Page 111 of Take My Kiss
“Is that okay?” I ask Lily, and when she nods, I hand her over to him. “Night, baby.”
“She’s adorable,” Samuel says. “You named her after Grandmama, huh? She would’ve loved that.”
“Yep. Makes it feel like she’s with us too.”
“Colton seems good with her.”
“He is, especially for someone who doesn’t have their own kids.” I think about how great a dad he’d be and smile. “They’ve really enjoyed their time here. Neither seem to wanna go back.”
“Can’t blame ’em. It’s a gorgeous place.”
“How’d you find me? Only a handful of people knew I was here.”
“Troy has a lot of friends at the police department, so he called in a favor to find which cell towers you were usin’. It took a few days, but once he got ’em, we narrowed it down to Willow Branch Mountain. Then he managed to narrow it down even more to this resort.”
“And how did you find my house?” Colton asks, entering the kitchen.
“That was a happy accident. Troy and I were at the restaurant so he could show the staff your photo and ask if they’d seen you. One of the servers said she thought she’d just seen you leave, so I hurried out to check and saw y’all get into his truck. But it was dark, and I couldn’t get a good look at you to be certain. I didn’t wanna risk followin’ you and then itnotbe you. So, we finished our drinks and decided to drive around the resort to look for the same vehicle. I figured you were here as a guest, so we went around to the cabins and tents but didn’t find it. So, Troy and I went back to our hotel.
“But I couldn’t sleep and kept thinkin’ you had to be here somewhere, so I decided to come back on my own and look higher up the mountain. That’s when I saw the long driveway and decided to walk up. I didn’t wanna risk my headlights or the sound of my car alertin’ anyone since I’d planned on comin’ back tomorrow durin’ the day if the truck was here. When I noticed it, I got excited and tried to open the door to check the registration or any ID to verify that the woman was you.
“And well, you know how well that went for me.” He laughs nervously. “I do apologize. I should’ve waited.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” I walk around the island and pull him back in for a hug. “But I’m still curious ’bout that day.”
“The night after the grocery store incident, I followed you ’cause we still didn’t have your full address. We had the town name and your phone number, which Troy had already given to Mom before realizin’ who she was. But I couldn’t just call you up and expect you to believe it was me.
“So, I came back that night to look for your car, and when I found it in a duplex driveway, I just wanted to peek in to see which one was yours. I was nervous that if I showed up at the wrong door, they’d call the sheriff on me or somethin’ since it’s private property. In hindsight, I realize that was a stupid idea. I didn’t expect Sam to wake up and felt so incredibly bad when he did. After that, I stayed away for a while, but then learned you left town. That’s when we had to outsource some help.”
“I had a friend over that night with her baby, so his scream woke everyone up. I called the sheriff, and the staff was notified. Honestly, it was a shit show, especially ’cause Sam confirmed it was the same man from the grocery store. That’s why we packed up and left. I figured some stalker or kidnapper was after my son, and now he knew where I lived.”
“We even tried movin’ her car to different areas in town to see if you’d show up or follow her again,” Colton explains. “We’ve all been on high alert.”
He winces. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. I had no idea when Mom was gonna get ahold of you, so I was panickin’ and hopin’ I’d get to you before she did. At the very least, inform you of her plan and to keep your kids away from her. When she told Troy that she was tryin’ to find her daughter after being estranged for years, I had a bad feelin’ that somethin’ horrible happened. I knew she couldn’t be trusted.”
“Now that I think ’bout it…” I chew on my bottom lip, leaning against the counter. “That number called a few times,but since I didn’t have it saved, I sent it to voicemail, but she never left a message. The only reason I picked up that mornin’ is ’cause I forgot to put my phone on silent the night before, and I was half asleep. She’s been waitin’ for my response ’bout comin’ to visit Dad before he gets worse. But then, Sam escaped, and Remy got hurt. So, I hadn’t thought ’bout it too much besides that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go.”
“I suspect she’s gonna reach out again soon while pretendin’ she gives a damn that he’s dyin’. She’ll act like she misses you and wants to meet her grandchildren. But I’m afraid now, if you ignore her or tell her you won’t come, she’ll try to find you. She already asked Troy to find your location.”
“Shit,” Colton hisses.
“What’d Troy say?”
“He’s pretendin’ to work on it so she doesn’t hire someone else who will actually give her what she wants. He told her you just moved, so nothing’s been updated with your new address yet, and that’s why it’s takin’ longer.”
“So, safe to assume, she’ll hire someone else after a while if he doesn’t come through,” Colton groans. “Which means, we need to come up with a plan before she does.”
“And if Troy found you here through your cell phone tower usage, another PI can too, or through other various ways. Some will do shady things to get paid.”
“Great,” I deadpan, sighing with mental exhaustion. “So I need to stay in hidin’.”
“I’ll tell Troy to keep her on the hook and that he’s gettin’ close, so she doesn’t go another route. But I dunno how long she’ll tolerate without gettin’ results.”
“I’ll call Wilder and Maddox tomorrow,” Colton says firmly, wrapping his arm around me. “We’ll figure out somethin’.”
“Or I could just sign the stupid papers and not have to deal with any of this?” I suggest.
I’ve gone this long without their money. I don’t want or need it now.
