Temptation Trails (The Haven Brothers #3)

“She did the world a service. The cookies you sent home with us the other day were probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

I smiled, and a warm, giddy feeling spread through me. “Thank you. Owen was a big help.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Absolutely. He did everything I asked without a single complaint. I think he might have even enjoyed himself when I let him scoop the cookie dough.”

“It would be nice if he could bring some of that good attitude home when it’s time to do the dishes.” There was humor in his voice and the corners of his lips lifted in a grin. “He is a great kid, though.”

“He is. You’ve done a great job.”

A flicker of surprise crossed his face. “Thank you.”

My curiosity about Owen’s mom was growing, but it felt awkward to bring it up. Aunt Doris had said Garrett was divorced. But was she still around? Did they share custody? If Garrett and I actually started dating, would it be complicated?

I’d thought about that before, when Doris had set us up the first time. But knowing Owen made it all the more real.

But this was just one dinner. I didn’t need to dig into his past if this wasn’t going anywhere.

The server brought our dinners and we started eating.

“How did you get into law enforcement?”

“It’s what I wanted to do since I was a kid. I was always the good guy when my brothers and I played. Always the cop, catching the bad guys.”

“How many brothers do you have? Owen said he has a lot of uncles.”

“Five brothers and one sister.”

My eyes widened. “There are seven kids in your family?”

“We were three and three at first. My dad had me and two of my brothers, Josiah and Luke, with his first wife. And my mom had three boys, Reese, Theo, and Zachary. Then they got together and had our sister, Annika.”

“Kind of like the Brady Bunch, except… different.”

“Yeah. We were all close in age too. It must have been chaos. I don’t know how they did it.”

“That’s amazing.”

He chuckled softly. “I mostly remember it being loud.”

“With six little boys, I can imagine. What did you all think of your sister?”

“We loved her. We tended to torture each other, but we protected her like it was our job.”

“That’s so sweet. Are you all close now?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say we are. Most of us, at least. Zachary and I used to get into it a lot, but we went through some stuff together and it changed things. And now that he’s married, I probably won’t have to arrest him again, so that helps.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’ve arrested your brother?”

“Yeah. A couple times.”

“For what?”

“Disorderly conduct. He used to have a tendency to start trouble, especially when alcohol was involved. He was never booked or had charges brought up or anything, but I had to haul him in a couple times to break things up. Didn’t make him like me all that much.”

“But you get along better now?”