“You’re unbelievable,” she spat, every word biting like ice. “You’re beyond help. Since you refuse to change, I won’t waste another second on you. Give me our daughter—now. I’m taking her away from this place before she turns into a soulless beast like you!”
When I didn’t answer, she turned on the ranch owner with fury in her voice. “Where’s my daughter? Where is she?!”
The ranch owner paled, her knees trembling beneath her. She stammered, lips quivering, unable to get a coherent word out.
“I’ve been paying you a hundred thousand dollars every month,” Ginny seethed, “to take care of him and our daughter! Don’t tell me you don’t even know where my child is. Are you hiding something? Is that it?”
Under her sharp, suspicious gaze, the ranch owner turned ghost-white. Sweat trickled from her forehead, slowly dripping down her face.
Steve stepped in quickly, his voice gentle. “Ginny, don’t scare her. The baby’s only two months old. She can’t be away from her mother for long. Aside from Tom, no one else knows where she is.”
Then he turned to me again, speaking with a look of earnest concern. “Tom, the ranch owner is a simple woman. She’s taken care of you all month, fed you, supported you. Don’t make this harder for her. Just show a little kindness and let her off the hook, alright?”
Ginny understood his implication instantly. She narrowed her eyes and pointed at me.
“Tom, where is our daughter? If anything happens to her, don’t blame me for what I’ll do to you.”
I said nothing. Instead, I finished washing the cow’s feet, then carried a fresh basin of water over to the calf. “Come here, baby. Daddy’s going to change your diaper.”
Ginny’s expression turned stone cold. With a roar, she slapped the water basin from my hands, sending it crashing to the floor.
“I’ve had enough of this!” she shouted. “Enough of your lunacy!”
She pulled a small silver pocket watch from inside her collar. When she opened it, a tiny photograph sat inside—soft and pink, the image of a newborn swaddled tight in blankets.
“This is your daughter!” she snapped. “Not that calf! Look closely. Look at her tiny face. That’s your real, flesh-and-blood daughter!”