Page 73 of When The Noise Stops

"None of your business. Why are you here?"

"He put us out."

"The man you left me for? The great man you claimed would be better than me for you and Gabby?"

She laughed once, without humor.

"It turns out he didn't want a child. Especially one who cost money."

I stood in the middle of my own floor and felt something old rise in my throat. This woman who had taken eight years of my life, stood in a courtroom while a lawyer reduced them to nothing, was asking me for something. Did resentment feel like hatred?

"You cheated," I said.

"You took her. You married him. Now he doesn't want you, and you show up at my door?"

I laughed.

"Don't you dare—"

"I do fucking dare," the words came out uglier than I usually let them. I did not pull them back.

"You stood in court and let them say I didn't count. You laughed and told them I only wanted her because I couldn't have a child of my own. You kept her from me. And you show up with a suitcase because the man you chose doesn't want to pay."

Maggie's eyes shone with tears. I did not care.

"I need a place, Knox. She's your daughter. You said she was."

"She is my daughter. But you are not my problem."

"I'm her mother."

"You're the reason I missed so many birthdays. Don't stand in my house and play holy."

She stood. Close enough I wanted to step back.

"Where else am I supposed to go? You want me to put her in a motel while you finish with the neighbor?"

"Watch your mouth. The walls are thin."

"Oh, she can hear me? The block can hear you."

"I don't want you here."

"Then say no," Maggie said.

"Look me in the face and tell Gabby you won't take us."

I almost called her a bitch. She knew Gabby wasn't the problem.

I relented.

"You can stay," I said.

"In the extra room. Tomorrow we talk about how long. Tonight you be quiet."

Maggie smiled as if she had won.

"Thank you."