Page 102 of Jay Bird

Willow laughed. “That’s the thing. I never really knew.”

Jay Bird’s eyebrows rose.

“He would say something vague about logistics or projects and then change the subject.”

“That generally means he was doing something interesting.”

“I always suspected that.” Willow lifted her head. “Should I be concerned that you sound like you know exactly what that means?”

“No comment.”

She laughed. “Great. Apparently, I have a type. Men who don’t explain what they do for work.”

“I told you what I do.”

Willow settled against him again.

“He loved the Navy, though. Even after he left active duty, it was always part of him.”

“He sounds like a good man.”

“He was.”

Jay Bird’s voice softened. “I would’ve liked to meet him.”

Willow smiled. “I think he would’ve liked you.”

“You think?”

“Maybe after interrogating you for several hours.”

“Fair.”

“And probably running a background check.”

Jay Bird snorted.

“Wouldn’t be the first.”

Willow laughed.

Then the smile slowly faded as she thought about the other side of her family. “My mother and brother were different.”

“My brother is older than me. My mother always treated him like he was incapable of doing anything wrong.” She sighed. “Her baby boy. The golden child.”

There was enough sarcasm in the phrase that Jay Bird apparently heard it.

“I'm guessing he did plenty wrong.”

“You could say that.”

Willow shifted slightly against him.

“My grandmother, my mom’s mom, was pretty wealthy. When she passed away, she left everything to my mom. She also put specific amounts of money into CDs for my brother and me as an inheritance. It wasn’t massive, but it was enough to help someday. Long story short, my brother got access to everything. Including everything of Mom’s, which also included her house that was fully paid off.”

Jay Bird’s hand stopped moving.

“He stole it?”