Heartbreaker (Havenbrook #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

MAC

If one thing made me feel like I was a child again, it was visiting my daddy at work. Except…I wasn’t exactly visiting him. In fact, I normally did everything I could to avoid it. But with my sister and one of my best friends working at town hall where the mayor spent all his time, it made trekking past his office nearly unavoidable.

Usually, I didn’t have a problem sneaking in. I’d long since established a routine to make this as easy as possible. And by as easy as possible, I, of course, meant no dad within viewing radius.

Most people might feel bad about dodging their fathers, but I wasn’t most people, and I could only assume those people didn’t have a daddy like Richard Haven.

Luck wasn’t on my side today, though, because some dumbass had locked my normal avoidance entrance—the back door no one was supposed to use unless in case of emergency. But if avoiding my father wasn’t an emergency, I didn’t know what was.

I’d nearly gotten past his door when he bellowed from inside. “Mac! What’re you doin’ sneakin’ on by? Don’t be rude. Get your butt in here and say hi to your daddy.”

I froze, my head dropping down between my shoulders as I sagged in defeat.

Okay, so my father wasn’t that bad. He’d never abused us—physically, anyway, though his words sometimes left a lot to be desired—and neither I nor my three sisters had ever wanted for anything material.

We’d always had a (large and a bit ostentatious) roof over our heads, a spread of food fit for royalty, courtesy of our momma or gran and their amazing cooking, and only designer labels to grace our bodies. Because heaven forbid a Haven wear anything from a discount store. But if there was one person in the world who made me feel the smallest, it was my daddy.

And if there was one thing I hated most in the world, it was feeling small.

“Hey, Daddy,” I said as I entered his office.

I waved to Sally, my father’s newest assistant, who was furiously typing away—no doubt from some “urgent” matter Richard Haven had only deigned important enough to give her ten minutes prior.

Ever since my eldest sister, Rory, had left town hall to focus on King Haven Construction and Design—her new business with her boyfriend, Nash King—things had gone to shit in the mayor’s office. No one was supposed to know Richard had gone through four assistants in the past three months, but this was Havenbrook, and secrets didn’t stay secrets for long.

“What’re you doin’ here in the middle of the day?” he asked. “Don’t you have work or something?”

Work or something was how my daddy had been referring to any kind of job I had had since…well, since I’d come back from Mississippi State mid-sophomore year, having flunked all my classes. And having absolutely zero desire to go back.

Instead of telling him I’d be working later that evening at The Willow Tree—or reminding him that I was a grown-ass woman capable of watching after my own schedule—I just said, “Nope.”

And that was it. I had learned a long time ago, it was best to stick to as few words as possible around him. Less ammunition for him to use against me later.

He grumbled something under his breath that I didn’t catch. If it was anything like the jabs he’d been taking at me for the past eight years, it wasn’t something I was particularly interested in hearing anyway.

“How’s the new assistant?” I asked, head tipped to where Sally furiously shuffled papers, her glasses sliding down her nose and gray-streaked hair disheveled.

It was eleven thirty in the morning, and the poor woman looked like she’d just spent three hours running through an obstacle course rather than sitting behind a desk in the mayor’s office.

Daddy didn’t even spare Sally a glance as he tapped a pen on his desk. “Dunno if this one’ll last.”

“Didn’t you say that about the last three?”

“Well, it was the truth, wasn’t it?”

I laughed. “Better be careful, or you’re gonna run out of eligible workers in Havenbrook. You’ll have to start pilfering from Parkersville.”

He waved a dismissive hand. “Plenty of folks right here in Havenbrook would love to work for me. Just have to find the right one.”

Ah, yes. That elusive right one . Truth be told, Daddy had been lucky for the past ten years or so. His former assistant, Gloria, had been a hard worker who’d put up with just enough of his shit to make her life easier, but not so much that she was a pushover.

Trouble was, Gloria went on maternity leave last year and then decided to come back only part time. She and Rory had job-shared for months before Rory’d hightailed it out of dodge, too. But as of three months ago—right around the time Rory had left—Gloria’s husband had gotten a promotion with a fat pay raise, enabling her to quit entirely.

And poor old Dick was left with no one in their right mind wanting to work for the surly, antiquated bastard. Not that I could blame them.

“All right. Well, I’ll let you get back to…” I leaned over my father’s desk to peer at his screen. Solitaire. I barely restrained a snort. “Your important work,” I finished. “I’m meetin’ Will and Avery for lunch.”

