Free 4 Cupids Curse by Kathi Daley Page A

an “aunt’s,” where I quietly, under the shroud of absolute secrecy, was delivered into the world. My grandparents wanted an anonymous adoption, but my dad fought hard and convinced them that he would raise me in isolation from the judgmental eyes of their aristocratic friends.
    “She says no , but I’ve pretty much decided that if she ever changes her mind, Morgan and I will welcome her to participate as much or as little as she likes.”
    “My mom wanted nothing to do with me for the first four years of my life,” I shared. “And then , out of the blue, my grandfather’s representative notified my dad that she wanted to arrange a visitation.”
    “How’d it go?”
    “Terrible. I was escorted to a huge and intimidating estate, where I cowered in the closet in spite of my mother’s clumsy attempt to parent me, until someone took mercy on me and returned me to my dad.”
    “Sounds pretty awful. Still , Gina will always be Morgan’s mother, whether she decides to act accordingly or not. I intend to make her a part of our life from the beginning. I’m planning to have photos of Gina in Morgan’s room, and I’m going to make sure she knows who her mom is from an early age.”
    “That’s probably a good idea. My dad never really talked about my mom before she appeared in my life , so the whole thing was a huge shock.”
    “So do you have a relationship with your mom now?”
    Good question. “Not really,” I answered. “She pops up now and then and we share a brief visit. She was in town last summer, but we didn’t connect, although she sent me an awesome snowboard for Christmas, which is about the most thoughtful thing she’s ever done. My mom has money. A lot of it. She’s spent most of her life traveling the world spending it.”
    “Sounds awesome.”
    “Sounds lonely,” I disagreed.
    “Oh , look.” Jeremy pointed toward the front window. “It looks like we have a customer.”
    I looked out of the window as a small boy around six or seven got out of the passenger side of a four-door sedan. He didn’t appear to have an animal to drop off, so I figured he’d come by to adopt. I felt bad that we didn’t have any animals to adopt and hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed. I watched as the boy said something to the driver and then walked up the walkway Jeremy had recently shoveled. He couldn’t quite manage the door on his own, so he knocked and waited for Jeremy to answer.
    “This where you bring animals to get new homes?” the boy asked.
    “It is ,” Jeremy answered. “Would you like to come in?”
    Jeremy stepped aside and the boy entered.
    “Do you take all kinds of animals?”
    Jeremy looked at me. I nodde d. How bad could it be? The kid was probably six, so I doubted he had a gorilla in the backseat of the car.
    “We take most kinds of animals,” Jeremy confirmed.
    The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a brown-and-white hamster. “This here is Squeaky. Mom says he has to go.”
    “We’d love to find a home for Squeaky,” Jeremy replied. “Do you have a cage?”
    “No. I g ot him from a friend, but my mom didn’t want him, so I hid him in my sock drawer. Mom did the laundry today.”
    “I see .” Jeremy smiled. “I think we have a cage in the back. If your mom doesn’t mind waiting, you can help me look for it. That way you can be assured that Squeaky is all settled before you leave.”
    “What’s assured?”
    “Comfortable,” Jeremy replied.
    “ I want Squeaky to be comfortable. I’ll ask her. Can you hold him?”
    The boy handed his sweet little pet to Jeremy. It really was too bad his mom wouldn’t let him keep the low -maintenance animal. I know I have a unique way of looking at things, but as far as I’m concerned, every kid needs a pet.
     
    “I wouldn’t worry about it,” Zak informed me later, after I complained to him on the phone. “I’m sure the shelter will be filled with four-legged friends in need of homes in no time at all.”
    “I