Page 28 of I Found You (Wilder #1)

Wyatt

Earlier that day

I went straight to the garage after leaving Maeve’s house.

Waking up with her wrapped around me had been an unexpected delight.

One part of me, specifically, was instantly enamored with that development.

I hadn’t meant to spend the night. Jane was still fussy when I went to lay her down, so I tried skin-to-skin contact with her to get her to settle down.

Maeve’s bed was just so comfortable, especially after sleeping on the tiny two-seater couch in the hospital waiting room.

Plus, it had the added bonus of smelling like her.

I could still feel her body pressed against mine, her heart beating softly as she breathed.

We didn’t put a set schedule in place. Technically, he was just loaned some garage space as a favor to Maeve.

I didn’t have any authority over his time.

Maybe I would talk to him about coming on board legitimately.

I really did need another set of hands around here if I wanted to stay on top of things and, more importantly, get people back their mode of transportation in a decent time frame.

I had already been at it for a few hours when I heard a car pull up and a door close. At least he came back for another day, I thought, smiling to myself. Just as I predicted, a moment later, the steel door to the garage opened, and Jackson strode in.

“Hey, boss,” he said. As he put down the backpack he always had with him under the workbench, he turned and gave me a strange look. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but I would roll with it for now.

“Morning,” I said to him. “What’s your plan for today?”

“Thought I would stop by, maybe see if you needed any help.” He scratched at his chin, and I could see the beginnings of a beard growing in.

He was looking down, and I could swear he would be kicking dirt with the toe of his boot if there were any of it around.

He had the same anxious energy that Maeve had.

“Yeah, man. I’ve got a bunch of shit on the to-do list today.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m kind of dragging ass today as it is,” I told him.

Walking over to the workbench where I kept a list of things that needed to get done, I picked up Maeve’s travel cup, which had miraculously kept my coffee hot, and took a swig.

I nearly choked as I realized what the look Jackson had given me was about.

There was a sticker with “#1 Teacher” written across it.

Clearly, this wasn’t mine. If he wasn’t going to say anything about it, neither would I.

Besides, nothing happened between Maeve and me, so really, there was nothing to tell.

“What?” I asked him, realizing he had said something that I completely missed. Then it processed a second later—he had asked why I was so tired today.

“Nothing,” he responded quickly.

He was clearly afraid of learning far too much about his sister’s sex life. I chuckled at his discomfort. It wasn’t any of his business one way or another. Maeve was a grown woman; she could do as she pleased. But I also didn’t want to work in awkward silence all day either.

“I was at the hospital most of the night waiting for Maeve. Don’t worry. It was Jane who was sick,” I added when his head snapped up. “Not Maeve.”

I moved the conversation along to the tasks that needed to get done today.

“Why don’t you take on the two brake jobs while I continue to work on Mr. Tutino’s engine.”

“Whatever. That works.”

He seemed off, and not just because he caught me with Maeve’s cup. He moved the first car into the bay like I asked, but he was moving slowly, and his hand kept touching his ribs. “You alright?”

“Yeah. I think I just bruised a rib.”

“How’d you manage that? ”

He took a minute to answer. I lifted my head from the hood of Mr. Tutino’s car. Suddenly, I felt like I really needed to be paying attention to him.

“What happened?” I asked again.

“The guys and I were at a party, and one of them was messing with this girl. She pulled away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go, so I stepped in. He got a couple of quick jabs in. I just wasn’t expecting it, otherwise I would have…”

He would have what? Kicked the shit out of the kid? Jackson wasn’t a big guy. He wasn’t overly tall, and he was lankier than bulky.

“You did the right thing.” I wanted to tell him I was proud of him, but I held it in. I wasn’t his older brother or some father figure to him. I was just his sister’s friend and his kind-of boss.

“Whatever. They’re dickheads anyway. Don’t tell Mae though. She’ll just worry about it.”

He wasn’t wrong. I’d keep this between us, for now. But I was keeping my eye on him. And his fucking “friends.”

We both went our separate ways, working on our respective lists.

A few minutes later, Jackson was on the phone with someone. I could hear him talking but wasn’t really listening, and I had my head under the hood of Mr. Tutino’s SUV when the door was flung open, and Reid stormed in like a grizzly bear.