“Y’all have fun. Tell Will to stop by when she gets back. I have some urgent town matters to discuss with her.”

Urgent matters, my ass. If my sister weren’t such a rule follower, I would ply her with liquor over lunch just to ease the pain of an unnecessary meeting with our father wherein he’d, no doubt, assert his importance.

“Will do. Bye, Daddy.” I returned his wave and strolled out of his office and across the hall, collapsing into the chair in front of my sister Willow’s assistant’s desk.

Avery managed to always be pulled together in a way that made me feel underdressed no matter the circumstances. How the woman could make a ponytail look professional, I would never know.

She glanced up from her computer, red hair bobbing in that perfect ponytail, and raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t make it past his highness’s office without being summoned?”

“No. Who the hell locked my secret entrance?”

She heaved a deep sigh. “The firefighters popped in for a quick inspection yesterday, and we got our asses handed to us for not keeping it locked at all times. Something about fire safety and blah, blah, blah .” She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, you poor thing. Being subjected to the growly orders from our local heroes. I’m sure that was such a hardship for you.”

“I never said the scenery wasn’t nice to look at while they were here.” She laughed and waggled her eyebrows. “But give it a week. We’ll start getting lazy and won’t lock it, and then you can use your escape hatch again.”

“You’re so good to me.”

“Don’t you forget it.”

“Like you’d let me.”

Looking completely unrepentant, Avery just shrugged. “I know my worth, what can I say?”

I laughed under my breath. “Will about ready yet?”

“Her calendar is clear, but she just took a call on her cell.”

Cell phone meant personal call, which meant I had no qualms about interrupting or being rude.

“Will!” I hollered toward my sister’s open office door. “C’mon, I’m hungry.”

She popped her head out, phone pressed to her ear, and held up one finger in the universal sign to wait a minute before ducking back inside.

Avery rested her elbows on her desk and leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Ten bucks says next time she comes out of there, she’s going to be red-faced and flustered.”

I narrowed my eyes at Avery. “Who’s she talkin’ to?”

“I’ll give you two guesses.”

Which meant her fiancé, Finn Thomas. Which also meant there was no way in hell I would be taking that bet.

“Pass.”

“When I first moved here, word on the street was you never turned down a bet. And now look at you.”

“I never turn down a bet I can win . Accepting any bet just because someone’s got something to prove is how Gary Anders lost his golf cart to me. And last I checked, I don’t have a penis or a need to stroke it, so…” I shrugged as Avery laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Will asked walking out of her office, purse slung over her shoulder as she smoothed back a flyaway strand of dark hair. And yep…she was flushed and fidgety.

Ugh.

Of course, I was thrilled for my sister and the happily ever after she was finally getting with Finn. Those two deserved it after everything they’d gone through. But sometimes…ugh. Just ugh.

“I didn’t realize you were hurtin’ for cash so much.” I stood from the chair and led the other girls into the hallway.

“What do you mean?” Will asked, her brows drawn together.

“I figured that’s why you took the job as a sex line operator.”

Avery snorted out a laugh as Will gasped, trying to act offended but stifling her own giggle.

“Would you shut up?” she said without heat, sparing a glance toward our daddy’s office as if to make sure he hadn’t overheard. “Finn and I didn’t… Um, well, we?—”

“Didn’t get a chance to bone this morning?” I finished dryly.

Much as I’d like to scrub the memories from my mind, I had been the unwilling voyeuristic party in many a wild night between Will and Finn—at least until Will had moved out of the house we’d shared and in with Finn. And I could say with certainty that little else had scarred me more than overhearing my sister’s sex life.

Will and I had been the closest for the longest out of all our sisters, but even we shouldn’t be privy to the sounds the other made while…ahem…having a good time. Thank God for noise-canceling headphones.

“I’m not dignifying that with an answer,” Will said.

“Ah, but you just did, my sweet sister.” I tossed my arm around her shoulders and tugged her close. “Is Rory meetin’ us there?”

“I don’t think so. She said she’s gonna be swamped this week, gettin’ The Sweet Spot’s reno started. I guess they’re tryin’ to minimize the demolition so they can keep the shop open as long as possible.”

I glanced at the bakery across the Square that I knew almost as well as I knew my own home. I’d spent more hours inside those four walls than I could count, keeping my childhood best friend, Hudson, company while he did all he could to help his momma run her new business after her husband had died in combat. It’d been a long time since I had been over there to help.

Even longer since Hudson had been home.

