Page 23 of Shelter for Shay (Broken Heroes Mended Souls #2)

“You’re telling me you actually got attacked by a raccoon?” Todd asked, eyebrows raised over his wineglass and a half smile curled on his lips.

“Oh, he did.” Shay smiled, remembering the story. “He called me the next day with the biggest bruised ego.”

“This was recent?” Becca asked.

“Just the other day.” Moose nodded, rubbing his arm. “Guy came at me like he had a grudge. I was just trying to refill the chicken feeder.”

“See?” Todd said, pointing a finger at Becca. “This is why I don’t do pets. Or wilderness. Or even camping because there are raccoons on those islands in the Narrows.”

“Just to clarify, because normally nothing gets by me. I’d been distracted.

Thinking about other things. It was dark.

I was in a bit of a rush, waiting for someone to call, who was late in doing so, by the way,” Moose continued.

“I had a headlamp and a rake, but it still got the drop on me because I wasn’t following my own rules by checking my six.

Damn thing got hold of my pant leg. I tried to shake it off.

It wasn’t having that. Thank God the chickens got involved. They saved my life.”

Shay laughed so hard she nearly dropped the plate of cookies in her lap. “Now you’re exaggerating.”

“Only about saving my life, but it felt like they did,” Moose said with a smirk. “They chased that raccoon off while I was flat on my back, staring at the stars, making the decision that I no longer like raccoons.”

“I never liked those creatures, no matter how cute they look.” Shay shuddered.

“Exactly.” Moose smiled. “So, what’s it like being an accountant?”

“Everyone thinks my job is boring,” Todd said.

“That all I do is sit and look at numbers, statistics, and analyze shit all day, which isn’t necessarily untrue.

Sometimes my daily function is boring as sin.

I’ll record transactions. Prepare spreadsheets.

It can be mind-numbing. But all of that is necessary to see the bigger picture so you can make the bigger decisions.

And that’s the fun part of my job. When I get to dive into those numbers and sit down with a client and help them plan for their future.

I love that part.” Todd’s eyes lit up. His face flexed, tightened, and relaxed all at the same time as he spoke.

“No offense, man, but I think I’ll stick with what I do.” Moose raised his glass and sipped.

“None taken,” Todd said. “I wouldn’t last five seconds in the Navy.”

Shay snuggled in closer to Moose, and he rewarded her by putting his arm around her and kissing her temple.

She glanced around the family room, her mother’s presence still strong.

It pained her to sell the house, but her future wasn’t here.

It never had been. Until today, she had no idea where she belonged.

She’d always believed it had been some exotic place and that when she got there, she’d know.

But she belonged with Moose—wherever he was—and that was such a freeing notion.

Moose’s phone buzzed against the coffee table.

He reached for it, brow furrowing as he read the screen. “It’s Ry.”

Shay straightened in her seat. “From The Refuge?”

He looked at her, then nodded. “Do you want me to take it somewhere private?”

“No,” Shay said, heart thudding. “Becca and Todd know everything. Put it on speaker.”

Moose swiped to answer and placed the phone in the center of the coffee table. “Ry. You’re on speaker with Shay.” Moose pointed to Todd and Becca, then brought his finger to his lips.

“Okay,” Ry said. “Hi, Shay. Moose, you owe me for digging through state-level legal databases without triggering any alerts.”

“I’ll find a way to pay you back,” Moose said.

“Damn right you will. So here’s what I found,” Ry continued, voice careful.

Tight. “All right. Since we already know who Shay’s dad is, I left that alone for now and focused on the other stuff.

I ran every version of Shay’s name through every public court, county, and legal record system I could get access to.

Marriage license. Guardianship. Legal name change.

Custody filings. Nothing came up under any combination of Margaret and Shay using her current last name.

Not even when I toss in Bradley Morrison.

There’s no record of a legal name change at all. At least not in New York.”

Shay felt her body go still, her mind suddenly too loud.

Ry continued gently. “Which means… the birth certificate was never amended and your name has always been Shay Whitaker.”

“My mother’s never lied to me.” Shay bolted to her feet. She paced in front of the coffee table, fingers tangling in her hair. “That makes no sense,” she mumbled. “What about Bradley Morrison? He’s supposed to be my father. What about that?”

“Well, all Katie gave me was an address, so I went a little deeper,” Ry said.

“He’s an insurance guy, living in Saratoga.

Married twenty-five years. Two kids. No record of him ever being married to your mother.

He was born and raised in Albany, moved to Saratoga after college.

Never lived in Lake George. Now, it’s possible they knew each other since they both went to Albany High School.

However, that’s one hell of a big school, and your mom is a year younger than Bradley. ”

Shay stopped pacing, but she didn’t stop twisting her hair.

“My mom told me they moved here because it’s where my dad worked.

They bought this house together, but he gave it to her in the divorce.

Well, he handed her the mortgage payments.

She struggled a lot in the beginning. Working while going to college.

She had no one since her dad died when she was a teenager and her mom died when I was eight.

I never asked my grandma about my dad. I was too young at the time. ”

“I looked into that too, and that part all tracks,” Ry said. “At least the part about your grandparents, but not the parts about Bradley.”

Moose stood and closed the gap. He rested his hands on her hips and kissed her forehead.

Todd had moved closer to Becca. He stood behind the chair, resting his hand on her shoulder.

Becca looked as though she’d been sucker punched in the gut. Shay felt like her world had been flipped upside down… again.

“I’m sending Moose all the information I have on Bradley,” Ry added. “I’ve also got a list of doctors, nurses, etc. who were on duty when Shay was born. I’d suggest speaking with them to see if they remember your mom and if there was a dad there during the birth.”