“It’s over. She’s fucking gone,” he shouted. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Whoa, brother. What the fuck happened?” He was pacing now, his hands on his head. He looked to be on the brink of a breakdown. “Come here,” I told him, guiding him into the small office that had its own door.

He tried to take a deep breath, but his chin started quivering, and his eyes filled with tears. “She left me, Wyatt. I proposed to her, and she broke up with me.”

“Maybe you just took her by surprise. Maybe she just needs a minute, or she just isn’t ready for marriage yet.”

“No. She’s gone. I can tell this isn’t just a fight or something. She’s serious.”

“Start at the beginning,” I told him.

“Saturday night, we took the canoe across the bay and over to Easton’s Cove.

I brought a blanket and some beer and hard seltzers.

I got on one knee, and she was already shaking her head.

I thought she was just shocked, you know.

I told her how much I love her, how I want to spend the rest of my life with her.

” He paused, clearly trying to collect himself before he continued.

I let the silence linger, not wanting to push him to finish the story.

After a few minutes, he continued. “She broke it off right then and there. I was still on one knee, for fuck’s sake.

She said that she’s been wanting to break up for a while, but she didn’t have a good enough reason.

Like she was waiting for me to mess up somehow so that she could cut ties guilt-free. ”

“Fuck, Reid.” I didn’t know what to say. I offered the least helpful platitude a person could. “I’m sorry, man.”

He continued his story, explaining how she left him gaping after her.

I couldn’t even imagine how uncomfortable that canoe ride back must have been.

Fucking torture. He tried to talk to her yesterday, but she wouldn’t answer.

Stuck between wanting to give her space to clear her head and needing to talk things out with her.

Then, this morning, he went to her house, where she lived with her parents .

“Georgie wouldn’t even let me in. I’ve spent more time at their house than my own. They are family to me, and just like that, I can’t see her, can’t talk to her.”

It wasn’t that Kayleigh’s parents were bad people. They were actually pretty decent people. But if Kayleigh asked them to keep Reid away, then that’s what they would do.

“Alright, brother. Let’s get you up. I’m taking you out for lunch,” I told him. Jackson was still working his way through the first car when I told him that I would be back later but to just lock up if he took off before I got back.

Reid had parked behind me, but he was in no state of mind to drive, so I took the driver’s seat and gestured for him to get in the passenger seat.

He didn’t fight me on it, which was for the best because there was no way in hell I was letting him get behind the wheel.

He could barely see out of his bloodshot eyes.

I had no specific place in mind when I took off, driving around town to find something that looked good. I pulled into the Downtown Diner that Sheila owned and put the car in park.

“What if she’s in there?” Reid asked quietly. “I know, I know. This is a small town, and I’m going to run into her sometimes. But not today, Wy. Can we go somewhere out of town?”

So instead of delicious home-cooked-style meals, I drove us twenty minutes out of town and found a Chinese restaurant with dim lighting and sticky seats. When the first thing Reid ordered was a scorpion bowl at 11:30 in the morning, I knew I was going to be in for a long day.

Wyatt: Wok N’ Roll. If you’re not working, I need you here.

Luke: What’s up?

Wyatt: It’s Reid. Just get here .

Luke: On my way

I texted Luke and found luck to be on my side when he was off for the day.

After I roped him into joining us, I reached out to Wes.

We were going to need all the backup we could get.

Me and Reid out to a liquid lunch, in his current state, just felt sad.

If I could get a few more people here, at least we could drink to his misery together.

Wyatt: You busy?

Wes: What do you need?

Wyatt: Backup. All hands on deck situation with Reid. Meet us at Wok N’ Roll

Wes: 10-4

Thirty minutes and one scorpion bowl later, Wes walked in. Not long after that, Luke was there, and he also brought reinforcements in Seb. The table was covered in various food choices, and we munched and drank for hours in that dingy hole-in-the-wall place.

We had just enough alcohol to impair our thinking; that was the only excuse I could come up with for why we decided that right then was the perfect time for five relatively large men—or definitely large if we were talking about Wes—to show up at Tom and Georgie Ingram’s house and demand Kayleigh give Reid back everything that belonged to him.