“Absolutely. Her smile told me that she’s kind. Smart. Maybe has a bit of fire to her, which is exactly what you need in your life.”
His lips twitched. “You read all that in one smile?”
“I did. Now, I’d like to have her over for dinner soon.”
He should have seen that coming. “Mom, she just got to town—”
“No, she didn’t. She’s been here for months. Can I trust you to ask her and come back to me with a date?”
He’d understand it if they were dating, but they weren’t. “She’s just renting a room from me.”
“Which means she’s close to you, so I want to get to know her a little better. Now I have to go, but you’ll get me that date, won’t you? I’ll make my pot roast.”
He loved his mother’s pot roast. And he loved his mother. Butsheloved to meddle. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Thank you. Drive home safely, okay?”
“Always. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, honey.”
He hung up and slid his phone into his pocket. He was so aware of how lucky he was to have the family that he had. Aspen deserved more from her own mother. Hopefully, she’d gotten more from her today.
A knock sounded at the door, and he looked up to see Claudia poking her head in. “Can I come in?”
“Of course.”
She stepped inside and his gaze lowered to the folder in her hands, then back up to her face.
And immediately, he knew…he just fuckingknewwhat it was without being told. “That’s information on Dylan Bollard.”
She nodded, and by the look on her face, it wasn’t good.
Shit. “Tell me.”
“He doesn’t have a criminal record, but I dug a little deeper into his past and found something you might be interested in. He used to live in Billings, and he had a fiancée.”
Jesse frowned. “What does that—”
“Her name is Lilly Spawn, and she almost died.”
Every muscle in his body pulled so fucking tight that they could have snapped. “How?”
“She was beaten so badly, she ended up in a coma.”
He wanted to punch something. A wall. A desk.Anything. “He did it.”
“Not according to the police report. She told them it was a home invasion, but police never found evidence of anyone else being there. Then, two months later, she left town and there’s been no sign of her since. She disappeared.”
A vein throbbed in Jesse’s temple. “He almost killed her, and she either ran from him or…”
“He made her disappear.” She held out the folder. “This is the report. It includes photos of what he did to her.”
He almost didn’t want to take it. He forced his hand to stretch out and his fingers to wrap around the folder. Then he opened it.
Fuck.
The woman was black and blue with bruises. Her eye was almost swollen shut, her lip was split and she had bandages everywhere.
