“I tried that. He said the only way he’ll consider talking to me is if I make an apology to Noelle. I assume he’ll also want me to stop pushing on getting her to walk.” There were other things she feared. “Maybe it’s for the best. Not for Noelle, but for me. I don’t think we would have worked out in the long run because I don’t think he’ll ever take the chance on having another child, and I don’t know that I can live without trying to have one.”

Lisa’s eyes went wide. “He doesn’t want more kids? I mean, I do get it that he’s been through it once, but he told you flat out he won’t have kids?”

“He said he needed to think about it. Maybe if I’d met him at another time. It’s not wrong or bad for him to be done with having kids. It certainly doesn’t make him a bad person, just a wrong match.” Or perhaps they were simply far too different to ever have worked. She was so tired. “I think he enjoyed the idea of having a woman in his life, but the reality turned out to be not so great. I was convenient for a while and then I wasn’t, and I was out.”

“I don’t think that was it. I saw you two together. He was happier than I’ve ever seen him.”

“Well, I wasn’t worth fighting for,” she said wistfully. “Do you think he’ll tell everyone I tried to hurt Noelle?”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“Because if the clinic fails, I’ll leave town,” she explained. “I’ll have to. I have to have a job. The clinic doesn’t make much money. Not much at all, really, but I have to have a way to pay Mabel and keep the lights on. I’m starting to get a good flow of regular patients, but Armie could stop that with a couple of words. I’m the outsider.”

Lisa’s eyes went steely. “If he bad-mouths my sister, he’ll have to deal with me.”

She didn’t want to get her sister in trouble. Lisa fit in here. She loved it here. Lila was starting to feel at home in Papillon, but she couldn’t fight if Armie decided he didn’t want her here. It could harm her sister’s business. “I don’t know. Maybe I should try to find someone to take my place. The last thing I need is Guidry’s to lose business because I’m your sister. If I leave, they might forget.”