Page 12 of I Found You (Wilder #1)

“That sounds like someone speaking from experience,” Wyatt said.

He wasn’t looking at me but rather focusing on his food.

I could tell he was giving me space to either tell my story or not.

I could brush it off and change the topic.

I knew he would let me without another word.

But after what he shared about his mom, I couldn’t imagine how tough that must have been for him, for all of them.

I felt like I owed him a little piece of my history in return.

Or maybe I just liked the idea of him having that piece of me.

“My mom isn’t winning any ‘Mother of the Year’ awards, that’s for sure.

She had me when she was young, only seventeen, so I want to give her some grace where motherhood is concerned.

My dad stuck around during the pregnancy and the first few months, I guess.

All I know about the man is that his last name is Graham.

As far as I’m concerned, that was the only thing I got from him, still to this day.

My mom struggled. A lot.” I paused, my mind going down a spiral of memories from my childhood.

I didn’t know how long I zoned out for, but Wyatt’s question brought me back to reality.

“Struggled how, like financially?” he asked quietly.

I brought my gaze to his but quickly dropped it in favor of looking at my salad.

It was easier to talk about this if I wasn’t looking directly at the sun.

“Yeah. We were homeless a couple of times when I was little. My mom and I would couch surf, bouncing between whichever of her friends was willing to let us stay with them. I didn’t always know where my next meal was going to come from.

My mother’s meals were usually of the liquid variety, and she always seemed to manage to have some of that on hand.

” I huffed a nonamused laugh just thinking about it.

“When she got pregnant with Jackson, I really saw a change in her. She stayed sober. She told me how things were going to be different now. She was excited for the chance to have a do-over in the parenting department. That lasted a couple of years. It wasn’t until Jackson was about five that things started to go downhill again. ”

“That’s awful.” Wyatt’s expression was a storm cloud of emotions.

“It wasn’t great,” I agreed. “I ended up getting guardianship of Jackson as soon as I turned eighteen. He was eight. He is such a great kid and so smart. But he drives me crazy sometimes. I know he’s drinking and smoking, and kids do those things.

It’s part of growing up, for some people anyway.

But does he not see the road ahead? What it can lead to?

” I shook my head. I didn’t know what I would do if Jackson went too far down that path.

“I try so hard with him, but he’s fine just working odd hours at a dead-end job, barely making enough money to cover the rent at the apartment.

I wanted him to move in here with me. He could save some money.

Heck, I would save some money, maybe work on the house a bit, but… ”

Jane started fussing in her bounce chair, pulling me from my thoughts.

The reality of everything that I just shared, and with whom I shared it, hit me like a freight train.

Mortified, I covered my face with my hands.

“Oh my goodness. I am so sorry for unloading that on you. And right after you told me about your mom. I was not trying to out-sad you, I swear.” I tried to jump up so that I could get Jane’s bottle ready and put some distance between us, but Wyatt’s hand came around my bicep and tugged me back down to sitting.

“I have to get Jane’s bottle,” I told him .

“She fussed, Maeve. She’s not wailing. I think she can wait another fifteen seconds.

” His face was full of concern, staring at me so intensely it was like he could see directly into my mind.

“We are not comparing our fucking traumas. I lost my mom, and that sucks. It hurts. And what you went through with your mom, that’s awful.

You are allowed to feel sad, and betrayed, and fucking pissed about the unfairness of it all. ”

I pulled my arm from his soft hold to stand.

“Yeah, thanks. I’m, uh, just going to get Jane her bottle.

” What the hell was wrong with me? I had this beautiful man in my house.

This man who had stood up for me earlier, who wanted to help me get some rest, so he took the baby for a walk.

And I’d unleashed decades of pent-up trauma on the poor man.

I’d never be seeing Wyatt Wilder again, and honestly, it was probably for the best. I didn’t think I could face him again anyway.

As I busied around the kitchen getting Jane’s bottle ready, Wyatt held her close, talking to her. He offered to feed her again, but I didn’t feel right, making him do it. He’d done enough just by listening to me all night.

Wyatt handed Jane over to me and immediately started to clean up the mess from dinner.

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll get it.” I hurried over to stop him.

“Maeve, I’ve got this. I can help.” His dark eyes were like a black hole, pulling me into their depths. All I could do was nod.

I sat on the sofa, feeding Jane while Wyatt finished cleaning up the plates and putting the leftover pizza in the fridge. He even washed the forks we used for the salad.

“Wes just pulled up, so I’m going to get out of your hair now.

Have a good night, ladies.” He ran his hand across the top of Jane’s head, using his thumb to swipe across her forehead, and then he leaned in and kissed her right where his hand had been.

To my astonishment, he straightened and did the exact same thing to me, thumb-forehead swipe and all. A kiss to the top of my head.

My eyes closed, and my throat had to work hard to swallow past the lump that formed in it. Could he tell how much he affected me?

I tracked him as he made his way out the door, locking the handle so that when the door closed, we would be safe from the outside world, and I wondered who would be so lucky to be able to call him theirs one day.