What hurtful thing did Tilly's mother say to her?

From the text:

"Are you deaf?" she said in a cold voice I'd never heard.

She looked back at me, one last time. The merciful dark hid her face. "I waited for his paw to come home. I wore out with waiting, and what for? I won't wait for Noah. I ain't got that kind of time now. Don't come back without him. I can spare you. I can't spare him."