Page 49 of The Cowboy and the Baby

As quickly as her emotions appeared, they smothered like a fire. Tears replaced the hysteria, and her green eyes swam. She stood there, chin high, shoulders back, tools in hand, a mess of drywall at her feet. Like some regal, destructive queen.

Then she broke.

The power stance crumbled. She sank to the ground, leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes. The tools clattered to the concrete as she pressed her hands to her face and let the emotion out.

“Lily,” she whispered. “It’s because of Lily. We can’t have squirrels in the walls because . . . because . . .”

I sank into a crouch, but didn’t touch her.

“Because?”

“My sister . . .” her throat bobbed, “. . . she died in a rare rush of problems shortly after giving birth to Lily. That’s why I have Lily. My twin is . . . she’s gone.”

Horror crawled through me, cooling my blood like ice rivers. I knew that Lily was her niece, but had no idea the circumstances around it. Her twin sister had a baby and died? How did that happen these days? Didn’t they have child delivery down a little better?

Noelle sniffed. She hadn’t moved her hands, and I didn’t dare budge from my position.

“Naomi told me that she wanted me to have Lily if anything happened to her, and I agreed. But she didn’t write it down; it was a verbal request. She . . . ah . . . had a lot of issues before she became pregnant. Alcohol, mostly. She had a lot of partners and a wild lifestyle. It was a miracle that Lily came out so healthy and complete. I was fully expecting to help Naomi deal with a child handicapped by fetal alcohol syndrome or . . .”

She stopped, drew in a breath, and said, “Sorry, I’m rambling. The point is this: she died shortly after giving birth.”

“How soon after?”

Noelle held up two fingers. I glimpsed a hint of one eye behind them.

“Two days.”

I kept my expression even, although it felt like the ground jolted from beneath me. So much made sense in light of this information. Her occasional weepiness that she attempted to hide. The lost sense of shuffling around the house, seeking purpose and clarity. Her utter uncertainty around parenting. This wasn’t something she had planned on. It landed on her lap after losing her twin.

“She developed postpartum cardiomyopathy—heart failure. She was lucid the first few hours after and then went downhill. She asked me to take Lily if things went bad, and then . . .” she shook her head, “it’s like everything slid away. Out of control. She went into the ICU, and we lost her.”

Noelle laughed, a short, breathy thing that held no amusement. Nothing but bald anger and pain.

“So I became Lily’s guardian. I immediately filed for temporary guardianship, but the father’s parents came into the picture. Sarah and Thomas Miller. They want Lily, and they’re willing to fight for her. My parents are unsupportive. They don’t think I can raise Lily and hold down a job, and they think it’s a mistake for me to try. Since they have a habit of cutting people out of their life whom they don’t agree with, I have been so cut off. For now,” she added, and her dark undertone spoke to other things she didn’t mention.

There was definite bitterness there. Waves of disbelief continued to flow, but I kept them in check and waited.

Noelle dropped both hands. Her eyes were red. She had probably been crying before I returned. Tears scudded down her cheeks as she reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, typed in a passcode, and handed it to me.

“Here’s a history of text messages between Sarah and myself, before I came to Wyoming. At first, they came over to visit Lily daily, which I allowed. They stayed longer and longer. Eventually, based on rude, snide, and angry comments, I felt I couldn’t trust them around Lily as much as they insisted. And I needed . . . out. So I came here.”

I accepted her phone, scanning the screen, while she buried her face in her hands again. A string of text messages showed increasing demands from Sarah Miller.

Sarah: We would like to see Lily as soon as possible. We’re concerned for her welfare. Can you please work with us to create a schedule?

Noelle: Yes, of course. You’re welcome over daily between 2:00 and 5:00.

Pictures of Lily—with a date stamp beneath each—followed the update.

Sarah: Forgive us, Noelle, but pictures aren’t what we asked for. We’re always delighted to see Lily, of course, but pictures can’t replace our granddaughter in our lives. We would love to discuss adopting her. Her mother is gone, and we are stable. We have a four-bedroom house and two adults to dote on her, in addition to her father.

Noelle: I am happy for you to come and see her, but I will not relinquish temporary guardianship. My sister was clear in her desires.

Sarah: Desires that, funnily enough, no one heard but you.

Increasingly aggressive messages from Sarah continued until Noelle simply stopped responding. They become borderline threatening, but not quite. Nothing that would sound overtly hostile in a court of law, but painted a clear picture.

No wonder Noelle left.