Page 21 of I Found You (Wilder #1)

Maeve

Blue and pink streaked through the sky on a beautiful sunset. The weather was warm but not too hot. I could literally hear birds chirping. And all I wanted to do was curl up under my sheets and hide from the world.

It wasn’t surprising to get confirmation that Wyatt was not attracted to me. I had eyes. It wasn’t that I was ugly per se, but that man was gorgeous and charming and sweet. He was the whole package, and I was just me.

The girl who had a pretty face, if only she could just lose a little weight.

The girl who people think must be the funny one in a group of friends.

It didn’t even make sense why Wyatt’s words cut me like they did. It really wasn’t surprising. I already knew that this wasn’t anything more than a friendship, one we only had because of Jane.

Right?

Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, I started to get ideas. But those were the thoughts you didn’t even realize you were having, the ones you couldn’t control until they got to the front of your brain, where you could squish them down and send them back to where they came from.

After Jane’s nighttime routine was finished, I laid her in her bassinet for bed.

She was starting to outgrow it already. I watched her sleep, her chest rising and falling, her cherub lips pouting.

I leaned over her, giving her a kiss on her head, inhaling the sweet baby scent of her.

I had a meeting scheduled with Kara next week.

I would have to find out if she had any update on the timeframe of this arrangement.

It was strange. Our first few meetings, that was the main point of conversation.

But our last two meetings, I hadn’t wanted to bring it up, afraid that if I opened that box, something bad would come out of it.

Someone would come to tell me that Jane’s family had been found and they wanted her back.

Originally, that was exactly what I wanted to happen.

And I still did, for Jane’s sake. But I just didn’t go asking about it anymore.

We had gotten into a routine, Jane and I. Or really Jane, Wyatt, and I.

Thinking about Wyatt saying that I wasn’t his type made a lump form in my throat.

He wasn’t laughing at his brother like the idea was ludicrous.

I’d had that reaction plenty of times. Probably tied with the number of times guys had told me I wasn’t their usual type but that they would make an exception.

But Wyatt, he just said it like it was a fact, maybe even a sad fact.

No, Maeve. Not a sad fact. What does that even mean? He just doesn’t like you.

I shook my head to clear the jumble of thoughts.

Tears wanted to fall, but I knew it wasn’t because of Wyatt.

Not specifically. It was just loneliness, something I should be used to by now.

And mostly, I was. But every once in a while, it crept up on me and threatened to take me down.

I gave myself fifteen minutes to feel sad while I showered and got myself ready for bed. Then, the pity party was over.

* * *

The knock on the front door startled me as I was doing the dishes.

Usually, I could hear Wyatt’s truck pull up.

He’d texted me last night, just to check in, because he was a genuinely good guy, but I hadn’t expected him to come by today after our conversation last night.

I replayed it in my head as I went to the door, Jane strapped to my chest in her favorite front carrier.

Wyatt: Hey, are you ok?

Wyatt: Are we ok?

Me: Yeah. I’m good. Sorry I left like that. It was really rude. Can you let your dad know that I’m sorry too?

Wyatt: Two sorrys from you when I’m the one that feels like the asshole. That’s just not right.

Me: You have nothing to feel bad about, Wyatt. I get it. I just need a little space, I think.

Wyatt: But you’re sure we’re good?

Me: Yes, I promise.

Wyatt: Have a good night, Maeve.

I didn’t think I’d ever hated my name so much as when I read it in his voice, where the word “doll” used to be. He was trying not to lead me on, putting distance between us. I understood that. Heck, I was doing the same thing by asking for a little space. But that didn’t mean I had to like it.

My jaw hit the floor, and my knees felt like they were suddenly made of jelly when I opened the front door.

“She wouldn’t let me call first,” my brother said by way of greeting. He shifted his weight back and forth between his legs. His eyes were pleading with me not to be angry with him.

Standing next to him was a ghost from my past. The woman I hadn’t seen in seven years, and even that visit was a fly-by just to steal some money and my refurbished laptop.

She looked good, but that didn’t mean much.

Josie Silva knew how to use her looks and her charms to get away with just about anything and everything.

Her brown hair looked to be her natural color, not dyed blonde like it was when I was young, and her eyes shined bright without red blood vessels marring the whites around her irises.

“Hi, honey,” my mother said. Her following gasp could be heard down the street.

“Oh my God, she’s so beautiful.” Her hand came out like she thought she could touch Jane.

I threw my arm around her and hugged her closer to my chest as I turned my body away from Josie.

She pulled her hand back like she could feel the same fire I felt flowing through my blood.

“Don’t touch her.” Turning my attention to Jackson, I asked, “What is she doing here?”

“Honey, I just wanted to see—”

“Don’t,” I cut her off. Hearing her voice was already undoing the years of hard work I put into myself. Again, I shot my attention to Jackson.

“She said that she’s clean now,” he shrugged. “That she wants to get to know us again or some shit like that.”

“No. I will not allow this woman back into our lives. Jackson, come inside.” I held the door open wider for him, ready to protect him from her. To get him away from her.

“Maeve,” he started.

“Jackson.” We stared each other down while I willed him to please get in the house.

The moment Jackson took his first step toward the open door was the first moment I could breathe. He walked into the house and shot an apologetic look to Josie over his shoulder.

“I understand. But I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying at the Cove’s End Motel. I just want to talk to you and Jackson.”

If she said anything else, I couldn’t hear it. The sound of the door slamming shut reverberated through my head.

I didn’t know how long I paced the length of my living room.

Back and forth, back and forth. Jane had fallen asleep on my chest. Usually, I would lay her down for her nap, but just the thought of separating from her made me break out in a cold sweat.

