Page 39 of Shelter for Shay
Shay snorted and sipped her wine. “He’s not wrong.”
Becca nudged her knee. “You doing okay?”
Shay hesitated. “I miss my mom. The house is quiet. Too quiet. And the medical bills keep showing up. The mortgage on this place is going to kill me if I don’t do—” She stopped herself, waving a hand. “Sorry. That’s not what tonight’s for.”
“It can be,” Becca said gently. “You don’t have to be okay. You don’t have to be strong all the time. Not with me. That’s not what best friends are for.”
“I just… I feel like I finally started breathing again. And now Moose is gone. I know he said he’d write, and he did. But one text in a week? I know that’s probably normal, but…”
“You’re scared of being alone.”
“Yeah, but I’ve spent my adult life out there in the world, doing it on my own. I should be able to handle this.” She shook her head. “I did something crazy.”
“What’s that?”
“I went down the rabbit hole of wanting to know more about my dad.”
“Oh no. That’s not good.” Becca leaned closer. “What is it that you want to know? I mean, do you think he’d want to know that your mom died? Do you think that might make a difference?”
“I don’t know. He walked out of our lives before I could even form one single memory of him.” She waved her hand. “My mother, she never wanted to talk about him. Said that if he wanted to reach out or have a relationship with me, he could’ve but didn’t.”
“You could always hire Katie Donovan again. She’s got some intel on him.” Becca arched a brow. “Maybe that hot hunky Navy SEAL of a boyfriend could go talk to your dad for you?”
Shay sighed. “Moose has all the information, including Katie’s info, and he said he’d handle it. But he’s suspicious of my mom’s story and now so am I. I guess I’ve always questioned it. Always wondered why she was either secretive about it or wouldget defensive when I brought up wanting to know more about my dad.”
“That’s pretty bold of Moose. What exactly is he questioning?”
“Name change. Paper trail. And honestly, it makes sense. I mean, my birth certificate says my dad is unknown, but they were married when I was born. That’s weird, right?”
“I suppose.” Becca nodded. “But aren’t there ways to change that?”
“Moose says not without a court order.”
“So, go look up the records,” Becca said flatly.
“Moose said he’d do it.”
“The man’s deployed. How the hell can he do that when he’s God only knows where? I like the guy, I really do, and I think he’s good for you, but I think that’s a little too controlling.”
Shay lowered her chin. “No. Moose isn’t like that,” Shay said. “But his parents, they really suck. Worse than my dad abandoning me at one, but it left him feeling the same way. He understands and all he’s trying to do is handle one small piece while I deal with the rest of it.”
Becca nodded, then lifted the wine bottle closer for a top-off. “Wow, you care about this guy. Like falling in love kind of care about this guy.”
“It’s stupid fast, stupid deep, and now he’s in some part of the world I can’t even say out loud because I don’t know where it is. I just know that as of two days ago, he wasn’t dead. Or injured. God, I don’t know how his best friend’s wife does this. However, when I think about telling him it’s too hard, I want to cry.”
“Damn, girl, that’s a lot, especially for you,” Becca said. “I’ve known you through a few boyfriends, but you’ve packed up, moved, and left them all behind. You’re the heartbreaker, not them.”
“I know, right? It’s so weird.”
“At least you’re admitting it now and not fighting me on it,” Becca said before taking a sip of her wine. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What are you going to do if your dad wants a conversation? Or worse, doesn’t?”
No one, not even Moose, had asked her that question. But he didn’t need to. He just knew. Or at least she believed he instinctively knew. “I don’t want to see him or all of a sudden strike up a relationship with him. I think I just want to know the details and in a way that makes sense. Or maybe hear his side but have it filtered through someone else.”
“So, you do believe your mom might have lied about… something.”
