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

with me?” Mindy asked.
    Sophia tilted her head sideways and gave Mindy a long, hard gaze. “Whatever,” she finally said. “Doesn’t matter if I stay here or go with you. Either way, I’ll be moving again soon.”
    “Well, I’d like you to stay with me for quite a while. It will be up to you how long, but I hope you stay for a long, long time.”
    Sophia scrunched up her nose, and shrugged again. Mindy did a double take at the familiarity of Sophia’s expression. Sophia’s scrunched up facial expression had a remarkable resemblance to the way Zach scrunched up his nose when he was thinking. The more Mindy looked at Sophia, the more she thought the little girl looked just like Zach. It was a strange, almost eerie coincidence.
    Mindy squeezed Sophia’s shoulder. “I’ll let you get back to swinging,” Mindy said. But if it’s okay with you, I’m going to make plans with Mr. Stewart for you to come home with me in a few days.”
    Sophia shrugged, and didn’t seem to show much interest in what Mindy was saying, so Mindy gave her shoulder one more squeeze and then returned to where Mr. Stewart was standing. Mindy had never seen Mr. Stewart appear so anxious. He twirled his thumbs around each other in rapid little circles and let out a nervous laugh.
    “So, what did you think?” he asked. “She seems like a bright girl, doesn’t she?”
    “She does. I think she’s a smart, sweet little girl. Let’s go back inside and discuss this,” Mindy said, and started walking back toward the building. Mr. Stewart followed silently. For the first time since she’d known him, Mindy felt like she had the upper hand in the conversation. Mr. Stewart sat meekly in his desk chair and waited for Mindy to speak.
    “What’s the deal with her, really?” Mindy asked. “She said she’s been bounced around several places, and she doesn’t think that she’ll be staying here long, either. She told me that she was not supposed to say why. Do you know anything about that?”
    Mr. Stewart let out another nervous laugh. “I’m not sure what she means by saying she isn’t supposed to talk about it. She’s been through several orphanages in the short amount of time that she’s been without her mother because she doesn’t get along well with any of the other kids, that’s all. That’s exactly why I think she would do better in an actual home, and I was hoping you could take her.”
    Mindy could smell Mr. Stewart lying from a mile away. She knew he was hiding something from her, but maybe it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, she was sure she could handle it. After all, she handled all types of people with all types of attitudes every day in her job as a nurse.
    “And you’re sure that nobody knows anything about the family?” Mindy asked. Something about the way Sophia looked like Zach was nagging at the back of Mindy’s mind.
    “We can’t find any information about any extended family. The mother’s name was Rita Wilcox, and she had an expired Idaho driver’s license. She’d been in a small town in Idaho for a few years, apparently. But no one knew where she lived before that. The girl’s birth certificate is from Idaho, and, like I said earlier, only has the mother listed.”
    “And no one has any idea who the father might be?” Mindy asked.
    Mr. Stewart shook his head. “No, no one has any information. I think it’s likely that Rita didn’t know who the dad was. But, in any case, we have no leads on anyone else who might be even remotely related to Sophia.”
    “Okay,” Mindy said. “Well, I’d like to bring Sophia home as a foster child, and see how things go. If she likes me and we seem to click, then we can start the adoption process. How long will everything take?”
    “Well,” Mr. Stewart said. “You’ve already done a lot of the legwork for adopting and fostering. You’ve done a home study, filled out the necessary paperwork, and done the necessary background checks, so we should be able to get