Jackson sat on my sofa, staring at his phone, not a care in the world that his mother had just waltzed into our lives for the first time in seven years.

Claiming she was here to stay, no less. It had been almost twelve years since that was even remotely true.

“Did she say anything else to you?” I asked him. We’ve gone over every second of their interaction already, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking again.

Jackson rolled his eyes and gave me a look over his phone, shaking his head slightly.

“No, Mae. I told you everything she said to me. She’s clean.

She’s sober. She misses us and wants to try again.

” He said that last part in a high-pitched, mocking voice.

He was putting on a show that he didn’t believe her or at least didn’t trust her.

But he could have sent her packing, same as I did, but he didn’t.

He brought her here, to my house. “When I told her that I was going to call you to come over to the apartment, she begged me not to. She didn’t want you to have a heads-up that she was in town.

I think she thought you might not react well.

You have to give her some credit—she does have you pegged. ”

The knock on the door startled me for the second time that morning. Jackson got up as if to answer it. I was nearly tripping over my own feet in an effort to stop him before he could get to the door. “Do not answer that door,” I hissed.

“Relax,” he replied as he swung the door open.

All of the breath left my lungs in one long exhale. Wyatt strode past Jackson, grabbed my head in his hands, and locked eyes with me. Concern and worry whirled behind his beautiful green eyes. “Are you okay?”

“How are you here?”

“Jackson texted. Said you had something of a surprise this morning. I know you said you wanted space. If you don’t want me here, I’ll go.”

He was still holding my head in place, his fingers massaging the back of my scalp gently. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to feel,” I said quietly. My eyes stung as they brimmed with unshed tears.

Wyatt released my head and made quick work of unstrapping Jane. He carefully pulled her out of the carrier and handed her over to Jackson.

“No, don’t give her to me. What am I supposed to do with her?

” Jackson complained. Wyatt ignored him as if he hadn’t said anything and turned his attention back to me.

It took him a half second to eat up the distance between us and wrap his massive arms around me in what could only be described as the world’s best hug.

My body melted into his as his scent wrapped around me in tandem with his arms. I could feel his breath on my ear.

I buried my face in his chest just as the tears started falling.

He stroked the back of my hair, occasionally weaving his fingers through my locks and continuing his gentle massage to my scalp.

If I wasn’t in such a confused headspace about my mother’s return, I could get lost in that feeling.

I pulled back from his embrace, trying to find my equilibrium.

My head was spinning, and I couldn’t tell if it was because I’d seen my mother for the first time in years, or the fact that she said she was staying and that she actually did look clean, or because melting into Wyatt was far, far too comfortable.

Removing myself from Wyatt’s arms was the only part of the equation I could control, so that was exactly what I did.

He pulled out one of the stools at my kitchen counter and directed me to sit.

Moving around my house as if he lived here, he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured me some water.

He bustled around the kitchen and started pulling out pans and ingredients.

When it was clear that he was looking for something and not finding it, I finally asked, “What are you doing?”

“Making you grilled cheese and tomato soup. It will make you feel better.”

My lips flattened as I tried to hold back my smile. “Soup is in the bottom corner cabinet.”

Wyatt nodded at me, all efficiency and practicality as he continued to make my lunch. Watching his muscles move under his shirt must have made time pass quicker because before I knew it, Wyatt was placing my grilled cheese sandwich on a plate and ladling the soup into a bowl for me.

“Jackson, food,” Wyatt yelled.

Jackson walked in with Jane in his arms. She was waking up, and I could tell she was hungry because her mouth was already looking for a bottle as it made the most adorable little fish-out-of-water motion.

I reached out to grab her from Jackson, but Wyatt stopped me. “You eat. I’ve got her.”

He grabbed one of the bottles that I had made this morning from the fridge and leaned against the kitchen counter, facing me.

He shot me a wink and a small smile. If I ever had a chance to be a mother, this was exactly what I would want.

This exact moment to play on repeat but in a universe where they were mine. My husband holding our daughter.

The three of us talked over lunch about what to do.

Jackson was letting me take the lead. He said that if I didn’t want them to talk, he wouldn’t talk to her.

But I could tell he was curious. He wanted a chance to get to know his mother.

Josie had started going downhill again when Jackson was in kindergarten.

Only a few short years later, she was gone from our lives.

I knew that he deserved to spend time with her if he wanted to.

It wasn’t up to me, but I felt a surge of pride knowing that he valued my opinion on the matter.

“She can come by the garage to meet up with Jackson. Neutral ground. And I will keep my eye on them,” Wyatt offered.

“I appreciate that. But I don’t know. What if she’s just acting like she’s clean? You don’t know her like I do. She fooled people for a long time into thinking that she had her act together. Behind closed doors was a whole different thing. ”

“What if you talked to her first? Get a feel for if you really think she’s clean. If you approve, then she can meet up with Jackson, if you want to,” Wyatt said, directing the last part to Jackson.

I dropped my head into my hands and sighed.

It was a good suggestion. One that I knew was the right call.

I couldn’t let Jackson get mixed up in all things Josie until I knew for certain that she was clean.

I knew he was an adult now, and she was our mom.

I shouldn’t be so anxious at the thought of them having a relationship, but I couldn’t help it.

My heart was beating faster, my breathing was shallow, and my skin felt clammy just thinking about it.

“Yeah. Are you okay with this plan?” I asked Jackson.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter to me like it matters to you. If you want to feel her out first, you can,” Jackson said, giving me his blessing that I could meet with her first and decide the best course of action from there.

“Hey, whatever you need, I’m here, okay?” Wyatt’s eyes bored into me. As messed up as my mind was right now, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for these guys who had my back one hundred percent.