Page 92 of Lost and Found

“Hmm.” He put it back in the bag. “We’ll figure it out. I’ll update Wes when I find something.”

“Thanks,” she said as Dean left.

Vivian stared out her window. “Look at all of them being cute.”

“Hmm?”

She gestured Bailey behind her desk. “I guess they found something more interesting than exploring this old house.”

She joined Vivian at the window that overlooked a large lawn with a gazebo. A football sailed through the air. Matt ran alongside Wes, Callum, and three other men she’d never seen before.

“I guess Wes took your son to meet the team. That’s Rhys,” Vivian said, pointing to the man who had launched the football. “Callum next to Wes. Eli and Decker acting like imbeciles.” She laughed. “These guys. They’re a rowdy bunch. Good as the summer day is long. But damn, they’re a handful.”

The game transitioned from one guy throwing the football to everyone into a version of monkey in the middle. Callum tossed the ball to Wes, who soft-lobbed it to Matt, then whisked him up and onto his shoulder. Matt threw the ball over one guy’s head for another to catch. Wes tossed Matt into the air like he was a quarter of his size, then set him down. Callum ran around them like they were MVPs. Bailey’s heart caught in her throat.

She really wanted to imagine life could look like this after they’d figured out who was bothering her. She really wanted… all of this.

Sweaty and having a hell of a great time, Wes almost didn’t want to leave their headquarters. But Rhys and Decker had to head to Washington, DC, for a congressional meeting, and Eli owed Vivian a report.

Wes needed to run them home for forgotten supplies. Well, not home. To the safe house on Magnolia Boulevard, which wasn’t that far from his place. It was odd to be back in town but not home. Even odder that it hadn’t occurred to him to go home. He’d been living out of a suitcase for almost three weeks.

At the safe house, they all went inside. Bailey loaded a crossbody bag with snacks and water bottles, then they walked to the park. Matt chattered a mile a minute, spouting space facts and explaining his video game strategies. Wes hadn’t known listening to a kid talk could be exhausting, but at the same time…he liked it—the energy and excitement, the fresh look at the world from a perspective that wasn’t jaded or expecting the worst. “Matt’s a great kid.”

“He’s a pretty cool little guy,” she said.

He loved that about her. Bailey loved being a mom and liked her son as much as she loved him. How different would Wes and his sister’s lives be if they hadn’t been a burden to their parents?

His best friend’s family gave him a good perspective on a healthy family dynamic, but that wasn’t enough to replace the picture in his head of how a family interacted and connected. Now, after spending time with Bailey and Matt, he found they were fundamentally rewriting his understanding of family.

A future with Bailey didn’t just mean dating a woman with a child and molding his life to work with theirs. It meant creating a unit together. Just as he’d become part of the Titan team, with his life in others’ hands, both Bailey and Matt would rely on him as much as he relied on them.

Damn, he wanted to put his hands on her right that moment. He let out a breath and kept trucking, hands at his sides, watching Matt run ahead, only to run back and explain that bees can fly sixty miles in a day.

“I saw you guys playing football,” she said.

Grateful for the distraction about the future, he chuckled. “That wore me out. I don’t know how Matt’s still running.”

“If I could bottle his energy, I would retire the richest woman in the world.”

“It was a lot of fun.”

“I think you made his day. He’ll certainly remember playing football with you all.”

Good. That was a memory Wes wanted Matt to keep. “He’s got a good arm.”

They reached the park, and Matt bolted to the playground. Bailey trotted after him. The open green space gave him more room to breathe, and Wes shook off his thoughts as he surveyed the sunny June morning.

The park and playground were busier than he’d expected. Then again, using a park on a weekday morning had never crossed his mind. He’d chosen the one closest to Magnolia Boulevard. It seemed like a good one. Kids climbed, ziplined, swung, and jumped. Matt and Bailey smiled. Exactly what Wes wanted.

He alternated between scanning the park and locking on the swings where Bailey casually chatted with another woman as she pushed Matt. Wes scanned the parking lot and the trail that fed into the woods, but his gaze kept pulling back to them. Matt laughed, head tipped back, legs outstretched, Bailey pushing him higher and higher.

She was a damn good woman, and an outstanding mom. His chest twisted. It was the most picture-perfect park day he could imagine. Wes wanted this life. He wanted a family. He wanted them.

Matt pumped his legs. “Higher! Higher!”

“I’m trying!” Bailey pushed him again with two hands, giggling.

She pulled her phone out of her crossbody bag and glanced at the screen. Her posture changed. The easygoing conversation with the woman beside her died. Bailey stepped back from Matt, shoulders rigid, mouth a thin line.