it. He doesn’t think he has anyone in his past who hates him that much.”

Sandra tilted her head, as if she were thinking about it. “He might be right.”

“How would you know?”

“It’s a small town. Not a lot happens here that we don’t all know about. Seems to me, Josiah has been burned a time or two. Women who thought they were too good for Tilikum.”

I picked at my muffin, glad I’d just declined that interview in Massachusetts. “I guess I don’t know a lot of details about his dating history.”

“It’s easy to forget he ever let anyone past those grumpy defenses of his. Until you, it had been a while. He took his role as a loner pretty seriously.”

That made me smile. So did he. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Well, despite what people in town are saying, I think one of you has an enemy you don’t know about. Someone who’s out for revenge.”

“Wait, what are people in town saying?”

“That you’re keeping a terrible secret and your stalker is going to expose it.”

I blew out a breath. “Great. So glad to know I’m now the town liar.”

“I think my favorite theory is that you’re the daughter of a crime boss and you’re trying to hide out in Tilikum. But your father’s enemies have already found you.”

“That is a good one,” Ledger said. “Not that I believe it, but it would make for a good story.”

“I’m definitely not the daughter of a crime boss. Although my dad was a politician. But a small-town politician and everyone in Pinecrest loved him.”

“He could have had enemies,” Ledger said.

“Yeah, that’s what my mom keeps insisting. She either knows something she isn’t telling me or she’s just trying to make this about her. I’m leaning toward the latter.”

“How about some good news to balance out all this bad juju,” Sandra said.

“Yes, please.”

“Subscriptions are up for the first time in about a decade. So are newsstand sales. Convincing Lou to lead with the local interest stuff on the front page looks like it’s paying off.”

“Really?”

She smiled. “Yeah. And I think it’s more than just the local focus. We’ve done that before. But no one wants to read a boring recap of the event everyone in town saw in person. Your idea for the Hometown Spotlight was brilliant. They say bad news sells, and it does, but so does heartwarming human interest stuff, especially when it’s something readers can relate to.”

“That’s what I was thinking. It doesn’t all have to be bad to be compelling.”

“Seems you were right. If this keeps up, who knows. We might be able to afford to pay Ledger.”