Page 22 of I Found You (Wilder #1)

Wyatt

“You know this is not an appropriate use of police resources,” Luke chided over the phone.

I’d asked him to run a background check on Josie Silva.

It might not be able to confirm if she was clean and sober, but I just wanted to see if anything suspicious came back.

She’d been in town for a few days, and so far, she’d stayed out of trouble.

Wes had been staking her out occasionally too.

“It’s not for me. It’s for Maeve.”

“Did Maeve ask you to ask me?” Luke asked, knowing damn well that Maeve had not asked me to abuse police resources on her behalf. This idea was entirely mine.

“It will take you, what, three minutes? And she’s staying in our town. The police should know if someone comes into our town to cause trouble.”

“Save it. It’s already running. I’ll let you know if I find anything.” And because my brother couldn’t help but poke at me, he added, “And you can tell your girlfr—oh, sorry, Maeve —that this had nothing to do with me when it blows up in your face. ”

“Fuck off. Call me later,” I said as I ended the call.

This wasn’t going to blow up in my face because Maeve wasn’t going to find out. Unless there was something that she needed to be aware of.

Maeve and I had found Josie a few days after her surprise visit to Maeve’s.

She was staying at the Cove’s End Motel, just like she said.

That place was an abomination in our otherwise picturesque town.

The Cove’s End Motel was run-down and dirty beyond redemption.

The dark green roof was falling off, the windows were cracked or too mud-caked to see through, the siding was disgusting, and the parking lot was littered with beer cans, trash, and potholes.

I didn’t even want to imagine what the inside of one of those rooms looked like.

The entire place needed to be gutted or, better yet, just torn down.

There was a seedy bar and restaurant on-site that served breakfast for the guests in the mornings.

Menu items included frozen things that could be microwaved and stale coffee.

Pretty sure that was it. It seemed to be good enough for Josie, who was sitting at one of the tables watching the muted news report on the TV behind the bar.

Maeve was two steps ahead of me, and when she spotted her mother at that table, she spun around so fast she barreled right into my chest. “I think she saw me,” she said, her face pressed into my shirt like she wanted to hide inside of me.

“Why do you think that?”

“She put down her fork, and she looked shocked. Also, she was staring directly at me.”

I held Jane in one arm, and with my other arm, I gave Maeve’s shoulder a little squeeze. “You can do this. We’ll wait for you right here. ”

Maeve came out five minutes later, looking like a brave warrior. Until her eyes met mine. I saw every emotion play out on her face: pride, panic, relief, sadness. Every part of me wanted to wrap her up in my arms, to hold her tightly and give her every ounce of strength I possessed.

“That was fast,” I said. “Did you talk to her?”

“Yeah. We made plans for dinner next Sunday. She wanted me to sit with her now, but it was gross in there, and it wasn’t public enough for my liking.

We’ll go to Millie’s for pizza instead.” She was absently stroking Jane’s head as she talked.

Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and she froze.

“Shoot. I should have checked with Jackson first to make sure he could babysit her. I really don’t want to take her with me.

If Josie isn’t sober, the last thing I want is to subject Jane to her.

Jackson has never watched her while she was awake.

Do you think he…” The expression on my face must have stopped her in her tracks.

It was borderline offensive that she didn’t think to ask me, and the scowl on my face must have indicated as much. “What? What’s wrong?”

“I’ll watch her.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. My eyebrow quirked up, and I just stared at her silently. I had fed her, changed her, put her to sleep, been there for bathtime. This little girl had become my life. “Oh, okay. If you are sure you don’t mind.”

* * *

Sunday night, I got to Maeve’s house a little earlier than she asked me to.

She didn’t need me here until half past five, but I knew she was going to be nervous, anxiously wringing her hands and smoothing down imaginary wrinkles in her dress.

I had seen her do it too many times to count.

Plus, I wanted to talk to her about what Luke found in his background check before she left for the dinner.

I knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer.

The doorknob turned in my hand, so I let myself in.

I could hear music coming from down the hallway.

Jane was fussing in her bounce chair. I scooped her up because she liked to be held, and I was a sucker, and I yelled out to Maeve to let her know I was here.

