Read To Heal A Heart (Love Inspired) for Free Online Page B

Sunday. She nodded. “I’d like that.”
    Melissa gave a little hop and clapped her hands together, which made Scott smile.
    “Oh, you’re going to love it,” Melissa promised. “We’ll hook up later and fix what time to meet, okay?”
    “Sure. Thanks for the invitation, and for a great evening.” Piper started toward the stairs, adding, “Next time, my place.”
    “Right on,” Scott called heartily. “Have a good one!”
    “You, too.”
    She went down the steps feeling pleased. She had made two friends. Life was improving already.
     
     
    “Mr. Adler, you don’t know how much I appreciate this,” Mitch said, shaking the older man’s hand across the gleaming expanse of a very vice-presidential desk.
    “Must be some letter you found,” Craig Adler said as he dropped into a sumptuous tan leather chair, exposing a large bald spot in the thinning gray hair on top of his head. “Your father says that you wish to retain possession of it until the owner is found.” He waved Mitch into one of three matching leather chairs arranged in a slight arc in front of his desk. Mitch folded himself into the nearest one.
    “That’s correct. I haven’t shared the letter with anyone other than my parents, and I don’t intend to. It’s a privacy issue, you understand.”
    Adler smiled. “Spoken like a true lawyer, and frankly, the privacy issue is a real concern to us.”
    Mitch nodded. “I’m aware that you can’t just turn over the flight manifest to me.”
    “I’m glad you understand that.”
    “And I also realize that you have no vested interest in seeing the letter go back to its original owner,” Mitch added.
    “You’re right. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t reunite every lost item that we find with its owner. Just holding items of value for claim is a real financial burden, so the less the airline has to do with this the better. But I don’t see any real reason not to send out a notice informing everyone on the manifest that a personal item of no actual monetary value has been recovered and is being held for the owner by you. Provided we can agree on the ground rules.”
    Mitch smiled. It was more than he’d dared hope for, really. “You just tell me how it has to play. We can even spell it out in writing, if you like.”
    “I’ll send you a memo when we’re done here,” Adler said, making a note on a legal pad. “And I have to tell you that I wouldn’t do this for just anyone. Even with assurance that nothing in this letter you’ve found could be construed as a legal risk for the airline, I wouldn’t normally go against company practice like this, not even for a personal friend, but I know your father, and he says this is important.”
    “I’m very grateful, sir, and I’d like to add my reassurance to Dad’s. This won’t come back to bite you, I promise. My sole intent is to return the letter to its owner. Anything beyond that is strictly up to that individual.”
    “Meaning?”
    Mitch shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to give away too much, but he realized that Adler was sticking his neck out here. Choosing his words carefully, he said, “Criminal law is not my only area of expertise. After Anne died, I got involved in a counseling program that has become something of a personal ministry for me. I think this person might benefit from that.”
    Craig Adler tapped a finger on the corner of his desk consideringly before nodding. “All right. Fair enough. But what happens if the person who contacts you isn’t the owner of the letter?”
    “It seems to me permissible to ask if a contact saw someone else drop a folded sheet of paper on the loading ramp and, if so, who. I might get at least a description that way.”
    Adler nodded. “All right.”
    Mitch shifted forward. “Would it be okay, do you think, if I asked for the names of anyone traveling with the contact so I could perhaps interview them?”
    “Hmm, I suppose, but at no time may you represent yourself as connected