Free Hometown Holiday Reunion by Mia Ross Page A

say?”
    â€œThey found his mother, Lynn,” Erin confided in a miserable whisper. “She’s in a women’s prison upstate, and she told Alice she wants to meet me.”
    That didn’t sound like enough to put Erin in such a state, and he gently prodded. “There’s something else. What is it?”
    â€œShe won’t sign off on me continuing as Parker’s foster mom until we talk face-to-face.” After a long swallow, she fixed him with a desperate gaze. “What if she hates me? Or worse, what if she wants to give custody of him to someone who mistreated him before?”
    Her voice trailed off into a strangled whisper, and tears welled in her eyes. In all the years he’d known her, Cam had never seen her cry. Not when she broke her arm falling out of an oak tree at a church picnic, or even when her date left the prom with someone else. Seeing her on the verge of it now made his heart twist in a way he’d never experienced in his life.
    In self-defense, he pushed his swirling emotions aside and did what he always did when faced with a problem. He got practical.
    Sitting in the wide bay window, he looked over at her. “Let’s think about this. How long is she in for?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWhat was she convicted of?” Same answer. “She’s the one who left Parker with Child Services in the first place, right?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Erin repeated through clenched teeth. “They didn’t offer that information, and frankly I didn’t care. He was a kid who needed a loving home, and I wanted to be the one to give it to him.”
    She had stunningly few details about the boy she’d taken in, and Cam wasn’t sure what to make of it. This wasn’t a stray kitten or raccoon, which she’d rescued plenty of when they were kids. Parker was someone else’s child, and apparently he’d come with a lot of baggage. Still, Cam couldn’t help admiring her for what she was trying to do. It took a lot of courage to have a tender heart in such a tough world.
    â€œOkay,” he said, making up his response as he went along. “So she’s been convicted of something bad enough to land her in prison. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, I think it’s safe to assume that even if she didn’t abuse Parker herself, she stood by while someone else did.”
    â€œThat tracks with things he’s told me.”
    Just thinking about what he must’ve been through made Cam’s blood simmer. “Who could raise a hand against such a bright, friendly kid?”
    â€œWhen he first came to live with me, he couldn’t even look me in the eye. He only started calling me Erin a couple of weeks ago. It was the best Christmas present I ever got.”
    She added a smile that brought out the dimple in her left cheek. He remembered teasing her about it when they were younger, asking where she’d lost the right one. After a blistering glare, she’d smacked him in the chest and stalked away with her cute little nose in the air.
    Where did that image come from? he wondered briefly before tucking it back into his small bank of good memories. The fact that a confrontation with her was there at all meant something, but right now he had other things that needed his attention.
    â€œSo,” he continued in the tone he normally reserved for difficult subcontractors, “she doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on if she wants to influence what happens to him.”
    â€œShe’s still his mother. Before I got into this, I asked the judge about her rights versus mine. He said that unless she legally signs away her parental interest, she can exercise it anytime she wants.”
    â€œI don’t speak legalese,” he grumbled. “What does that mean?”
    â€œIt means she can name another guardian to care for him until she’s able to do it