The familiar pang in my chest at the thought of him kept me company as the three of us walked to The Willow Tree—Havenbrook’s first and only bar, and an homage to Willow herself, courtesy of her fiancé—and ducked inside.

No matter how many times I’d seen the space—and since this was where I received a steady paycheck, I saw it a whole shit-ton—it never failed to impress me that Rory had made it come to life. Though my eldest sister and I hadn’t seen eye to eye on a lot of things over the years, it seemed time had healed some of those old wounds. We still weren’t as close as Will and I were, but we were getting there.

I couldn’t be happier for my sister’s success—in life and love. And if I was a little jealous about both of those things, well, I’d just keep it to myself.

“If it ain’t three of my favorite girls,” Finn called as he strolled out from behind the bar.

“Oh, sure, lump your fiancée in with the other two,” Will said, resting her hand on her hip.

“C’mon, Willowtree, you know you’re my favorite. And you also know…” Finn’s words were muffled as he whispered them into her ear, but from the look on Will’s face, I could guess what he was saying.

“For shit’s sake, you two, get a room.” I walked around them, plucked three menus from behind the hostess stand and a few sets of silverware, and led Avery to a table against the wall of windows. I had half a mind to punch in so I could at least get paid for doing Finn’s job.

Some people might not want to eat lunch at the place they saw most evenings until at least midnight, but when the restaurant pickings were as slim as they were in Havenbrook, there wasn’t much choice. Besides, the burgers here were spectacular.

“I wonder if that’s going to die down after the big day.” Avery tipped her head in the direction of where Finn and Will stood, right in the middle of the bar, making out like they were a couple of teenagers.

“Unlikely.” I placed the menus and silverware on the table. “They’ll be eighty and still goin’ at it like bunnies.”

“It’s making me jealous as fuck. Is it so much to ask to get some new single men in this town?” Avery gasped and leaned forward over the table, her eyes dancing. “I almost forgot to tell you! When I was out on my run this morning, I saw one of the finest men I’ve ever seen in my life .”

“You sure you weren’t hallucinating? Five a.m. is awful early, and you’re bound to start seein’ things.”

“Hallucinating about what?” Will asked as she slid into the seat next to me.

“The absolutely gorgeous guy I saw this morning, and no. I’m one-hundred-percent certain he was real. And I’m equally certain he’s not from around here. Plates were from Tennessee. But—” she hummed and fluttered her lashes “—he was delectable . Super tall. Well built. He was wearing aviators, so I couldn’t see his eyes, but he definitely had a military feel to him, know what I mean?”

A frisson of awareness zinged up my spine, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. It was probably nothing. Just like every other mention of a military man over the past decade had been nothing.

After this many years, I should’ve been used to it. I should’ve been able to ignore it. But sometimes, when you got so little of someone, you scavenged for crumbs. Even when those crumbs ended up having no correlation to the person you’d been missing.

“Once in a while, guys pass through from Fort Shelby, so that’d make sense,” I said. “Was he at the gas station?”

“No, actually, he was at?—”

“There y’all are!” Rory yelled, the front door banging against the wall as she came tearing in, her heels clicking on the polished concrete floor. “Been lookin’ for you all over this damn town.”

She was usually the most put together of all of us Haven girls, but even she was looking a little unkempt today. Probably nothing that could be discerned by passersby, but something I picked up on immediately.

“Well, we definitely weren’t in Nash’s bed, which is clearly where you came from,” I said.

Rory rolled her eyes and pulled out the chair next to Avery before taking a seat. “I’m in this state because I need to speak to you immediately and didn’t think you’d appreciate me takin’ time to freshen up.”

That feeling in the pit of my stomach grew, the handful of butterflies that had come to life from Avery’s explanation transforming into a swarm of bees being swept up by a tornado. Without conscious thought, I reached under the table and gripped Will’s knee, needing something—anything—to anchor me.

“Edna must have some good gossip today,” I forced out through my dry throat.

“Every day, which you know better than anyone,” Rory said. That was true…Havenbrook’s mail carrier and I were two peas in a pod, despite our more than forty-year age difference. “But I’m gonna need you to shut up for a second, honey, and listen to me .” She punctuated the last three words with slaps of her hand against the table.

“Calm down, Rory,” Will said. “I’m sure Edna will fill Mac in later today. You didn’t need to make a trip out here, especially if you and Nash were having your special, grown-up time.”

Rory raised a brow. “We’ll see if you think the same thing when you find out just who arrived in Havenbrook this morning…”