Page 65

Ryleigh flinches and turns toward the baby. She unbuckles the straps and carefully lifts her out. “She needs a new diaper.”

I rise to my feet and reach for her. “I’ve got it.”

Ryleigh frowns, but makes no move to pass Ella over.

I thrust my hands closer. “I said I’ve got it.” Is she really going to rob me of this too? I didn’t even get to say good-bye to Ella yesterday before they just took off.

Finally, Ryleigh relents and hands the baby to me. I shoulder the diaper bag and stalk off for the restrooms at the back corner of the restaurant.

Cradling the baby against my chest, I head into the men’s room and find a dude at the urinals taking a piss, but no baby-changing station. Crap.

The guy flashes me a confused look, and I have no idea if it’s because he’s recognized me or because I’m holding a baby.

I huff out a frustrated sigh and exit, heading straight into the women’s restroom. Thankfully, it’s deserted, but even if it weren’t, I’d like to see someone try to stop me from changing Ella. She needs a new diaper. And we need a changing table.

I open the changing table and wipe it down with an antibacterial wipe from the diaper bag, then lay down a small blanket and place Ella on top.

“You okay, princess? I’ll get you cleaned up good as new.”

She makes a soft cooing noise, and my throat tightens.

I unsnap her onesie and remove the soiled diaper, wiping her carefully like my older sister taught me the first time I changed her daughter. Once Ella’s perfectly clean, I take out a new diaper and cover her.

“That’s my girl.” I grin down at her, snapping up the buttons on her pink onesie.

The words lodge in my throat. It’s a lie. She’s not my girl. And neither is Ryleigh.

But I intend to find out why, and what I can do about it. I finish up and scrub hand sanitizer into my hands.

“Let’s roll, baby.”

I lift her into my arms and head back into the dining room. Once we arrive at the table, I hand her to Ryleigh.

“She smells so much better now.” Ryleigh smiles for the first time since she arrived, and it’s not lost on me.

“She’s perfectly clean,” I say, sitting back down on my side of the booth.

Ryleigh’s eyebrows pinch together as she looks toward the restroom doors. “Did you change her in the women’s room?”

I shrug. “There wasn’t a changing table in the men’s. Trust me, I’m going to say something to the manager when we leave.”

Ryleigh’s eyes widen and she takes a sip of her coffee, knowing better than to argue with me about this.

A silence descends upon us, and I can’t help but want to cut to the chase—to get to the real reason why we’re here. The waitress provided a nice distraction, and then Ella’s diaper, but I need answers. Plain and simple.

“Can I ask . . . did something happen that made you leave yesterday?”

She sets her coffee mug down and finally meets my eyes. “I got in touch with Andi.”

My heart starts to thump hard. “Yeah? That’s good, right?”

Ella’s still with Ryleigh, though, now seated in the carrier on the booth seat next to her. So, obviously that’s part of whatever is going on. My stomach tightens. Didn’t Andi want her daughter back?

She pauses, running her hands through her hair, stalling for time. “Andi has cancer. She’s dying. And she asked me to be Ella’s legal guardian.”

Wait, what? That’s a lot to take in. And not at all what I expected. I figured Andi couldn’t handle being a mom and ran off. Fuck, this is so much worse. “What did you say?”

Ryleigh touches a stray lock of her hair that’s escaped her loose ponytail. “I signed the papers. There’s no one else. And the only other option for Ella is that she’d be a ward of the state. I couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning her.”