The music changed from something poppy and upbeat to a country song about love just as the volume increased with the opening of the bathroom door.

Maeve walked out wearing a towel wrapped around her, her hair wet, face makeup-free and fresh. My cock came alive at the sight of her. I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly tight, and I ran my hand along my scruff, needing to make sure I wasn’t drooling.

A surprised squeal came from Maeve when she spotted me, but she didn’t turn back around or try to hide. “Goodness, Wyatt. You scared the bejesus out of me!”

She turned down the volume of her phone with one hand while her other hand ran her fingers through her hair. Neither hand was holding up that towel, and I had never wanted gravity to work faster in my life. She must have secured it well, though, because it didn’t move an inch. “You’re here early.”

“Just thought I would help keep Jane busy while you got ready.”

“It’s not a date, Wyatt.” She laughed softly. “It’s just dinner with Josie. Not a big deal,” she lied, smoothing her hands across the towel, grazing down her body from her sternum to the top of her thighs.

She rounded the corner and started her way up the stairs, my gaze tracking her the entire way, her ass swaying with every step.

Jane continued to fuss in my arms. She seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason. Go figure, the most easygoing baby was going to pull a one-eighty as soon as I was responsible for her.

Maeve was back downstairs, dressed in a simple light blue dress with little wavy sleeves, within fifteen minutes. Her hair was still wet, but she had pulled it into a knot on her head. Her white sandals were tied around her ankle with little straps.

We talked about Jane’s weird mood and Maeve’s timeline for feedings and naps. She told me that she and Jane had spent some time outside this morning, and she was fine. It was only about thirty minutes ago that she’d started fussing, and she didn’t want her bottle at her regular feeding time.

“I should cancel. Tell Josie that Jane’s not feeling well.”

“You don’t need to cancel. I can take care of her. I’m not forcing you to go if you don’t want to, but don’t cancel because Jane is a little fussy. I’ve got this.”

“I don’t want to leave her when she’s not feeling well.” Maeve picked up her phone and put it right back down. After staring at it for a second, she picked it up again, and again, she put it right back down. “Should I cancel?”

“Do you want to meet with her?” I asked. It wasn’t my place to step in the middle of her family business.

“Yeah… I think… I don’t know. I think I’m just afraid of what I’ll find out.”

Oh shit. Luke’s information. I had completely forgotten about it once Maeve came out of that bathroom in nothing but a towel.

“Actually, I might be able to help a little with that. According to her background check, she’s been arrested four times in the last ten years, only one charge sticking, possession of a controlled substance, and she went into a rehab program rather than jail for it.

Two of the other charges were drug related, and the other one was solicitation, but they were all dropped.

” Maeve’s eyes were wide, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper as I talked through what Luke had told me. “Last arrest was eighteen months ago.”

“What? How? What the heck, Wyatt! You had Josie investigated, and you didn’t think to ask me first?”

“No. I mean, I asked Wes to keep an eye on her, but that’s not an investigation. And Luke ran a background check for me.”

“I don’t know how I feel about this.” She was pacing now. Jane was crying in my arms as I kept my eye on Maeve. Luke warned me not to go digging, but Maeve should be happy I found out what I did, right? She wanted to know what she was walking into, and I got her that information.

“At least now you know what she’s been up to.” Maeve shot me an unimpressed glare. I had to pinch my lips together not to smile at it. She was so damn cute when she was mad. “Go. Ask her about her past. Now you’ll know if she’s lying to you.”

“That’s true.” She nodded in agreement, her hands still knotting and fidgeting. “Thank you, I think. But Wyatt…” She glared at me.

“I’ll never do a background check on your sketchy family members again. Not without asking you first.”

She chuckled and shook her head at me, so I flashed her a wide grin.

“Okay. I’m going. You sure you’re okay with Jane tonight?”

“Go.” I had to spin her toward the door. She took three steps and then turned back around just to kiss Jane on the forehead.

“Okay. Okay. I really am going now,” she said, grabbing her purse and keys and heading for the door.