pay and other things. We know that you might need some of it, but you have a good job. You’re doing well for yourself. Madison is Marshall’s daughter, Eliza. Natasha and Madison need help. So, we were wondering if you could aid us somehow.” My mother-in-law’s eyes narrowed. “Natasha doesn’t want to have to go through legal means to make this happen, but she will. Still, we told her that we would hold off for the moment and come see if you could help a child that lost her father, out of the goodness of your heart. We want to make sure Maddy has a good education. And a good life.”
I looked at them, wondering who these people were. I’d always known that they had loved Natasha more than they loved me. She was Marshall’s high school sweetheart. They had mentioned it over and over, but I had ignored it. Because it wasn’t like I was always with them. We had been stationed around the country. Then we came here, and I had stayed when Marshall went overseas. I stayed when he died. And I stayed when I thought he loved me and was faithful.
I stayed.
I hadn’t been enough.
I hadn’t been enough at all.
I had never given Marshall a child. I would never be able to give him a child. We had been working on the adoption process when they sent him overseas.
All along, he already had a daughter. With another woman.
I had never felt that I was less than given my inability to conceive. I knew who I was, and I knew who I wanted to be. Even if I had been able to conceive, I knew I would still want to adopt and make sure a child out there had a good home.
Marshall had a child of his own. I couldn’t breathe. I knew my in-laws were speaking, trying to talk to me, and I could only stare at them. In answer to whatever they said, I grabbed my bag, stood up, and walked away.
I had always known I would become a parent somehow. There was a multitude of ways to make that happen.
It seemed Marshall had already become a father.
There was a little girl out there with his eyes. A mother who wanted money.
She had lost Marshall, too.
I had lost Marshall long before war took him from me. I just hadn’t known.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know.
Chapter 5
Beckett
I tried to focus on the portfolio in front of me, but my eyes were crossing. I pinched the bridge of my nose. I didn’t need to think about my nightmares or the shooting that’d started it all. I was safe—as safe as I could be. I needed to remember to breathe. Something I wasn’t great at.
The family worked out of Fort Collins, and in the surrounding areas. One set of my cousins owned Montgomery Inc., another set of builders. However, we weren’t connected to them, other than being family.
My father and his family had begun Montgomery Builders, and my mother’s family, the Montgomerys down south, had begun theirs. Apparently, building homes and other things was in the blood—or at least the last name. My father had once had a feud with the other Montgomerys, but it was dying down now after a blowup that had nearly cost us our family. We were still figuring things out, though the Montgomerys down south didn’t really care about the feud. It had never been one on their end. They were nice, kind, and always helpful. In fact, all of us worked with them in terms of making our projects more economical and ecologically safe. Our goal was to build a better tomorrow and all that lovely rhetoric. Though we truly believed in it.
For now, I needed to focus on the set of homes we were building that would be a fully green community.
Clay knocked on the doorframe, and I looked up and grinned. “Is that coffee in your hand?” I asked.
“You know it. I don’t go anywhere without some form of caffeine. The kids kept me up all night.”
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.
Clay nodded. “Yeah, everyone’s fine. My cousins are just in a mood.”
Clay was only in his mid-twenties, and his cousins were either hitting their preteens or getting close.
I had met them a few times, but Clay was rather private when it came to them. I didn’t mind. I understood that he needed to remain sheltered. The kids had gone through hell, and so had Clay, but they were