Page 43 of Drive Me Wilde

We walk across the yard. "She's fine," I call. Rio's mom is one of the first to turn around because she hasn't traveled more than fifty feet in her search.

"Mom?" Rio says quietly.

"I've got her!" Nicole yells. "I've got her!" She hurries toward us. Jameson shoots out of the forest like he's got rockets on his shoes. Nicole reaches Rio first.

"Don't ever do that again," she says harshly, then pulls her into a rough, clumsy hug. "Don't worry. This isn't going to happen again."

Rio sees Jameson and his brothers coming toward her. She pulls from her mom's arms, runs to Jameson and leaps into his arms. He swings her around kissing her forehead a hundred times. "Tiger, you nearly killed your dad, do you know that?" He looks past Rio to Nicole. "Where'd you find her?"

Rio shakes her head. "It wasn't Mom. Indi found me." Jameson gives me a look that nearly tugs the heart right out of my chest.

Zander grabs Rio from Jameson. She squeals with delight as he props her up on his massive shoulders to parade around. Everyone claps and cheers.

Jameson heads my direction, but Nicole steps into his path. "She's packing her stuff and coming with me."

"Over my dead body," Jameson says.

Nicole grins and holds up her phone. "I taped all of this and just sent the whole incident to my lawyer. He says we've got a solid case to grab full custody."

"Have your lawyer call mine, and we'll see about that," a deep, raspy voice says from behind. Finn didn't say it loudly, but everyone stopped their conversations and turned his direction. Nicole's posture looks a little less straight when she sees Finn standing a few feet away with his beefy arms crossed.

"She's my child," Nicole says. "I raised her."

"And you did an admirable job, or maybe the kid is just so great, she grew up amazing in spite of you," Finn says. "If you're going to be threatening to take her from us, then you better be ready for one helluva battle."

I didn't see Kinsley arrive. She's suddenly at my side. "Wow, didn't expect this," she says quietly in my ear. I shake my head to agree.

"You have no right to keep her from me," Nicole says to Jameson. "Right now, you have no legal rights to keep her. I'm her guardian. You're just a name on her birth certificate." Nicole walks away with her phone to her ear.

"Don't worry, son, we'll get this taken care of," Finn says in an ominous tone.

Jameson holds up his hand. "Stop, Dad. We'll do this my way. Not your way. I'll get this straightened out."

Finn shrugs his big shoulders, then looks over at me. His brows furrow. "Is that little Indiana Nash? Zander mentioned you were back in town." He casts a sly smile at Jameson and then spins around. His whistle splits the air and sends birds out of the trees. He doesn't say a word as he opens his thick arms wide. Zander puts Rio on the ground, and she runs straight into Finn's arms.

"Nonna always said we all misjudged the Wilde boys," Kinsley says quietly. "And Nonna was never wrong."

eighteen

. . .

Jameson

Rio is holding my arm tightly, telling me about her sleepover and the kitten and the cookies they baked. This morning's craziness is already behind her, but I feel as if I aged ten years in those frantic minutes. Indi drives us back to the house in Zander's truck. The dimple in her cheek creases deeper as Rio tells her stories. The one thing Rio doesn't talk about is where she was the whole time.

"How and where did you find her?" I finally ask. I'm hoping this never happens again, but I want to be ready and informed if it does.

Indi and Rio exchange secret winks. "A girl never shares her friend's secret," Indi says. "But she won't do this again. Right, Rio?"

Rio nods. "Right."

I'm about to prod further, but my lawyer has finally returned my call. And just in time. Nicole is parked in front of the house. I hop out first and walk away from the truck, a few yards down the sidewalk, to have my conversation. "Hey, Charlie, what did you find out?"

His pause doesn't help relieve the knot that's been in my stomach all morning. "Just to clarify—there was never anyformal agreement on custody, right? Nicole just sent Rio to you and that was that."

"Right. She called me one day and told me I was a dad and that she needed a break from being a single parent. It was a lot to absorb all at once, and frankly, legalities didn't even enter my mind."

"First, the bad news—Nicole has every right to take Rio right now, and there's not much you can do to stop her. The last thing you want to do is something impulsive or illegal. And that brings me to the good news. We can get this custody battle started. With character references and witnesses to prove that you're a good father, we can get partial custody for sure."

---