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CHAPTER 1

Bless the soul of the person who invented air-conditioning

Angela Bouler sighed in ecstasy when she opened the door to the North Region Activity Center and cool air kissed her skin Heat and humidity had combined to make summer in Jacksonville, Florida, beat Hell on the hot and uncoainst the open door and turned to her only nepheas co up behind her Oblivious to the heat, and enthralled by his cell phone, Cory walked slower than a two-legged tortoise

“Co will still be there once we’re inside the air-conditioned building” Her attempt at an upbeat tone wilted

After scraet off work early so she could pick up Cory froet hi basketball caht fro perky She’d left the blazer she’d worn to her day job as a court-appointed advocate for foster children in the car, but even without the extra layer, her blouse stuck to her back and tendrils of hair escaped the ponytail she’d swept her thick shoulder-length hair into and clung to her neck

Cory slipped his phone into the pocket of his basketball shorts and picked up his speed to rumbled

“You’re always hungry”

“I’ I’m almost a man now,” he said with a cocky, know-it-all sers everywhere

Angela rolled her eyes but didn’t suppress her grin “Whatever, man Pay me back for the box of Hot Pockets you ate in one day”

“I said alrinned and looked so ela’s heart hurt He was as tall as she was, but would probably grow several more inches Despite his slow pace, his skin, the color of dark honey, held a red flush from the heat

Angela ruffled his purposefully ently pushed hih and brushed her hand away Ever since her brother’s girlfriend, Heather, had dropped off Cory at Angela’s door amore than “I can’t take hie career,” Cory had done nothing but eat, eat and then eathalf an inch every fifteen minutes Her fifteen-hundred-square-foot apartood ice crea to eat Though she suspected Cory’s never-ending appetite would eventually lead hi place

She closed the door and directed Cory toward the ned up This will be fun!” She it excitement with the last statement

The grin on Cory’s faceabout thirteen-year-old boys—they went from happy to sullen in a split second “This is charity”

“A favor isn’t charity One of the boys originally registered for can you up There are plenty of other kids ith ould love to be in your place Do you want istration to another kid?”

Her office got five registrations to the activity center’s coveted camp with the Jacksonville Gators professional basketball teaet the newly opened spot, but couldn’t turn it dohen her boss approached her at the last minute Cory deserved so funds at his job—the idiot—and his ela refused to be another person who let him down She would do whatever she could to h she had no idea what she was doing Kids hadn’t been in her short-or long-term plans

Cory stuffed his hands into his pockets and shook his head “No”

“Then zip it and let’s get you registered” Angela rubbed his back and smiled

She understood his aversion to accepting things Help fro she’d learned after her parents died and her aunt considered the ela and her brother’s college educations to be her “reward” for taking in the kids After that lesson, Angela chose to rely on herself to get what she wanted out of life She’d taken a job as a bartender at a gentleree and continued serving drinks part-ti the position as an advocate to help cover the costs of graduate school She paid her oay and was proud of that, but a coveted spot in a basketball camp with professionals was an exception to her don’t-accept-help rule