One Day to Find a Husband. Shirley Jump

girl with wide eyes and dark hair, and a toothy smile. Everything Ellie had dreamed of was right there, within her grasp.

      Or had been, until now.

      Had Ellie heard wrong? But one look at Linda Simpson’s face, lined with sympathy and regret, told Ellie this was no joke. The adoption coordinator sat behind her desk, her dark brown hair piled into a messy bun, her eyes brimming with sorrow.

      “I need…” Ellie swallowed, tried again. “A husband?”

      “That’s what they told me this morning. Countries all over the world are tightening their adoption policies. The orphanage is sticking to the government’s bottom line. I’m sorry.”

      A spouse.

      Ellie bit back a sigh. Maybe it was time to pursue another adoption, in a more lenient country. But then she thought of Jiao’s round, cherubic face, the laughter that had seemed to fill the room whenever Ellie had played with her, and knew there was nothing she wanted more than to bring that little girl home. She had promised Sun, and Jiao.

      But how was she going to do that and run her father’s company? And who on earth could she possibly marry on such short notice? There had to be a way out of this. A workaround of some sort.

      “But they told me, you told me, I was fine. That because Jiao’s mother asked me specifically to raise her daughter and endorsed the adoption before she died, that I wouldn’t have to worry about the other requirements.”

      “The government is the ultimate authority.” Linda spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “And they just feel better about a child being placed in a home with two parents.”

      Ellie tamped down her frustration. Being mad at Linda didn’t help. The coordinator had worked tirelessly to facilitate this adoption, working with both the U.S. and Chinese governments, as well as the orphanage where Jiao was currently living. Ellie had contacted the agency where Linda worked shortly after returning from that fateful China trip. She’d explained the situation to the woman, who had immediately helped set everything up for a later adoption, easing Sun’s worries during the last days of her life.

      Ellie had expected some delays, particularly dealing with a foreign government, but already three months had passed since Sun had died and Jiao was still in China.

      A husband. Where was she going to get one of those? It wasn’t like she could just buy one on the drugstore shelf. Getting married took time, forethought. A relationship with someone.

      “What happens now?” Ellie asked. “What happens to Jiao?”

      “Well, it would be handy if you had a boyfriend who was looking to commit in the very near future. But if not…” Linda put out her hands again. “I’m sorry. Maybe this one isn’t meant to be.” Linda didn’t have to say anything more. Ellie knew, without hearing the words, that her child would go back into the orphanage system and maybe languish there for years.