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her afterward. I know Germany pretty well from my army days, so we struck up a friendship. I contacted her when I was in Hamburg last year. We went out for dinner. I was just as shocked as you seem right now when I saw her down the street. Small world.”
    Small world indeed. Too small. “Wonder what she’s doing over this way?” King pondered. Neither her mother’s house nor the hospital was in the area. Was she on her way to the church?
    “I don’t know. I was so surprised to see her I didn’t ask. We talked for a few minutes, exchanged phone numbers, and when I told her I had to get to the church, she asked if I knew you. I told her yes. She asked all these questions about you, and said to tell you hi.”
    Questions? What kind of questions? What would his first lay, his steady from back in the day, want to know about him? Regardless, his heart warmed with memories. “How’s she doing?” King responded with a query of his own. “She must be married. Her last name used to be Smith and now it’s…?” He waited for Lavon to fill in the blank.
    “Petersen. Yeah, she’s doing grand. Husband is an investment banker or something.”
    “Hmm,” King said.
    “Yeah, they got a couple of kids, the whole nine.”
    King raised his brows. The Tootie he used to know and “mother” was a tight fit in the same sentence. But people change. Tootie, Tootie, with the big boo —King shook his head. That was one memory lane he need not go down. He turned businesslike. “Well, I’ll be sure and pray for Miss Smith. And for Tootie, I mean, Janeé,” he corrected. “I know what it’s like to be worried about your mother’s health.” And then an abrupt change of subject: “Did you say your church used five or six cameras?”
    Lavon didn’t miss the quick change in King’s demeanor, or in the subject matter. “We used five there. Here, we’ll use six, an additional hand-held for special shots.” And then, because he couldn’t resist, “I’m not trying to be out of line, Preach, but is she an old flame or something? She was looking all nostalgic when talking about you. I mean, I’m just asking. She said y’all hadn’t seen each other in years.”
    She was right. It had been a long time. Every now and then he’d wondered if she still lived overseas and how she was doing. Tootie had been a wildcat back in the day; that “cat” had gotten him in trouble more than once. That girl did everything, was a real daredevil. He and his friends used to compare notes afterward.
    Lavon watched King try and remain impassive. But he was convinced some past passion lay just beneath the facade.
    King was just about to respond to Von’s question when Joseph stuck his head in the doorway. “Everyone’s gathered in the conference room. Should I tell them we’re ready to begin?”
    King was up and out of his seat in a flash, reaching for the suit coat he’d removed earlier. He was glad for the interruption, so the conversation about Tootie could come to an end. Relieved to not have to ponder the feelings that the mention of her name evoked. With determination, he channeled his thoughts to the tasks at hand—running Mount Zion Progressive, a million-dollar corporation, for the Lord.

6
Mercy…Peace…Love…
    Millicent stopped working and stretched. She grabbed the arm of her chair with both hands and twisted her back, grabbed the other chair arm and repeated the motion. She still felt tight. Looking at her watch, she understood why. Where had the time gone? It was almost two o’clock in the afternoon and she’d been hard at work, barely moving from her computer, since before eight. It’s time for a break, she thought, saving her work and punching in the code that sent her phone calls to the company’s answering system.
    “Back in an hour,” she said cheerfully to the receptionist.
    “Oh my goodness, you’re just now getting out for lunch?” the receptionist asked. “And it’s such a beautiful day!”
    “I’ve