Page 57 of The Sweetest Obsession

Not a completely selfish asshole with a hard-on for his own dark, tormented image.

Why else would he be dragging me off to his house and asking me to help with Nell when he’s made it clear he just wants to look afterme?

Poor guy.

He thought I couldn’t say no to helping with the kiddo and he’s totally right.

Even if it wounds my pride a bit to be lured in so obviously, I can’t deny it.

I think this could be good for me, though.

I’ve been looking for a happy distraction from Mom, from Ros, from Redhaven and its sinister crap.

Plus, little Nell is a perfectly adorable diversion to help keep me from fixating on a thousand heart-wrenching worries over Mom.

She’s also waiting for us when Grant pulls into the driveway of his cottage. His parents are there, too, their car parked by the curb while they take turns pushing Nell in the wood-and-rope swing hanging from the large oak tree that casts its shade over Grant’s neatly tended front yard.

The grass looks like it’s a quarter inch longer than the Redhaven HOA allows and it makes me smile.

Knowing him, he probably left it like that on purpose to spite the Mrs. Appleberrys around town. I even catch a glimpse of clover and late season blooms that must’ve been nice for the bees and other bugs back in the summer.

As we get out of his patrol car and I grab my things, his parents glance up with grateful smiles.

It’s odd to see them aged ten years when it feels like it’s just overnight.

Until this moment, I imagined them with a few less wrinkles.

Margaret Faircross’ hair not quite so silvery and Jensen Faircross’ back straighter and less stooped than it is now. He’s still a big man despite advancing age taking the edge off his muscle mass.

Grant raises a hand to his parents.

“Sorry I’m late,” he says. “Had a dispatch call. Intruder at Ophelia’s house.”

Mrs. Faircross’ gaze flicks to me, eyes rounding with concern. “Oh, Ophelia—are you all right?”

Next thing I know, she’s coming at me full steam.

I don’t even get a chance to grab my bag from the car before Mrs. Faircross has me wrapped up in the warmest hug.

It almost hurts to hug her back because it feels like coming home.

To remember that as much as I blame Redhaven and its weirdness and dark secrets for so many awful things, I have people here who are family. It doesn’t matter if they’re not blood at all.

And Jensen, he makes me feel like the safest woman in the world with just a glance.

“Don’t tell me they hurt you?” Jensen pats my shoulder.

I smile at him and shake my head.

I’m half expecting to walk inside to steaming bowls of chili and cornbread, his usual hearty go-to back when he’d feed three kids who dragged themselves in from tromping around the woods all day.

All the best things in life happened with spicy soup and warm bread and friendly conversation around the table.

I think it hit so deep because I never knew my own father. To this day, I don’t have any good guesses who he could be.

Mom was always so tight-lipped about it, yet she must have loved him enough to have two children with him.

I only ever knew that our dad wasn’t the same as Ethan’s, a kind, sickly man who passed away from leukemia before Ros and I were born.

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