Temptation Trails (The Haven Brothers #3)

My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I pulled it out to check. Aunt Louise again. I’d have to call her after I took care of this, or I’d never hear the end of it.

“Hi, can I help you?”

I looked up from my phone and froze.

It was like my brain completely turned off. All I could do was stare.

She was on the taller side with long blond hair tied in a low ponytail, a pink and blue floral headband keeping any loose strands off her face. She wore an Angel Cakes Bakery apron over her T-shirt and her eyes were a mesmerizing green. But it was her smile that almost knocked me over.

Big, bright, beautiful.

She was gorgeous.

I blinked. What was I doing there? Why was I standing in a swirl of sugar-scented air while this incredible woman smiled at me?

“Hi?” she said, her smile fading. “Do you guys need something?”

Owen hiked his backpack up his shoulder and looked at me like I was the most uncool, annoying person he’d ever seen in his life.

“Um…” I cleared my throat, hoping to restart my brain. It didn’t work very well. “My uh, son…”

“Owen,” he said when I didn’t finish.

“Right, my son Owen.” I paused again while she watched me, her big green eyes full of expectation. “He has something to say to you. Or to Doris, if she’s here.”

“No, I’m afraid she’s not. My aunt is retiring and I’m taking over. I’m Harper.”

Harper? This was Harper? The woman Aunt Louise had set me up with?

I’d bailed on a date with her?

Shit. I’d stood her up and my son had shoplifted from her. We were not going to be her favorite people.

Owen dropped his backpack between his feet and pulled out the bags of cookies he’d taken. He took them to the counter and set them in front of her, then hesitated for a second before speaking.

The words tumbled out of his mouth like he was desperate to get it over with. “I took stuff and I’m really sorry please don’t let him arrest me.”

Harper’s eyes moved from Owen, to me, then back again. I glanced down, remembering I was in uniform. Yep, just your friendly neighborhood sheriff’s deputy with his delinquent kid.

“Did he say he needed to arrest you?” Her voice was gentle with the slightest hint of amusement.

“He said he might.”

She picked through the plastic bags, as if taking inventory. “Is this everything?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“You ate some already.”

“Yeah.”

She tapped her lips. “Hmm. What should we do about this?” Her gaze moved to me again. “What do you think, Deputy…?”

Oh, shit. Here we go. “Haven. Garrett Haven.”

Her eyes lit up in recognition. “Garrett Haven? As in Louise Haven’s nephew?”

Owen looked back at me. “Dad, do you know her?”