Shay’s throat closed. “That is like next level digging… how on earth did you find all that?”

“You don’t want to know,” Moose said quietly. “Anything else, Ry?”

“No, that’s all I have for now,” Ry said. “The report should be in your encrypted email by now. But now I want to do a little deeper dive, if that’s okay.”

Moose lifted her chin.

“Yeah, sure,” she whispered. “Might as well see this all the way through.”

“Thanks, Ry.” Moose ran his hands up and down Shay’s arms. “Let’s touch base in a day or two.”

He ended the call and the room went very quiet.

Shay leaned over and snagged her wineglass. She took two large gulps. Her mother had always been solid. The kind of person you could rely on. And she was kind. Loving. Even when she had to be firm. She always knew how to balance between discipline and allowing Shay to have a few inches of freedom.

But the one thing Margaret Whitaker always demanded in life…

was honesty. She couldn’t stand lying. She got enough of that from her students.

She had to extract the truth from them like she were a dentist. She gave them grace because she often understood why.

Their lives were chaos and often the only thing that gave them peace were the lies they told in order to quiet the noise.

“Why would she lie about this? My father didn’t want me.

Big deal. Why make up a story about being married, divorced, and changing my name if all that happened was she got pregnant and he said, sorry, not gonna have anything to do with that? ”

“We have no idea what actually happened,” Moose said softly.

“She could’ve been having an affair,” Todd offered. “What about that cabin she used to go to when she wanted a moment to herself? Some time away from school and all the troubled souls.”

“She always told us that it belonged to an old friend from college,” Shay said. “Someone who let her use it when things got tough or she just needed a break. She didn’t go there often.”

“But it’s something to consider, especially since this Bradley guy was married,” Moose said.

“But your friend at the Refuge said he’d been married for twenty-five years,” Shay said. “He wouldn’t have been married when I was conceived.”

“There are any number of scenarios that could play out.” Becca pointed to the window. “What about asking Mrs. Pewter? She’s lived here forever and she would have been here when your mom moved in.”

“I asked her once.” Shay nodded. “She said when we first moved here, my mom didn’t socialize much. That she was busy with school and me. But a man did come and go sometimes. I showed her that picture my mom gave me, and she didn’t know if it was the same guy or not.”

“Your mother said your dad traveled a lot for work,” Becca said.

“She did, but that doesn’t matter if she lied about everything.

” Shay moved toward the small table near the window.

She filled her glass and sighed. Staring out into the dark night, she thought about her childhood.

Really examined what she thought she knew.

Her life hadn’t been easy, but it hadn’t been hard either.

While she hadn’t all the things her friends had growing up—she did have love.

Moose came up behind her, wrapping his strong hands around her middle. “Regardless of what we’ve uncovered or what it might mean, your mom, she loved you and that matters.”

“Then why create such an elaborate lie?”

“Maybe because she was only nineteen when she got pregnant with you,” Becca offered gently. “Maybe she thought she was protecting you, or herself. It wasn’t easy for her to raise a child alone, but to do it with the stigma of no husband, that’s hard.”

“We’re only talking twenty-eight years ago,” Shay said, turning to face her best friend. “Women were raising kids alone all the time. There’s no shame in it.”

“I wish that were true,” Todd said. “There’s a young woman in my office right now who’s single and pregnant.

The father doesn’t want any part of her or the child’s life, and she’s pretty happy about that.

I feel bad for her because half the office judges her behind her back, making comments about how she should have done something else or made a different decision.

It’s painful for me to watch because if she had an abortion or was giving that child up, those same people would still be judging. ”

“So, you think my mom made up this elaborate lie about a husband who left us because she was worried about being judged?” Shay asked with more frustration than she’d meant. “That doesn’t sound like my mom.”

“Maybe not. But we didn’t know her when she was nineteen.” Becca rose. “Think about how different we were back then.”

“Okay. I can see how she might have been a scared young girl,” Shay said. “But why not tell me my father died? Why tell me he left us? Left me?” Shay tapped the center of her chest. “That’s given me all sorts of issues.”

“Okay. All these what-ifs aren’t helping.

” Moose shifted his stance, bending over and lifting his bourbon, taking a hefty gulp.

“We’ve got that meeting with someone from Katie Donovan’s office tomorrow.

I believe his name is Rufus Brown. Katie said he did a stint with the New York City PD before coming up here. ”

“I’ve met him,” Todd said. “Seems like a solid dude.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m sorry to say, but Becca and I need to get going. We’ve got a teenage babysitter tonight who can’t stay out too late.”

“I totally understand.” Shay set her glass down and walked her friends to the front door.

She hugged Becca and said her goodbyes. She stood there, hugging her middle, feeling the cool autumn air smack her skin.

She closed her eyes and let the tears come silently, her jaw locked tight, throat burning.

“Hey now. Don’t cry.” Moose pulled her against him and held her there, his hand running slow circles over her back.

“I should have asked more questions when she was alive.” Shay dropped her head to Moose’s shoulder and sighed. “I knew something didn’t add up, and yet I ignored it.”

He tilted her chin with his thumb. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. There was no reason for you to believe anything other than what she told you. Now, let’s go inside. I’ll clean up while you take a nice long hot bath. Then we can watch that movie you were talking about.”

“Sounds perfect.” She laced her fingers with his and followed him into the house. She had no idea how she’d get through any of this when he returned to Virginia in a couple of days.

God, she hoped she didn’t get called for jury duty.