Page 16 of Shelter for Shay (Broken Heroes Mended Souls #2)

SHAY – LAKE GEORGE, NEW YORK

SHEPARD PARK – EARLY AFTERNOON

T he playground was alive with the sounds of shrieking joy and chaos. For the first time in days, Shay felt light. She still missed her mom and figured that would always be the case. She knew it would ease over time, but she had good friends… and now a boyfriend.

God, that was so weird to even think.

Her mother was probably doing the tango up in heaven.

Two toddlers chased each other between the swings and the slide, one in a red puffer vest, the other with pigtails flopping as she ran, doing her darndest to keep up with her Irish twin brother. Shay used to think forty was the perfect age to have children.

Now, she figured younger was better. Wow. What a thought. One that scared her and she had no idea if that was something Moose even wanted. Inwardly, she groaned. Ever since Moose had informed her he would be deployed, she’d been consumed with doubt and strange thoughts.

“Hey, slow down there, kiddo.” Becca barely flinched as her youngest attempted to scale a bench with a juice box in her teeth like a squirrel.

It amazed Shay how easily Becca had adjusted to parenthood. She was a natural. Like that had been her sole purpose in life.

Shay sat beside her on a sun-warmed bench, a travel coffee cup in her hands, her eyes on the sparkling lake just past the trees. A breeze lifted the edge of her scarf. Fall was officially settling in—crisp air, amber leaves, and the quiet sense that change was just over the next hill.

Normally, Shay welcomed change. She thrived in it.

It’s why she moved around so much. She’d loved seeing the world and what it had to offer.

But now she felt as though something had passed her by.

It was as if while she’d been out there living the dream, she’d missed the best thing in her life… her mom.

And perhaps love. Family.

“I swear,” Becca muttered, watching her daughter leap off the end of a slide with zero regard for gravity. “That kid has no fear.”

Shay laughed, but her stomach still fluttered with unease. She needed to stop thinking about all this. She was making herself nuts. Things were too new to go down that rabbit hole. “Did you read the paper this morning?” she asked, needing to redirect her thoughts.

“No, but I saw the news, and it’s going to be nonstop about the murder until the trial,” Becca said. “A real flipping media circus.”

The last thing Shay wanted to contend with was being on a murder trial jury.

Hell, Shay never wanted to serve on a jury, ever.

Sure, she understood it was her civic duty and all that.

But the idea that someone’s freedom, or lack thereof, could be in her hands made her more than skittish.

That kind of responsibility was for someone else.

“I can’t believe they’re holding the trial right here in our little town,” Shay said, watching Becca’s son gleefully fling mulch like confetti.

“I heard the defense tried to get it moved, fearful that they wouldn’t get a fair trial and all that,” Becca said. “But the judge denied it.”

Shay sipped her coffee. “My summons lines up almost exactly with the start of jury selection. What do you think the odds are that I’d get picked for something like that?”

“Terrifyingly high,” Becca replied. “You’ve got that reliable citizen vibe. You scream ‘reasonable and impartial.’ It’s annoying.”

Shay gave a wry smile. “I wish I could get out of it, but I did that a year ago. I don’t think I can do it a second time.”

Becca snorted. “You just buried your mom. Maybe if you ask for special circumstances, they will give you some grace. It can’t hurt to ask.”

Shay tried to laugh again but it came out soft and flat. “Honestly? I’m not sure I have the bandwidth for this. But at the same time, I kind of want to see it through. Not the case but do my duty. Serve my time. I mean, most people call the number and get dismissed.”

“I hate to break it to you, but with your luck these days, you’ll get?—”

“That’s just not nice.”

Becca turned to her, eyebrows raised. “I’m just being realistic.” She waved her hand. “Check the paperwork. It’s possible you’ve missed the deadline to ask for an out, but you should check just in case.”

“Moose looked. I’ve missed it.”

Becca tilted her head, staring at her. “You’ve changed, you know.”

“How so?”

“You’ve always been strong. But now it’s like… you’re allowing yourself to be. However, it’s more than that. It’s like now you’re opening yourself and letting someone in. I’ve never seen you do that. I’ve never seen you really be yourself with a man.”

Shay rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the smile that crept in. “Subtle, Becca.”

