Free An Ember To Bear (Fire Bear Shifters 5) by Sloane Meyers

orphanage. She didn’t think they would understand. They would probably tell her that Mr. Stewart was doing her a favor, and that she needed to focus on having fun and enjoying herself during the last years of her twenties. Mindy didn’t want to have to defend such a personal choice, so she just kept her mouth shut about it. But Bailey seemed somehow different from her other friends—more calm and levelheaded. And since Bailey had just been through a pretty big life-altering experience herself, maybe she understood what it felt like to want to take action on your dreams right away.
    Mindy looked over at Bailey, who was patiently waiting for Mindy to explain her predicament. Mindy decided that if she could trust anyone with her secret, then Bailey was that person. It would feel good to have someone to unload all of these frustrations on, anyway. Mindy took a deep breath, and decided to tell Bailey everything.
    “This might sound crazy,” Mindy said. “But I want to adopt a child. I had ovarian cancer a few years ago, so I can’t have one of my own. At first, I was really upset about that. But then I realized that not being able to have a biological child didn’t prevent me from having children in my life. I got involved with Red Valley Orphanage as a volunteer. At first, I didn’t intend for my volunteer work to be anything more than a weekly commitment. But the more I was around those kids, the more I came to love them. I decided that I wanted to adopt. The only problem, and it’s a big problem, is that the director of the orphanage thinks that a single woman can’t handle being a mom. He thinks I need a man in my life to be able to properly take care of a child. I don’t have a man in my life, and I don’t have any promising prospects, either. But, yesterday, I convinced him to agree to let me adopt. The only catch is that he said I have to have fifty thousand dollars in my savings account. I’m about forty thousand dollars short right now. I know he only agreed to this because he thinks that I can’t get the money together. But I’m determined to prove him wrong. I don’t care how hard I have to work. I will make this happen. I think a flexible, part-time job helping you make jewelry would be a good place to start.”
    Bailey looked across the table at Mindy with wide eyes. “Wow,” she said. “You’re very dedicated. I think that’s a really awesome thing that you’re trying to do. And what a jerk that guy is, for denying you the chance to adopt. He’s also denying one of those kids the chance to have a permanent home.”
    “I know,” Mindy said. “It breaks my heart. But he’s the director, and his decision on things is pretty much final.”
    “Consider yourself hired,” Bailey said. “I’ll give you as much work as I possibly can. That jerk should be ashamed of himself, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you make an adoption a reality.”
    Mindy felt tears stinging at the back of her eyelids. Even if she only made a little bit of money working for Bailey, the expression of support and solidarity Bailey was making meant the world to Mindy.
    “Speaking of jerks,” Bailey said, “Another bonus of your working for me will be that Zach has to see you all the time. He’ll be mortified to have you hanging around all the time, since you saw him drunk as a skunk.”
    Bailey laughed, and Mindy joined in with her. But no matter how hard she tried to stop it, and how silly she told herself it was, she couldn’t keep from feeling a rush of nervousness at the thought of seeing Zach again.

Chapter Seven
    A little over a week later, Zach stood in the middle of the large hangar, with his parachute spread across the ground. The huge, back doors of the hangar stood open. The large doors, sized for an airplane to fit through, were unnecessary since the crew didn’t have its own aircraft. But Zach loved to open them when the weather was nice.
    And the weather today was perfect. Zach breathed in deeply