“Please, Mother. Don’t do this.”
Without another word, her mother walked out, leaving her alone.
So defeated, she grabbed the note pad and pen by the phone and wrote a good-bye letter to her baby girl.
My dear precious angel,
I’m your mommy, and I love you so much. I fell in love with you the minute the nurse put you in my arms. I want to keep you, but my parents refuse to help me and have forced me to sign adoption papers. With all my heart I wish I had a way to give you and I a home. But I am only sixteen. I haven’t finished high school. I have no job and no money. I promise you that I will find a way to give you a home some day. Until then, my prayer is that you will be given to a wonderful couple who will love you as much as I do and provide for your every need.
And even though we can’t be together right now, my love will continue to grow for you.
Please forgive me, my sweet angel.
Love,
Your mom
She put down the pen. Would the kind nurse pass on her letter? Would the adoption agency make sure the new parents received it? She wasn’t certain but prayed her baby would someday get the letter.
Exhausted and overwhelmed, she sobbed, drenching her pillow in tears.
Chapter Two
1980—Springfield, Missouri
Sitting in her one-bedroom apartment, Maude placed the phone’s receiver on the cradle. She still couldn’t believe what her sister had just told her about Wilde, Nevada—a town where one woman could be married to multiple men at the same time. And even worse, Mary was falling for three brothers who she’d met there.
Glancing over at the photo of Mary and Paul, she felt her gut tighten. How had she been so blind not to realize that Mary’s fiancé—now ex-fiancé—was such a son of a bitch? He’d fooled everyone. How long had he been abusing Mary? If I could just get my hands on that asshole, he would be sorry.
Mary had always been the one their parents seemed the most proud of. She had always been more compliant with their parents than Maude, never pushing back and always seeking their approval. Acts of futility. But when Mary had moved in with Paul before heading down the aisle, they let their displeasure be known. Even her sister’s small disappointment didn’t change the fact that her parents viewed Maude as the black sheep.
She sat down on her bed as the too-familiar rush of loss swept over her again. Every dime she had pulled together for the private investigator so far had resulted in nothing but dead ends. She was no closer to finding her daughter than when she’d started the search the day she’d moved out of her parents’ home. She couldn’t have taken care of the baby by herself at sixteen, but she would never understand how her parents had all the money in the world to help her but had refused. It was painfully clear that their status in the community meant more to them than their own grandchild—or their daughters.
She’d moved out at eighteen, despite her parents’ attempt to run her life. The only regret she’d had was leaving Mary, who was only sixteen at the time.
Now that all the dots were connected about how Paul had been treating her sister, she knew why Mary had left Springfield without so much as a word. No wonder her sister was so confused.
Maude wasn’t about to let three Romeo cowboys make things worse for Mary.
She pulled out her suitcase from her closet and placed it on the bed. Mary had asked her to come to Wilde, so that
was exactly where she would be going.
Her phone rang.
Could her sister have had a change of heart after their conversation? Maybe Mary had decided to come home.
After answering the phone and hearing Paul’s voice on the line, Maude stiffened. She didn’t want to tip him off, so she tried to sound casual. “What’s up, Paul?”
“Do you know where your sister is?” His tone had an edge she’d never heard from him before.
“I haven’t talked to her all day. Is something wrong?” She wanted to scream at him, but knew it was best to keep her cool. For Mary’s sake.
“You’re damn right something is wrong. I came back from work yesterday and she wasn’t here. She never came home.”
“And you didn’t call me until now?” Double asshole.
“I called your parents to see if she was there, but they haven’t talked to Mary in over a week.”