Page 13 of A SEAL's Heart
I take a moment to process what the lawyer has said. All eyes in the room turn to stare at me, and the Monroe family looks as confused as I do.
Shona is the first to speak. “He’s left you his house, honey.”
His house. I remember Jake telling me about the property he bought a few years back. The house he was going to raise a family in, just as soon as he found a woman who would put up with him long enough to get married.
My chest aches. He’ll never get married now; he’ll never have that family.
I scribble on my notepad and hold it up to the lawyer.
It’s a mistake.
He shakes his head. “No mistake. The deeds to the property were released last week. I have them here ready to sign over to you.”
Why would he leave me his house?
“Son of a b…” Shona gives Amos a sharp look, and he doesn’t finish his sentence. He shakes his head slowly, looking at me. His gaze is intense, and I wonder if he wants the house. He can have it. I don’t want it, and I sure as hell don’t deserve it.
I scribble something on the pad and hold it up to Amos.
You can have the house.
He shakes his head. “Jake wanted you to have it. It’s yours.”
I pace at the back of the room. Why the hell would Jake leave me his house? Why not give it to his parents or his sister?
The lawyer is speaking with Avery about her newly acquired investment portfolio.
I’m supposed to stick around to sign over the deeds to the house, but it doesn’t feel right.
The house should go to his family, not to me.
I head out of the office, needing some air. I take the stairs rather than the elevator, needing the movement in my body. I come out into the fresh air and breathe in deeply.
“Mr. Turner.” I turn to find the lawyer jogging out of the building. He’s panting, and I feel bad for making him run.
“I have the deeds to your house here. I just need you to sign, then I’ll hand over the keys.”
I shake my head. I don’t deserve that house.
I pull out my notepad.
It should go to the family.
He reads my note and nods. “I understand it’s a surprise. But I have to execute the will according to the deceased’s wishes.”
Unless the family contests it.
He gives me a small smile. “The family isn’t going to contest it. Mr. Monroe left the property to you because he wanted you to have it. We don’t know his reasons, but it was his wish.”
I ruminate on his words. It was what Jake wanted. But why?
Was it pity?
There was a time when I worried people would pity me. I grew up in foster care and I never knew my parents, aside from a vague memory of my mom. But when I went into the Navy and became a SEAL, I left all that behind. As a SEAL, you’re judged by your actions and whether your team can rely on you. No one cares where you came from, and there’s no room for pity.
Jake got to know me when we went through BUD/s together. He knew me as a badass motherfucker, not someone to be pitied.
Except when we were deployed, and we had a chance to call home. He’d speak to his family back home, and I’d speak to no one. There was never anyone for me to call. Jake invited me back with him every damn time we had leave. I came twice. But I never belonged with his family, as nice as they are. I was an intruder.
