Page 91 of The Cowboy and the Baby

Noelle didn’t seek permission from me on handling this situation, because by now, she would know she didn’t need it. I could tell she had already made up her mind, but I did see a hesitation. A seeking of affirmation from me, or a sense of community. Noelle needed something right now, and I thought I knew what it was.

I turned to her mother. “Welcome, Ashley. I’m happy to take Richard downstairs. Noelle has a few piles that he may want to go through.”

Relief crossed Ashley’s expression, quick and flickering. It vanished into her weepy facade. The woman looked . . . terrified. Then again, according to what Noelle said, Ashley didn’t often go against her husband’s wishes. I wondered how she managed to come inside and ask to hold her granddaughter when he was so against it.

“Thank you.” Ashley nodded a little, but kept her eyes averted.

“I’ll get your dad,” I said to Noelle as she led her mother down the hallway, toward Lily’s room. Noelle smiled, shot through with relief and appreciation.

I returned to the top of the stairs and called down. “Come on, boys. Wyatt, you’re off the hook for measuring. You’re going to help Cody haul in the last ten drywall sheets. Make sure none of them drop into the snow.”

Inviting Richard inside to look through Morgan’s old stuff would be less awkward than navigating around Noelle and her mom, so I tossed a few pieces of firewood into the fire, made sure the friendly flames snapped in the hearth, bright and crackling, and then stepped outside the back door and winged around the side of the house.

Richard sat in the Jeep’s driver’s seat, glaring out. The edge on his stare wasn’t as hard and mean as it had been last time, when he’d been intent with purpose. Was it possible for him to experience regret? Could the initial confrontation have softened him? I hoped so, for Noelle’s sake.

Richard rolled down the window as I approached, but didn’t quite meet my eyes. They had two suitcases stacked in the back. They must have a late flight out of Jackson City tonight, which meant they’d need to leave soon. Like Ashley mentioned to Noelle, this added up to a pretty quick visit.

“You’re welcome inside,” I said. “I’ll be happy to show you what needs sorting in the basement.”

With a pause, then a nod, Richard turned the Jeep off.

There wasn’t anything Richard could hurt in the basement, and he must know how to get there, but I led him down there all the same. The tense air between us felt kind of weird, so I tromped down the stairs ahead of him.

“I hope you’ll forgive the commotion as the boys bring more drywall in. We need to store it down here. They’ll stay out of your way.”

Richard glanced sidelong at me, but said nothing.

“Noelle has been through most of what you see there.” I gestured to boxes along the far wall. She’d marked them with Sharpie, labeling them Old Documents and Pictures and Clothing. “Noelle said something about making a quilt out of some of her grandma’s old dresses, and grandpa’s old shirts. So, unless you want them, she may keep those. She worked hard to sort and preserve paperwork, pictures, and knick-knacks.”

Richard made a noise in his throat and reached for a box near him, not far from an old fireplace that I wanted to rebrick. He began to riffle through a box marked Documents, checking the watch on his left wrist every now and then. When he finished that box, he moved to the next. He didn’t set aside any paperwork, and didn’t seem all that interested in . . . anything. I stood there for a moment, but it didn’t take me long to decide he didn’t need me, and I certainly didn’t want to stay.

“There are a few more boxes in the closet, back room, on the right.” I edged backward, toward the stairs. “Feel free to take whatever you like from what you find, but talk to Noelle if there’s any clothing you want.”

My foot had just climbed the first stair when his reply stopped me.

“We had a falling out over a decade ago and I hadn’t spoken to my father since. Not much of this has value for me.”

I paused, unsure of what to say. His tone sounded frazzled and irritated, and a little lost.

“Being here,” he cried, running a hand through his hair, “it’s a . . . a formality. The last time I came here, my girls were kids. I watched them play in the fields that I grew up in and with the animals. . . and now? It’s nothing to me. I couldn’t care less. My brother wanted me to see if there were any important papers, but with you inheriting the place, there wouldn’t be anything for us to pay attention to. It’s yours, isn’t it?”

Definite bitterness lined those words, and he’d made this my business. Up until this point, I was willing to be open and civil, but he’d just brought the fight to my doorstep, and now I didn’t have to walk on eggshells.

Years of helping old man Morgan survive the depression and loss of his eldest son piled up behind me, and I had rage enough for both of us.

Somehow, I managed to lock it down and focus.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Richard. Morgan was, I think, hoping to avoid dumping a big mess on the two of you. He spoke about you often, how busy you were at work. He never wanted to be a burden.”

Richard scoffed, shoved the box back, grabbed another. “It’s not about messes,” he muttered, pushing harder than necessary on each, “but what he didn’t do. He cut me off, gave everything he had to someone else. We may have had a falling out, but I thought . . .”

With a shake of his head, he finished with, “You inheriting the place clears the picture up pretty well, no matter what you have to say about it. My father made his feelings about us very clear.”

How did Noelle come from this monster? I couldn’t see her in him. Not even physically. Not a hint. She had heart and soul in spades. Courage, too. Richard was a spindly-souled man with little but bitterness to hold onto.

Old man Morgan had been better without him.

I continued up the stairs, not willing to listen to another word. Men like Richard didn’t want anything that didn’t benefit them. They steeped in their wrath like old coffee, spoiling the air for the rest of us. Men like him were dangerous only because they didn’t see that in their own actions, they mirrored the pain dealt to them.