Obsession Falls (The Haven Brothers #1)

A mild sense of foreboding struck me as my aunt Louise waved from her table.

Louise Haven had long gray hair she always wore in a bun and deep smile lines around her eyes. She’d married my dad’s oldest brother when they were both sixteen and they’d defied the odds by staying together for the last fifty-something years. At some point in the murky past, she’d adopted velour track suits as her signature look. I had no idea if she owned anything else or if her closet was simply a rainbow of zip-up hoodies and matching pants. Today’s was dark purple.

Aunt Louise had zero filter, but that wasn’t the problem. I actually liked the way she said whatever the hell she wanted. The problem was she presided over the Haven family as a self-appointed matchmaker. Her kids were all married, but if you were over the age of twenty-one, related to the Havens, and single, Louise was coming for you.

She’d been trying to tie me down for years.

“I’ll take a French dip to go,” I said.

“Josiah,” Louise called, still waving. “Come on over here, honey.”

Heidi looked back and forth between us, as if she didn’t know who she should listen to.

“Put in my order to go and bring it to her table,” I grumbled and made my way past Heidi to where Louise was grinning at me.

“Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise,” she said, as if we didn’t run into each other all the time in this damn town. “Have a seat.”

I pulled out the chair and sat. “I can’t stay.”

“That’s fine, it’s nice to say hello anyway.” She dug into her purse, pulled out a little mirror, and started dabbing at the corners of her mouth. “Besides, I’ve been meaning to track you down. Florence Newland was telling me the other day that her granddaughter Aida is coming to visit for the summer.”

“So?”

“I immediately thought of you.”

“Why?”

She snapped the mirror shut. “I thought you could take her out.”

“No.”

“Don’t be difficult. She’s a nice girl.”

“Don’t like nice girls.”

Her eye roll was more amused than annoyed. “Of course you do. We just haven’t found you the right one.”

“Not interested.”

“I do realize you’re a Haven, which is a synonym for stubborn. But eventually you’re going to have to settle down.”

My brow furrowed. “Why?”

She let out a long-suffering sigh. “Aren’t you lonely all by yourself?”

“No.”

“One of these days, you’re going to realize how much better your life would be with a good woman.”

I grunted. Easy for her to say. She’d married my uncle George when they were young and still malleable. I was thirty-eight and too set in my ways. I couldn’t fathom sharing my space, my time, or my life with another person. I hated having to answer to someone else. Hell, I didn’t even want a dog.

Besides, I’d been on the cusp of that once and look how that had turned out. Never again.

“You should focus on a different Haven.”

“Believe me, I’m working on those brothers of yours.”

“So why not badger one of them into taking out what’s her name. Did you try Luke? Or Zachary?”