CHAPTER 21
It was Monday morning and I had an uncontested divorce scheduled at the courthouse. The hearing was short, but bittersweet. It's the rare client who doesn't get choked up when their old life is officially pronounced over and, because it's poignant and sad, it always makes me a little emotional, too. Witnessing this milestone in another person's life is a big responsibility, not to be taken lightly. That's why, if I had my way, I'd do nothing but adoptions every day, snapping pictures of each newly-minted family with a smile on my face that never faded. But that was just wishful thinking on my part.
I was working through lunch, catching up on paperwork (not real paper, we had to e-file now) when the receptionist buzzed to say I had a visitor, a Ms. Ana Maria Suarez. There was e
