The Firefighter's Heart (After the Ashes #1)

One year ago tonight, I lost my mom.

I picked up a late shift at the diner because I couldn't stand to be alone in my apartment.

Suddenly, the doors swung open and every head turned, and my firefighter neighbor walked in cradling a newborn against his chest.

He walked straight to my table and said, "Someone left her at the station tonight. She doesn't have a family."

She was crying in his arms, and when I looked at her tiny face I felt something crack open in my chest.

My mind was racing, and I started thinking, what would my mother have done?

I reached for her before I could stop myself, and her tiny little fingers curled into my shirt like she already knew she was safe.

He watched me hold her, then stepped in behind me and growled,

"She needs a mother... She needs you."