Chasing Jillian: A Love and Football Novel Read Online Free PDF

holiday celebrations in return. Her foster parents haddone their best to make sure she had the tools she needed to succeed on her own when she was out of foster care. Unfortunately, their biological children were hostile to her, at best. She wasn’t sure how to salvage a relationship that never happened in the first place. But she was still thankful for the family’s help.
    Everything was quiet so far. It would get a lot crazier at ten AM , when children and their foster parents were allowed into the donations area for “shopping.” Most people had no idea that foster kids received $150 per year from the state of Washington for all grooming needs. It wasn’t enough. Clothing could eat up that $150 in one shopping trip. There were so many things foster children struggled with, even if they had loving and supportive foster parents. Mostly, they wanted to fit in and belong.
    Jillian hung up the five winter coats on a department store rack donated to Treehouse for clothing display. She piled the hats and mittens on another table covered in additional winter wear. After that, she hurried to a multipurpose room where she knew her latest “client” would be waiting. Treehouse had staff members with appropriate training who worked with the kids who were going to college. Jillian didn’t have that training, but she could act as a mentor. She enjoyed any opportunity to help with filling out scholarship and college applications or talking about the future plans of the teens she met. Plus, sometimes the most important skill she possessed was the ability to listen.
    A young woman named Chastity sat at one of the long folding tables shoved up against a wall. She glanced around and grinned as Jillian hurried in.
    “Hey. Sorry, I’m late,” Jillian called out. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
    “No, thanks.” Chastity brushed long black curls out of her eyes. “It’s good to see you.”
    “Good to see you too.”
    Jillian poured herself coffee, splashed in a little nondairy creamer, and took a seat next to Chastity. Chastity was one of the lucky ones—she lived in her cousin’s house. She wouldn’t beasked to leave on her eighteenth birthday when the money stopped coming. She’d have to get a job and earn her way, but she had a roof over her head. At the same time, she longed to go to school, but there wasn’t any money for that right now.
    “How are you doing?” Jillian asked.
    “I’m okay. I filled out the scholarship paperwork and applications for school. There’s just one problem.” Chastity tried to peel off some chipped nail polish with her thumbnail.
    “What’s that?”
    “Application fees,” Charity said. “I hope I’ll get at least one scholarship. My grades are good, but . . . ” She studied the ceiling. “I wonder if I should go to a voc-tech instead.”
    “Why?”
    “The programs are shorter. I’ll get out with a skill.”
    “Didn’t you tell me you wanted to be a clothing designer?” Jillian said.
    “Yeah, but it . . . I want something I can find a job at right away. Maybe I can work on that in my spare time.” She wasn’t looking at Jillian. It was hard to look into someone else’s eyes and know you were failing, and you hadn’t even had a chance to try.
    “What would you like to do instead?”
    Chastity folded her arms over her chest. “I was thinking about the food service program.”
    “Do you like food service?”
    “It’s okay.” She looked at the floor and bit her lower lip. “I could do it.”
    “But you’d hate it.”
    “I’d be making money.”
    Jillian took a sip of coffee. Chastity had shown her some of the designs she’d done and a few of the outfits she’d made on an old sewing machine her foster mother had bought at a thrift shop for twenty dollars. Jillian was amazed at what seemed to be a surprising amount of talent.Chastity dressed herself out of donations and thrift-store finds; she seemed to know what went with what and why. She made other