Page 47 of Shelter for Shay
“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.
