Page 26 of Shelter for Shay (Broken Heroes Mended Souls #2)

MOOSE – LATER THAT NIGHT, MARGARET’S HOUSE

T he kitchen smelled faintly of chamomile and lemon balm—Margaret’s old tea blend. Moose sat at the table, surrounded by a mess of papers. Old bank statements. Mortgage refinance documents. A folder marked Medical—urgent. He’d never seen so many financial documents in one place.

His adult life had been simple. He owned very little. A small farm. A truck. And the clothes on his back. His bills weren’t complicated. His mortgage wasn’t outrageous. He owned his truck outright. His chickens were probably the biggest expense he had, and that wasn’t too terrible.

The only time he bought new clothes was when Danni told him he had to, and then she’d march him down to the mall and pick them out for him.

He wondered how that would play out now that he had a girlfriend.

In the past, the few women he dated never understood that Danni was like a sister.

For some strange reason, a few women thought he, Danni, and Thor were a throuple. That had always made him chuckle.

He tapped the pencil on the stack of papers and rubbed his temple with his free hand. Shay had gone to rummage through more boxes, but even now, he could feel her unease pulsing from somewhere in the house.

The numbers didn’t lie.

Margaret had refinanced the house twice—once six years ago, and again just six months ago when her diagnosis worsened. But that first refinance set off the quiet alarm in his gut.

The timing didn’t make sense. Margaret was still working at the time. Shay had graduated from college. Tuition had been paid. There hadn’t been any hospitalizations, no surgeries, no crisis—at least not one that Shay knew of.

Shay returned with an armful of folders and envelopes, dropping them on the table with a quiet sigh. She looked tired—dark circles under her eyes, her hair pulled up in a messy bun, one of his sweatshirts drowning her small frame.

“This is everything I could find,” she said softly.

“Mom wasn’t the most organized when it came to this.

But the good news is, she kept everything.

And I mean everything. There were a few boxes in the attic I haven’t gone through yet, so if you think there are still more financials missing, I can go back up. ”

“Let’s see what’s in here first.” He reached for the top folder, carefully pulling out a stack of printed statements.

“Shay…” He cautiously glanced at her. “Did you know your mom was going to refinance the house six months ago?”

“I tried to talk her out of it,” Shay said.

“I told her that we’d figure it all out.

That insurance would pay for whatever, and the rest, we’d simply deal as we went along.

But she figured I could use what little equity she had in the house to handle things when she was gone and hopefully sell the place for more than the mortgage. ”

“And you didn’t go to the bank with her when she did it?”

“You sound incredibly judgmental right now.” Shay folded her arms and glared.

“It’s just that there was so little equity left because of the refinance six years ago.” He tapped the corner of the page. “She pulled a sizable amount out. Forty-five thousand. It was right before she stopped working.”

Shay narrowed her stare. “I had no idea about that until I started going through all this.”

“Any idea why she’d do that?”

“You’re the one who’s been doing the deep dive with all this while I’ve been getting the third degree by the DA and guy whom I once licked ice cream off his tongue.”

Moose growled. Low. Dark. “I’m a jealous man.”

She patted his thigh. “We went on one date. To the ice cream parlor. That kiss, he thought was weird, so that was the end of our dating.” She cocked her head. “I’ve never heard about any of the women you’ve taken out.”

“I’m a loner, and my love life before you was honestly pathetic. You can ask my chickens about it.”

“I think I’d rather ask Thor.” She smiled.

Moose chuckled, waving his hand over the stacks of paper. “Did your mom purchase anything like a new car? Or did she go on a trip of a lifetime? Was there anything that could explain why she’d want that cash and where it went?”

“No. But that was right around the time she’d cut her hours at the high school.

She said she was taking time for herself.

That she wanted to travel more, but travel for her was taking a trip to Vermont.

” Her breath hitched. “We went to Montreal. I just… thought it was something she’d saved for and it honestly wasn’t that expensive.

However, she insisted on paying for both of us.

She’d joked I was ridiculously poor, which is kind of true. I am.”

He set the paper down and offered her a gentle look. “Maybe she set it aside for you. I’ve been searching for a financial advisor or an accountant. I would’ve assumed she used Todd, but she signed them herself.”

She stared down at the table. “That always infuriated me, especially when Todd became an accountant. And he’s mad wicked good with money. What little I do have, I let him take care of. I’d never make it from one country to the next without his advice.”

“That’s good to know. Perhaps I’ll have him take a look at my portfolio.”

“Wow, that’s a big word.”

“Hey, I need to leave something to my chickens.” He batted her nose, then opened a folder Margaret had labeled “investments.” It looked standard at first—modest mutual funds, a dwindling Roth IRA—but tucked in the back was a quarterly statement from an account under the name W.E.H. Holdings, LLC.

He frowned. “You ever heard of this?”

Shay leaned over to look. “No. Is that… is that even hers?”

“It’s in her name. That’s the business designation.”

He flipped through the statement. There were a few years of consistent deposits—$4,000 here, $6,500 there—then suddenly, nothing. The account was closed out about six months before she refinanced the house the first time. Balances zeroed. No forwarding details.

“I don’t understand.” Shay lifted one of the statements. “Is this a company she was investing in?”

“That would be the logical assumption,” Moose said. “But based on the paperwork, it looks like she was listed as the CEO.”

