Page 29 of I Found You
“Just been here, working on the truck.”
“Yeah, you’re always here now. Got yourself a new daddy and forgot about us, huh?” The kid laughed and punched Jackson in the shoulder. Jackson winced. It didn’t look like a hard punch, but it wasn’t exactly a friendly one either. What the fuck was he doing hanging out with these kids?
“Fuck off. What did you have going on yesterday?” The kid clearly hit a nerve. Jackson straightened his back and tipped his chin up. He looked more like one of them, part of a littlegang of hoodlums that ran the streets.
“Nothing at all.” He motioned his head toward me. Kid was as subtle as a wrecking ball. “Let’s get out of here though. We got things to do.”
I hadn’t moved from my position by the truck, staying completely silent during their exchange. I used a rag to clean my hands and crossed my arms across my chest. The group of three all made their way to the door, just assuming Jackson was going to follow them out. His eyes darted from their retreating backs to me, and I could see the indecision wearing on him.
“You don’t have to worry about this.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the truck or whatever his friends had planned for him today. “I’ll be back tomorrow to work on it.”
“You can stay here and work on your truck if you want. They give you any shit about it, just let me know,” I told him, my expression hard and serious. Nothing good was happening with this crowd. Jackson would be wise to stay far away from them.
“No. The truck will still be here tomorrow. I’m going to hang with my boys for a while.”
I gave him a quick nod and watched as he hurried to catch up with them.
I finished my day at the garage, getting my own work done. I still had to shower and change before I picked Maeve and Jane up for dinner at my dad’s tonight.
My chest felt weird when I pulled up in front of Maeve’s house. I felt like I was on edge. But that would make no fucking sense. I’d been spending a lot of time at Maeve’s. Every day, really. After work, I had been coming by Maeve’s to hang out with her and Jane. We took Jane for walks afterwe ate whatever Maeve decided to cook for dinner and I had all of the dishes cleaned up. Jane loved the docks. She would ooh and aah at the birds and the boats. I liked to sit with Jane at the end of the dock and dip her feet in the ocean. When we got back to Maeve’s, I would get to work scraping the chipped paint off her siding. It was slow going since I was only able to put in an hour or so every evening, but it was getting done. Before I left for the night, I would help with the nighttime routine, getting Jane bathed and changed for bed. That little girl had stolen my heart from the first day I met her. I could not imagine how anyone could leave her lying on the ground, hidden under some brush, alone in the world.
I had never seen myself as a domestic kind of guy before—never even been in a serious relationship—but with Maeve and Jane, I didn’t mind it so much.
I rapped on Maeve’s door, wearing a pair of dark green shorts and the cleanest white T-shirt I could find.Side note: it might be time for me to pick up some new plain white T-shirts that aren’t stained or stretched out.The edginess I felt tripled when she opened the door. She was wearing one of those flirty little sundresses that I associated her with, but I didn’t remember seeing her in this particular one before. The bright yellow color made her look like the sun. The top went all the way up to her neck, but it wrapped around the base of her throat and left her shoulders bare. It came down to just above her knees, and it had a little tie that wrapped around her middle.
“Is this alright? Should I change?” she asked. It took all of my effort to drag my eyes back to her face.
My voice was rough, and it was like my lungs forgot how to work. “You look like the fucking sun.”
“Um, I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Is the color toobright? It’s too much, right? Give me two minutes, I’ll throw something else on.” She handed me Jane and turned to go inside, but I reached out and grabbed her arm, halting her.
“No, don’t change.” I didn’t mean for it to sound so commanding, but she looked beautiful, and I didn’t like the idea that she felt she needed to look any other way. Images of walking into my father’s house with her on my arm looking just like this flashed through my head.
Shock was evident in her eyes, along with something else. With the way her face pinked, I would venture that something else was interest. “Okay.”
My free hand pressed lightly on her lower back as we walked to her car. Maeve got into the driver’s seat as I was putting Jane in her car seat. I had to remind myself that this wasn’t a date. I didn’t date sweet girls who took in babies with no family. I didn’t date kind girls who raised their brother on their own when they were barely old enough to take care of themselves. Maeve was the type of girl who was looking for forever, but that wasn’t for me. It was for Luke, for Reid, maybe even for Lydia—although who the hell knew what she was up to in the relationship world—but that had never been in my future.
As with most places in this town, my dad’s house was only a few minutes from Maeve’s. We had just pulled onto his street when her arm shot out like a cannon, and she grabbed my bicep. “Oh my goodness, I forgot to bring the wine. I bought wine, and I forgot it on my counter.”
“Don’t worry about it. You didn’t need to bring anything. It’s just dinner.”
She removed her hand from my arm and started to smooth it along her skirt. I had the strangest urge to take it in mine.The fact that she was so nervous was kind of cute, but it also made me think she might think this was more than it was. Holding her hand might give her the wrong idea, so I kept mine to myself. It didn’t stop my gaze from drifting to her hands though, where she rubbed them up and down her thighs, wondering what it would feel like if those were my hands on her leg. I would squeeze her thigh tight enough that she would be able to feel every finger but not so tight that it would hurt. I would gently guide her leg toward me, opening her wider.
Fuck. Focus, Wyatt. You’re at your father’s house for a fucking family dinner. The last thing I need is to walk in there with a fucking boner.
Noise was coming from the backyard, so instead of heading into the house, I guided Maeve to the gate that led to the patio while she held Jane against her like she was a shield. Apparently, we were the last to arrive. Even Sheila Rawlins was already here. I hid my smile and grabbed me and Maeve a drink each. I went around the group, telling Maeve who everyone was.
“You know Reid already. That’s his girlfriend, Kayleigh. They’ve been together for years, high school sweethearts. My other brother, Luke, is with his wife, Juliet.” I took a sip of my beer, not having anything to add to that relationship dynamic. “And this is my father, Charlie,” I told her just as my dad came walking up to us.
“You must be the nice lady that Reid says is stealing our Wyatt’s time.” My father smiled down at Maeve, but I pretended he was talking to Jane.
Resting my hand on Jane’s head and looking directly at her so that my meaning wouldn’t be confused, I said, “Yeah, she’s just too damn cute to stay away from.” Really laying it onthick, I added, “Do you want to hold her?”
My father had always had my back. He picked up my cue and ran with it. “Haven’t had a baby in my arms in a long time since none of you seem to want to make me a grandfather,” he chided playfully. Smiling at Maeve, he added, “I’d be happy to take her off your hands.”
I looked over at Luke, our eyes meeting. He’d wanted to be a father for a long while now, but Juliet had been holding off, waiting until they were more established or some such shit. It sounded fine, except my brother was already well situated in the Calla Bay Police Department, and Juliet only worked part-time at a fitness studio with no intention to grow. What she was waiting for specifically, I had no fucking clue, but it wasn’t any of my business.
Music was playing through the outdoor speakers, some light rock from the ’70s. Sheila’s homemade lasagna was on the patio table, along with a salad that could feed the block. The smell of garlic bread wafted through the air, and my stomach rumbled.
