know you.â
âWell, weâve spent enough time on me. I know youâre a mother, and I suspect youâre a very good one. Do you have another calling beyond that?â
Destiny pressed her forefinger against her chest. âA calling? Me? Not hardly.â
âSure you do,â he said. âWe all do. Not everybody is called to be a minister in the pulpit, but weâre all called to serve in some way. Youâre called to be a mother and that could be your primary calling, but there could also be something else. Do you work?â
She nodded. âIâm the manager of the cosmetics department at a local department store. I donât think that could be considered a calling.â
âI donât know,â he said. âIt could be. It depends on howyou approach it. Itâs not what you do that makes it a calling; itâs why you do it and how you do it.â
She smiled. âYou know, youâre good at your calling.â
âGetting too deep?â
âJust a little,â she said.
âDo you like sports?â he asked.
She smiled more broadly. âOf course. I have a six-year-old son who adores his father. Did I tell you that Kenneth was a star college athlete whoâs now a middle school coach?â
Daniel laughed. âWe canât get away from our past relationships, can we?â
âIt sure does seem that way.â
âWeâll have to try this again,â he said. âIâve heard that practice makes perfect.â
âSounds like a plan to me,â she said.
âThe breast cancer walk is in two weeks. Iâm planning to go with Gavin and Natalie. Will you and your mother be there?â
Destiny nodded. âWe walk with the church every year. Iâll be walking for me and my mom because sheâll be out of town that week.â
âGood. Letâs plan to see each other there. You can show me the ropes.â
âIâd like that,â she said.
âSo itâs a date?â he asked.
She looked up at him. âIt sure is.â
Chapter 7
D ANIEL THOUGHT ABOUT D ESTINY WHILE HE WAITED for Phil Harris to return to his office. He smiled at the realization that he was so bad at the dating game that he had not even remembered to get her phone number. He was sure he could get it from Natalie or Gavin but he preferred not to go that route. He had hoped to see her at church on Sunday so he could ask her for the number, but either she hadnât attended or heâd missed her. Heâd just have to wait to see her at church next Sunday or the following Saturday at the cancer walk. That was probably for the best. He was intrigued by her, attracted to her actually, but both of them were taking baby steps into the dating scene so there was no need to rush anything.
âSorry about that,â Phil Harris said when he returned to his office. âMy meeting ran longer than I expected.â
âNo problem,â Daniel said to the man who was now his client. âYou have to keep to your regular routine. Nothingshould change because Iâm here and nobody can know the real reason Iâm here. All anybody needs to know is that Iâm new in town and weâre associates from way back. Nobody in my circle knows either.â
âI understand,â Phil said. âWilliam and George laid out the ground rules for me. Since I donât want to go to jail, Iâm going to abide by them.â
âGood,â Daniel said. âAs you know, we have a lot of experience with these kinds of investigations.â He shook his head, marveling that Phil was again on the wrong side of the law. âHow in the heck did you get yourself involved in something like this, Phil? You know better.â
âI know, man,â Phil said with a shrug.
âSo what happened? After our last encounter, I thought you were going to stay on the straight and narrow.â
âThat was the plan,â he