“That makes no sense,” Shay whispered.

He reached for his phone and pulled up Ry’s contact and waved his cell. “Are you okay if I give this all to Ry and let her work her special kind of magic?”

Shay nodded.

He scanned in the documents from the LLC and then all of the banking statements.

Moose: Hey, Ry. I’m going to send you some statements and info regarding an LLC that Shay’s mom was listed as the CEO. I need you to find out absolutely everything you can on this. Dig deep and wide, okay?

He stared at his cell for a full minute waiting for bubbles and when they appeared, he held his breath.

Ry: On it. I’ll let you know when I find anything.

Moose: Thanks. I owe you.

Ry: I know I tease you that you’ll owe me big, but don’t think twice. It’s what I’m here for.

“Don’t be surprised if it takes a few days or even a week before we hear back from Ry about any of this,” Moose said.

Shay exhaled shakily and dropped into the chair across from him. “So my mom had a secret business. And she was basically broke at the end. What the hell?”

Moose set the phone down and reached across the table, covering her hand with his. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so,” she whispered. “Because right now, it just feels like one more mystery I’ll never get answers to—like who the heck is my dad? Because I don’t know what to believe about that. Any news on Bradley Morrison?”

“According to his office, he’s on vacation with his wife until Wednesday.” He squeezed her hand. “Rufus will be heading back to Saratoga first thing Wednesday morning to talk with him. He set up an appointment and everything. We’ll know more then.”

They sat in silence for a moment. The fridge kicked on. Outside, the wind brushed against the old shutters.

After a while, Shay glanced up. “Can I ask you something else?”

“Of course.”

“This case… the one I’m on?” She hesitated, picking at the edge of a napkin. “When I saw the defendant—Blake Edmonds—I felt like I’d seen him before. But not in person. Just… familiar. Like a face from a dream. Or one of those TV ads for tech companies. But it’s bugging me.”

“You think it’s just the news coverage?” he asked.

“Probably,” she admitted. “I’ve seen his face so many times on TV in the past few weeks. Maybe my brain just tricked me into thinking there’s a deeper connection. But I can’t stop thinking about it. Like we’ve crossed paths somewhere but never really met. I can’t explain it.”

“If you’d said that during your jury selection questioning, you might not have been picked.” He lifted her hand and kissed her palm.

“I couldn’t say that because they didn’t really phrase the question like a feeling,” she said with a big sigh. “I admitted I’d seen his face. That I knew who he was. But this weird sensation that’s it’s more, it could just be because my life is upside down.”

“Just remember that there is a light at the end of this tunnel.” Moose didn’t like the flicker of unease in her voice. “Stay objective. Listen to both sides of the case, and don’t let anyone rattle you.”

“I know.” Her voice was soft. “It’s just… It’s starting next week. And you’re leaving again. I’m sorry if I’m making this hard on you, but I didn’t anticipate this part of the relationship.”

“Neither did I.” He nodded slowly. “But I’m not being deployed. This is a ten-day training exercise. I can come back for a few days as soon as we’re done.”

“Can you call during these training things?”

“Every night,” he said. “You’re not alone, Shay. Not in this. Not in anything.”

“I was thinking about having the real estate agent come over before this trial begins. I want to know what I can sell this place for and what it would take to get it ready to list.”

“Are you sure you’re ready to do that?” He held both her hands, running his thumbs over her soft skin. “I don’t want you to let go of something that matters to you so quickly. This was your childhood?—”

“The plan was always for me to sell it after Mom died,” she said. “Yeah, so much of my life is tangled up in these walls, and while I’m a lot like my mom, this is one area we are total opposites.” Shay scooted her chair closer.

Moose decided he’d rather pull her to his lap.

She rested her hands on his shoulders and held his gaze captive. Whatever this woman wanted, he’d give her. Not out of obligation, but out of love and the simple fact he’d never be able to say no.

“My mom knew I didn’t want to live here. Not in this house and not in Lake George. It’s why taking out that mortgage kind of made sense to me. It was her one last effort of making sure I wasn’t left with a pile of bills I’d never get out from under.”

He wasn’t about to tell her that’s exactly what her mother had done. At least not until he knew more about this LLC.

“I’ll support you no matter what.” He kissed her sweet mouth.

“But what are you going to do if it sells quickly? As in before the trial ends?” He pressed his finger against her lips.

“Because if it’s after, I was hoping you’d move to Virginia.

My house isn’t huge, but it’s nice. However, Danni says it’s not fit for a female to live there, so you might have to?—”

She pushed his hand away. “Are you asking me to move in with you after only dating for a few weeks?”

“You’ve gotta move somewhere.” He shrugged.

Palming his cheek, she smiled. “I doubt I’ll be able to unload this place quickly, especially this time of year. But I was looking into what I’d need to do in order to update my credentials in Virginia.”

“Have you now.” He smiled. Wide. So wide his cheeks hurt.

“Don’t let that go to your head.”

“Too late.” He laughed.

“But seriously,” she said softly. “I want to give us a real chance and that would be easier if I’m in Virginia. I won’t promise that I’ll live with you right out of the gate, but I want us.”

He kissed her tenderly. With purpose. Coming back to Lake George had started out as a goodbye and ended up being the start of his future.