Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1) by Claire Boston Page A

they might have found Jacinta and Mario’s mother?”
    She
knew her sister was deliberately changing the subject, but she let her. “Zita
mentioned something about Wisconsin.”
    “No,
she’s in Mississippi.”
    Bridget
sat back as Carly told her the details. She would have to get to the bottom of
Carly’s worries another time.
    * * *
    Lunch
at Carmen’s was as loud as ever. She had six foster children at the moment and
the three new girls were fitting in well. A couple of them were helping with
lunch, the youngest, Mario, was setting the table and two of the pregnant
teenagers were sitting on the couch, resting.
    The
aroma of chili drifted through the house as Bridget and Carly walked in.
    “ Hola , Mamá ,”
Bridget said, giving her mother a hug.
    “ Mi niñita .” She hugged Bridget tightly. “How
are things with your Jack?”
    “There
isn’t anything, Mama. It didn’t work out.”
    Her mother tutted. “That’s sad.”
    “It
sure is, Mama.” Bridget scurried into the kitchen before her mother could ask
anything else.
    “So what
happened with Jack?” Zita asked, kissing her cheek.
    “Turns
out he’s my new boss,” she said.
    “Oh.”
Zita knew all about the Lionel affair. “No chance then?”
    Bridget
shook her head.
    “That’s
a shame.”
    Wasn’t
it just? Not wanting to dwell on Jack she asked, “So what’s new here?”
    “I
think we’ve found Mario and Jacinta’s mother,” Zita said. “She’s in
Mississippi, not Wisconsin. Immigration are confirming
and then I’ll take them home.”
    “Yeah,
Carly was telling me. That’s fantastic.”
    “It is.
We’ve already been sent details of the next foster kids we’ll get.”
    It
was a never-ending revolving door. More and more children were fleeing Central
America unaccompanied. Those who were allowed to stay needed someone to live
with and the farm had plenty of beds. Their mother had designed it with that in
mind.
    “How’s
Alejandra? The baby must be almost due.”
    “It
is. We’re in countdown mode now. Her bag is packed for the hospital and Mama’s
covered all the necessities with her. She’s going to be fine.”
    Alejandra
was fifteen and had been involved with a gang member in El Salvador. She didn’t
want her baby becoming part of a gang so she’d fled the country.
    Bridget
was worried for the girl. Fifteen was so young to be having a baby, but she
knew her mother and the rest of the girls at Casa Flanagan would help her. She
would be able to finish her education and make something of her life. Alejandra
already spoke about wanting to be a teacher.
    “So
what’s new with you?” Zita asked.
    “I’m
going to learn to scuba dive next week.”
    Zita’s
mouth dropped open. “Get out!”
    Bridget
grinned at her. “Yeah. Jack’s given me a couple of
days off in lieu and I decided to finally learn to scuba dive.”
    “Sounds awesome. You’ll have to tell me all about it.”
    Feeling
comfortable and at home, Bridget proceeded to do just that.
    * * *
    The
Monday management meeting was Jack’s least favorite part of the week. It lasted
several hours and all they did was talk without any decisions being made.
    “How
are the audit actions coming along?” Kevin asked Jack. Now he understood the
urgency of the matter, Kevin wanted full updates each meeting.
    “It’s
moving quickly now we have the funds,” Jack said. “I’ve hired a couple of
contractors to help complete the actions due to the delay in approval.”
    Kevin
scowled. “How much is that costing us?”
    “It’s
coming from my budget,” Jack assured him.
    “Bridget
obviously didn’t budget correctly. I should have guessed she wasn’t capable.”
    Jack
reined in his temper. “Her budget was based on the assumption it wouldn’t take three
months to get approval. If the authorizers had signed it off immediately we
wouldn’t have this problem.” He wasn’t going to let Bridget take the blame.
    “She
didn’t communicate the urgency.”
    Oh,
he was