She fined me five million dollars for that. SERIOUSLY? That’s when I decided to stop grieving and start working. I spent three nights down in Harold’s basement office, surrounded by his musty old law books. I pulled every Colorado HOA statute I could find. And what I found was beautiful. A real HOA fine has…
That night, my phone started ringing. Genevieve had sent out a massive email blast to the entire neighborhood. The subject line read: Dangerous Property Owner Blocks Emergency Access. The message painted me as a lunatic, a threat to the safety and property values of the entire community. But something else happened that night, too. Something Genevieve…
Then she chose the drama she always chooses and went limp. Sirens. EMTs. Marcus clutching his rear and swearing on everyone’s god that he’d sue. E velyn revived long enough to accuse me of murder by rudeness. The ambulance took them both because sometimes the Lord decides to do me a favor and move everyone…
“Why is that door open? Who authorized—” The room answered all at once. “Director—” “Sir, he—” “We thought—” “Get him out,” the man—Halverson, by tone—ordered, voice slicing the oxygen into orders. “Shut this down. Now.” Thor’s body went tight under my palm. He brought himself between me and the door, didn’t snarl so much as…
Keller stepped aside slow, like he’d just seen a ghost and wasn’t sure if he should salute or shoot. He tossed the leash end to the handler and lifted his hands away from the situation. My heartbeat slowed the way it used to when the door on the bird slid open. I walked three paces…
Wyatt started babbling. “My dad’s the sheriff,” he said. “Oak Haven County. If you touch me, he will bury you. He’ll have you locked away. He’ll—” “Call him,” I said. He froze like a puppet whose strings just went slack. “What?” “Call him,” I repeated. “I insist.” He fumbled out his phone. His fingers shook…
“Wh… what should I call you?” I stammered. “Uncle,” he said smoothly. “Unless you prefer Professor. Or Luke, if you are feeling reckless.” “I am not a thing,” I muttered without thinking. My mother made this choking sound. I wanted immediately to crawl into the chandelier and spin until gravity threw me into the Pacific….
“Evie, eat this. All of it.” Then he seized my bowl of broth and placed it in front of Olivia. “And you will eat every single drop of what you served your sister. And for the next month, you will eat exactly what Evie eats. If she has toast, you have toast. If she has…
“Thirteen years in hell taught me a few tricks. You think a little crying and a shove was going to get me what I wanted? No, no, no. I had to be strategic. And look—it worked perfectly.” She leaned in close, her breath hot against my ear. “Let me tell you a secret. To escape,…
Because here’s the thing….. The Ford family? The “crown prince,” Jasper Ford, whose real name was Jasper Ford? I had known him since we were in diapers. His sister, Phoebe Ford, was my best friend. We had grown up together in Pacific Palisades, our families’ estates practically next door to each other. I had taught…
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