He’d been so young, had so much life ahead of him.
Now, he had a widow and a child left behind with only memories.
Lifting a loose clump of dirt in his hand, Shane watched as it sifted through his fingers before he tossed it on top of the casket, looking so final as it sat six feet below the surface of the earth.
“Goodbye, River.”
Shane clenched his jaw and turned away. It was time to go home — time to decide the rest of his life. He couldn’t do that without speaking to Lia.
She was his life.
All the rest of it was meaningless if she weren’t with him.
It was time to claim his bride.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“IT’S BEEN A week. I know we were all for allowing Rachel time to figure this relationship out with Adriane, but I’m starting to worry. If she truly wants to be there, wants to work things out with this guy, then why hasn’t she called anyone?”
Ari and Rosabella watched Lia walk slowly about the room while voicing her alarm. All three of them were uneasy with their role in this matter. Each one of them had spoken to Rafe, had talked him into giving Adriane a week to win Rachel’s heart.
“I agree, darling. I think it’s time we go and see her,” Rosabella said, a worried frown settling between her eyebrows.
“I just hope she doesn’t hate us for talking Rafe out of flying in and bringing her back,” Ari said. “What if things have been really bad for her?”
The women fell silent as they thought for a moment about Rachel and her circumstances.
“So what do we do now?” Lia seemed so lost, so downtrodden, which was the opposite of how the normally confident woman always appeared.
“We go over there. If her entire family descends on the palace and she’s being held against her will, then he either hands her over or we begin a war.”
Both Lia and Ari looked at Rosabella with their mouths agape. She was such a small woman, always quiet and respectful. They’d never imagined something like the word war would come from her mouth.
“I’m with you, Mom,” Lia said, a small grin making an appearance on her face.
“Where did this fire come from?” Ari asked, unable to help herself.
“I usually have no reason to get riled up, Ari darling. But, when I can’t speak to my child, I will willingly go into battle. I wasn’t always just a mother. Did you know I once served in a volunteer organization that traveled the world doing service work and teaching young women self-defense? We went to many countries and the places I saw opened my eyes to the tragedies people encounter. It was why I was so insistent with your father that you children be taught humility. Just because we were always blessed with money didn’t mean that’s how the rest of the world is. Too many wealthy children have no idea of how many kids go to sleep at night with a hungry belly.”
“I didn’t know that, Mom,” Lia said as she looked through new eyes at the woman who’d raised her. For her mother to leave the comfort of her home for an extended period of time to help others was impressive. Lia felt selfish as she sat with her mom and waited for her to continue.
“Yes. My family was well off and I thought I would go with this group and save lives while also seeing the world. I was humbled pretty quickly. It wasn’t all glory, all sitting ensconced in a nice, safe hotel room. We stayed in the impoverished areas with these families, lived in the conditions they lived in, learned why and how they were there. Sometimes, it was as simple as they’d been born into it, and sometimes it was because life had just been hard, but no one chooses to sleep in the streets. They do it because they have nowhere else to go. I will never judge the world again in the way I did when I was a young teen.”
“Where did you go?” Ari asked, mesmerized by this new information.
“My favorite place was America. That was a culture shock for me back then. Before that time, all I’d known was our small village. Your grandparents had a beautiful garden that we ate from all summer long, that we appreciated and we used it all. In America, I was shocked by the abundance of everything, but shocked more by how so many still went without in the midst of plenty.”
“Were you safe?”
“Oh, yes. We never were alone and learned where we could and couldn’t go. It was a time of learning for me and I grew much stronger, but I was always safe. By the time I left the group, a full year had passed. I was almost sad to see that time end. I grew stronger, more independent, and learned to never take my own life and its privileges for granted again. I also learned to fight for what I wanted and what I believed in.”
“I’m so proud of you, Mom. Why didn’t you suggest that Rachel, Rafe or I do something like this?”
“The world is different now. Yes, there are some great programs to expand the horizons of young people, but with the wealth that your father had accumulated, we worried someone might try to kidnap you for ransom. That’s why we volunteered through local programs instead,” Rosabella said.
“I guess I understand that,” Lia said, though her mother’s tale had showed her how much she’d missed.
“Remember that summer we all built a home with Habitat for Humanity. Shane fell off the roof while he was showing off in front of the girls who were there,” Rosabella said with a laugh.
“Yeah, Shane is always showing off or taking off,” Lia muttered.
“I think you are too hard on Shane. He’s a good man, Lia.”
“He’s lied to me over and over again. I never even knew he was a part of the military,” Lia defended herself.
“Don’t hold it against Shane that he cares about others’ safety,” Rosabella told her.
“You knew?” Lia asked. Was she the last to know everything?
“Of course I knew, darling, but it wasn’t my information to give out. Shane keeps his secrets because it’s his way of protecting himself. You need to understand that and forgive him for not always sharing. The life he led before meeting Rafe wasn’t a pleasant one.”
“I know. I met his mother,” Lia said, feeling a little shame at what he’d gone through. She’d been so mad at him, but if she’d grown up the way he had, wouldn’t she be leery of showing vulnerability to others? Maybe she’d judged him too harshly.
“The first time he met our family, he had quite a chip on his shoulder; his anger at everyone and everything was really weighing him down. He and your brother had become close friends before they ever entered college, but Shane was still very suspicious of strangers’ motives. When he came to our home and saw the kind of money Rafe had grown up with, he became even more suspicious. He automatically assumed that your father and I wouldn’t want Rafe associating with him. He was wrong. I loved him from that first day. It took him a while to let us in, but when he did, we learned what a truly big heart he had. He wants to share it, Lia. He’s just afraid that his gift of love will be thrown back in his face. After all, it has been, many times, and by people who should love him more than any other.”