Catching Air by Sarah Pekkanen Read Free Book Online Page A

to . . .”
    There was a pause. “This is the third time you’ve moved in four years, correct?”
    Why did she make it sound like that was a terrible thing? Alyssa pictured a frowning woman in severe glasses, making a big red X over the file Alyssa had so carefully constructed, the one with a photo of her and Rand holding hands on the cover and their “letter of intent” in which they promised to love and cherish an adoptive child.
    Alyssa clutched the phone closer to her ear. “But one of our moves was just from D.C. to Virginia. A dozen miles, and only because the owner of the house we were renting decided to sell.”
    “I see.”
    “Did we do something wrong?” Alyssa asked. “We had this great business opportunity in Vermont, and we’ll be up here at least a year—”
    “A year?” Donna asked.
    Alyssa squeezed her eyes shut. “Probably longer,” she said quickly.
    “It’s just that you understand the Chinese government has some rigid requirements for adoptive parents,” Donna said.
    “I know,” Alyssa said. She and Rand had needed to show proof that they’d graduated from high school, and they’d been fingerprinted, and demonstrated that they had a stable income . . .
    The salary requirements. Would they be in violation if the B-and-B didn’t earn a good income this year?
    “When we did the home study, you were living in Virginia,” Donna said. “Obviously we’ll have to do another one now.”
    “Of course,” Alyssa said. “That would be fine!”
    “So, a B-and-B . . . Will you have any long-term guests?” Donna asked.
    “Um . . . no, I don’t think so. Most people will just stay for a few days,” Alyssa said. “Can I ask why?”
    “If they stay a certain amount of time, we’d need to consider them as living with you. Which would mean they’d also have to undergo background checks, as you did.”
    “A week. Tops,” Alyssa said. “No one will stay longer. I’m certain of it.”
    She cringed as she thought of something. “Except my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They’re moving here to help us run the B-and-B. But she’s a lawyer! And he’s a really nice guy.”
    “We’ll still need to do checks on them,” Donna said. “And we’ll be back in touch about the home visit.”
    “Wait!” Alyssa said, sensing Donna was about to hang up. “Um, is there anything we can do? I’m so sorry we didn’t tell you about the move . . . I wasn’t trying to hide anything, it just never occurred to me . . .”
    Donna’s voice finally softened. “Look, this process is difficult and time-consuming, as you’re well aware. It’s best to avoid major changes while the adoption is ongoing . . . After you have your daughter, you’ll be free to do whatever you’d like.”
    Your daughter. No one had ever said those simple, beautiful words to Alyssa before. Her breath caught in her throat as the twelve letters seemed to float around her, soft and downy as tufts of cotton.
    “We won’t move anytime soon,” Alyssa said. “Nothing will change.”
    “Good,” Donna said.
    “When you said we were getting closer . . . how close, exactly?” Alyssa asked. “Another year, or two?”
    “It’s probably more like a matter of months,” Donna said. “I’ll be in touch.”
    Alyssa kept holding on to her phone long after Donna had hung up. All the preparations they’d made for the adoption had been so sterile and academic that it was hard to equate them with a warm, living child. Maybe, too, she hadn’t let herself believe the adoption would ever go through, because she’d been so badly disappointed once before. She’d closed off her heart until this very moment.
    Grace. The name blossomed in her mind like it had been waiting for permission to surface all along—a prayer, a blessing, a promise.
    She was going to be the mother of a little girl! Her daughter already existed. She was probably asleep now, since it was nighttime on the opposite side of the world. Maybe