The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society Read Online Free

their referrals, and the Lathams should receive theirs by the end of the week.
    And then Jamie Linde arrived in his UPS truck, a package in hand. Frances could tell by the look on his face that he knew what it was. He didn’t seem at all surprised by the hug or the tears, and even offered to take a picture of her holding up the heavy, flat envelope. Frances got Noah, her five-year-old, to take the picture because she wanted Jamie in it. She had the picture printed the next day and wrote on the back, “Me with our stork, Jamie Linde.”
    Reed came home immediately and they opened the envelope together. When they saw the picture clipped to the stack of documents, Reed’s eyes got wet and Frances gasped. “She’s beautiful! Look at her, Reed!” He nodded and wiped his eyes.
    There is still more waiting ahead, but now they know. They know that this little girl is the one that will make their family complete.
    Frances closes her eyes, feels the hot tears of joy and relief coming again. They’ve already made copies of the picture so Reed can take one to work and each of the older boys wanted one as well. Frances taped copies on the fridge, the bathroom mirrors, the home office, the car. She sent framed copies to her parents and to Reed’s mother.
    But this one, the original, the one that came from China and taken by someone who had looked this little girl in the eyes, this is the picture Frances holds in her hands.
    Mei Ling. Our daughter
.
    Frances and Reed pored over every detail, put stickies on the pages to send to the agency to get translated, made notes in their notebook of questions and things that needed clarifying. But the bottom line is that they are one step closer to bringing her home.
    The phone rings and Frances jumps to answer it. “Hello?” Her voice is breathless.
    “Hi, sweetheart.” It’s Reed, and Frances smiles. He sounds tired, but happy. “How’s your day going?”
    “Good. Wonderful. Perfect. Do you have to ask?”
    Reed laughs, a low baritone that reminds her of Reed’s father. Frances wishes that he was alive, that he could meet this little girl, his soon-to-be granddaughter. “I guess not. I’m calling to see if you want to take the boys out for dinner. Give you a night off.”
    “I already have a marinara sauce simmering on the stove,” she says. “With meatballs. It’s spaghetti night, remember? Tuesday?” Frances is gazing dreamily at Mei Ling’s picture and then it hits her. “Wait. You’re going to be traveling again, aren’t you? Where? When?”
    “Arizona. One week. I leave the day after tomorrow.”
    “Reed …”
    “Fran, I know. But there’s no way around it. And the way I see it, the more I do now, the easier it’ll be when I have to put in my vacation days when we go to China to pick up Mei Ling.”
    Frances tucks Mei Ling’s picture back into a wax-paper envelope. “I wish I knew when that was going to be.”
    “I know. Me too.”
    The timeline is sketchy at best, but now that they’ve been matched with Mei Ling, it could be anywhere from six months to a year before a travel date is set. They have to be ready either way, and even though there are a few more hoops to jump through, the worst is over.
    “So dinner in or out?” Reed asks. “I have to go in a minute—one more meeting and then I can head home.”
    “Let’s go out,” Frances says. She can refrigerate the sauce for another day. At least there won’t be any dishes to worry about tonight.
    “Did the agency say anything about the medical records yet?”
    “No. I sent them an email this morning but I haven’t heard back. I didn’t want to call and hound them any more than I already have.” Frances turns the heat off on the stove.
    “I’ll call them before I leave the office,” Reed says. “See you soon.”
    “Bye.”
    Noah struts into the kitchen. That’s his thing these days—he likes to walk in and command a room. Reed says Noah is a lot like hisuncle, Reed’s younger brother,