Emma's Heart (Brides of Theron 3) Read Free Page A

from the home that day and placed into a group home for a while. This was the way that the state’s social services department dealt with older children, because it was really hard to place older kids in homes. Families typically didn’t want to deal with a teenager. 
    She was in the group home for almost three months until an elderly couple had agreed to take her in. That living arrangement wasn’t much of an improvement. Emma was acting as more of a live in maid and nurse to them. So many nights she would cry herself to sleep, wishing just for once, that someone would love her for who she was and not just try to get free work out of her. That’s when she had made up her mind to save as much money as she could, and get the hell out of that house.
    The last night she spent in foster care was the best night she ever had. Tomorrow was her eighteenth birthday, and the day of her freedom from foster care. Without letting the old couple see what she was doing, she waited for them to go to bed before she packed up her meager belongings.  Excited as she was, she could hardly sleep.  With a smile on her face, Emma slipped on her floral print backpack, picked up the brown rolling suitcase that contained her clothes.  When she heard the sound of her foster parents talking and making coffee, she walked into the kitchen. The old couple depended on Emma for care and the bit of money they earned from the state for allowing Emma to stay with them.  They sat at the table looking up at her. She approached them with butterflies racing around in her belly and announced, “Thanks for nothing!” and then walked out the door.
    She had come a long way since then. The place was a mess when she moved in.  She couldn’t believe that anyone could possibly live like that.  After spending much of her time cleaning, she had made this apartment her home.  At first, it was a scary living all by herself.  It was definitely better than living on the street. But, it was a great feeling for her to finally be out on her own.
     
    She pulled up drain and stood up in the tub. Careful not to slip as she got out, she reached for the towel on the rack and began to dry her body.  Then, she towel dried her long black hair, and brushed the knots out.  She took a good look at her reflection in the mirror.  It was always the same.  She saw the long straight black hair cascading over her bare shoulders, dark green eyes with thin arched eyebrows, and unblemished skin that was light to fair in color.  She had long arms and fingers and nice perky breasts with small round pink nipples that were peaked as she was starting to feel the chill from standing on the cold tiles of her bathroom floor naked. She knew that she was pretty, as she wrapped her towel around her body and brushed her white teeth. She noticed the attention she got from random men on the street and the men she waited on at work. She stood around five feet seven inches tall and always maintained a thin figure. She ate right and worked hard for everything she had, day and night, and this is what kept her in shape.
                  She dressed in her favorite Mickey Mouse pajama pants and black tank top after blow drying her hair. She turned off the bathroom light, and made her way over to her daybed that doubled as a sofa during the day. She pulled back the covers and crawled into bed switching on the small old television in timer mode. She flipped through the few channels that she had in her basic cable package and found nothing of interest to watch. It didn’t take long before her eye lids started feeling heavy and she soon drifted off to sleep.
                  She did not know how long she had been asleep when she was awoken by a loud noise. It was very dark in the small efficiency apartment because the TV had turned off. She wasn’t quite sure what the noise had been, but assumed it came from the alley.   Maybe it was one of those damn stray cats that ran about