“I try.” She smiled. “But seriously, what’s really going on with you and this guy? Because it doesn’t feel casual. It feels real. Deep.”

“I don’t know. It’s so fast and intense.

” Shay watched the kids for a moment. No matter how hard she tried, everything always circled back to Moose.

“We talk every day. We have amazing conversations. He makes me laugh and I can just be with him, but it’s hard and now he’s being deployed in two days and that scares me.

It’s like I’m afraid he might up and vanish on me. ”

“I have three questions.” Becca’s smile faded into something softer. “For how long? And are you worried about his safety? Or is it bringing up all those fears of your dad and how he slipped away in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again?”

Damn, that was way too observant, and Shay had to admit, her best friend hit a nerve.

“He thinks just a week,” Shay said. “He told me he’d try to call, but it might not be possible.”

Becca reached for her iced latte like she needed both hands to brace herself. “And the rest of my questions?”

“I’ll admit I’ve been thinking a lot about my dad lately,” Shay confessed.

“I have one old photograph my mom gave me of him years ago, and a name. But that’s all I have.

My mom never wanted to talk about him and because I loved her and she was such a great mom, I never pushed too hard.

But I’ve started going through her things and I can’t find anything that was his.

Nothing that shows they had two years together.

No wedding pictures, no marriage license.

And my mom kept everything. The woman was a bit of a pack rat. ”

“Those things might have been too painful to keep,” Becca said.

“He did break her heart. Over the years, the only men your mother ever dated were the guys we tried to fix her up with and they never lasted. A few dinners and that was it. She was a little broken from that experience and you, my friend, have always had commitment issues because of it.”

“I have not,” Shay scoffed.

“Oh really.” Becca slurped on her drink before waving it around like a wild woman.

“I swear, half the time you packed up and moved to a different country was because some man got a little too close for comfort. Not to mention, you often picked guys who were players. The kind of dudes who, after a month or two, would get bored anyway.”

Shay narrowed her stare. “Wow. I can’t believe you said that. You’re painting me to be a shallow person who uses people.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Becca shook her head.

“I might have been leery of Moose at first. But Todd and I spent a little time with him the week he was here, and he seems solid. He was attentive and always looking out for your needs. He stood by your side. He didn’t have to stay for the funeral.

He could have come, visited with your mom, and bugged out. But he didn’t. He saw it through.”

“He’s a good man,” Shay agreed. “He’s like no one I’ve ever met before. But this is all happening so fast. It’s overwhelming. Not to mention I’m here and he’s in Virginia and about to be deployed. He also loves the Navy and he’s not leaving that career anytime soon.”

“Okay. So what’s the plan moving forward?”

Shay looked down at the scuffed toe of her boot, then up again. “He’s coming to visit when he’s back. We don’t know when that is, but… he’s coming. And until then, we write. We call. We figure it out.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Yes and no,” Shay said. “I’m scared to death, but somehow he sees me better than anyone ever has.”

Becca smiled, slow and certain. “Terrifying and horribly romantic.”

“Exactly the kind of thing my mother would love.” Shay looked out at the lake, the sun catching the ripples, the wind tugging at the hair near her temple. “She wanted us to meet. She told him that in letters.”

“Is there any part of you that’s worried you’re doing this for her?”

“No,” Shay said quickly. “And before you ask, I don’t believe he is either, and that frightens me even more. The feelings are real. I know that because they were there the second I met him. Maybe even before.”

“How could they have been there before you ever laid eyes on him?”

“The letters,” Shay whispered. “My mom let me read them before he came. God, Becca. His words. The way he put them on paper. They touched me.”

“Damn, that’s a little out there, but sweet.” Becca took Shay’s hand and squeezed. “What do you want?”

“I don’t want to stay here forever. That much I know. But I’ve got things to settle first. My mom’s house. Her files. A hundred pieces of her life still left in drawers and closets. It’s going to be a while before I can even think about where to go next.”

Becca nodded. “But after that?”

Shay looked over at her. “I have this degree, and I’ve always wanted to follow in my mother’s footsteps.

But again, I just don’t want to do it here.

I want to forge my own path. But now that I’ve met Moose, I want him to be part of whatever road I take and that’s strange.

I’ve never thought about my life in terms of someone else except me and maybe my mom.

I know that makes me a selfish person, but that’s just the way I’ve always been. ”