Page 12 of Shelter for Shay
Shay felt like a stone dropped in her chest. “Yeah. She’s always been like that. Sometimes it was hard being her kid because I wondered if she loved the kids she counseled more than she loved me. I once thought maybe I should get into trouble to get her attention but then thought better of it. Of course, that was all when I was at that teenage rebellious stage of life.”
Moose chuckled. “She would have hung you by your backside.”
“Probably,” she said. “But she was also the best mom in the world, so there was that.”
They stood in silence for a moment.
Moose looked at her, not with pity, but with something quieter. Understanding. As if they shared the same pain. Maybe in a weird way they did.
“Do you want coffee?” she asked, needing the excuse to breathe.
“That’d be great.” He nodded. “I’m bone-tired and barely slept on the flight. You’d think considering I’m used to being strapped into a transport plane that flying commercial would be a real treat. Well, it wasn’t.” He ran his hand over his face. “Actually, not true. I flew first class. Something I never do. But it was so damn comfy with all the free drinks and the movies. God, the movies. I watched three. Crazy, right?” The ease in which heswitched from one subject to the next was a breath of fresh air. Most people these days had no idea how to talk to Shay. There were always awkward pauses. Clunky transitions. And quiet stares of sadness.
“Not really. But I get on a plane and I’m asleep before we take off. I can sleep anywhere. The curse of being someone who spent a year volunteering in an orphanage where my bed was a foam mattress and I didn’t have any other choice.” She led him into the kitchen, where the light through the window hit the counter just right, casting a golden line across the sink. She moved around on autopilot—grabbing mugs, pouring, trying not to notice the way Moose leaned against the opposite counter like he belonged. “So,” she said as she poured. “You’re a SEAL? That’s got to be an interesting and exciting career.”
“Interesting, yes. Exciting, not in the way you think.”
She handed him a mug and leaned against the counter across from him. “That sounds intense.”
“Some days more than others.”
“Why the Navy?”
“Your mom mentioned the military as a way for me to get an education. To get out of here. And to find structure in my life.” He gave a faint smile. “I picked the Navy because I love the water and I’m a really good swimmer.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “One of the times I got in trouble in school was because I broke into the pool and was caught swimming at three in the morning.”
“Oh my God. You’re a legend.”
“Excuse me?” He arched a brow.
“The graduating class before me took all the cafeteria chairs and put them in the pool as their senior prank. They had to drain it because the chairs were metal and they rusted. It was a real shitshow,” she said. “Anyway, that reminded people of some kid who broke into the school just to swim laps and drink beer.”
“Beer was not part of that equation.”
“Not the story that’s told these days.”
“I’m not sure I want to know how that one grew,” he said.
“I’m curious. What made you leave Lake George?” She’d asked the question before, but she wanted a deeper answer. She wanted to know more about the man who’d touched her mother’s soul more than any other student. “Was it just because you wanted to be in the Navy?”
Moose looked down at his coffee for a long moment. “Sometimes a place holds too many versions of who you used to be and you need find a new version.”
“And coming back?”
He looked up. “Sometimes it’s the only way to remember who saved you.”
Shay felt her throat tighten. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. But it hadn’t been this. Not this quiet gravity. Not the way he made her feel like he saw everything without needing to say much at all.
“Let me go see if she’s awake,” she said softly.
He nodded once.
And she walked out of the kitchen wondering why a total stranger suddenly felt like the only person in the world she wanted to talk to.
Moose – Lake George, New York
Moose couldn’t believe he was standing in Margaret’s home. Or that he’d come back to Lake George. Everything felt surreal. When he’d gotten off the Northway, he’d nearly turned the rental around and driven back to Albany. It was almost too much. The memories flooded his brain and conflicted his heart.
He palmed the mug of coffee and stared into the dark liquid. When he’d left all those years ago, he had no idea what his future held. All he knew was that if he failed at the Navy, he didn’t believe he had any chances left, and he’d be letting down the only person who’d ever believed in him.
