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hairline and round
stomach.
    “Octavia, you’re later than you said—had me a
little worried.” He scratched his head.
    “Sorry, Brother McCoy. You know how I get
carried away with rehearsal.”
    Landon snickered.
    Octavia cut her eyes at him before making the
introductions. “This is Landon. He’s the one who needs a place to
stay and the works.”
    Why was he relieved and disappointed at the
same time with her sleeping arrangements? “The works?” Landon
repeated.
    Brother McCoy smiled and extended his hand to
Landon. “Yes. An assessment of your job skills and toiletries,
underwear…” he continued talking as he led them inside.
    Landon was well aware of the routine shelter
evaluation upon entry. Landon had gone through the motions before
at other places to update his résumé, but what was the sense of
printing them out? He needed clean professional clothes, preferably
dry cleaned, a rental car with a GPS and a list of companies hiring
upper management. If he couldn’t earn the six-figure salary he once
enjoyed, he could manage with seventy thousand minimum. Who was he
kidding? At the present, he would be happy with a map and a
bicycle.
    With the last one hundred dollars in his
pocket, he was running out of options. Half of it had come from a
stranger who reminded him of his grandfather. Along with the money,
the man gave him a business-size card with no name, no number, just
a prayer printed on it. Landon had actually prayed that day with
tears in his eyes, thanking God for the handout.
    Although Landon needed steady income, he
would probably be working for free. Of all the things he learned
from his family, financial responsibility stuck. If he created a
debt, he believed in paying it. Shamefully, he had filed
bankruptcy, but some judgements the court wouldn’t dismiss and
honestly, Landon wanted to be held accountable. What a mess he had
made of his life. No doubt, garnishments would attack his first
paycheck like locusts in a wheat field. With the way his luck was
going, he might remain in poverty for decades to come.
    “Thank you, Brother McCoy, for finding space
with short notice,” Octavia said and turned to Landon.
    She took his hand and squeezed it. Hers was
soft. Octavia’s lips parted as if she was about to say something,
then changed her mind. Instead, she nodded, then headed for the
door.
    Landon frowned at Brother McCoy. “Give me a
sec.” Still holding onto his suitcase, he hurried out the door and
caught up with Octavia before she got in. “You know, I thought you
were taking me to your house.”
    Her smirk turned into a harmonious laugh. She
winked. “I bet you did. You’re welcome.” She got in and drove
away.
    Staring at her fading taillights, Landon
shook his head. “She played me.”

Chapter 5
     
     
    Back inside the shelter, Brother McCoy was standing
in the same spot Landon had left him.
    “Ready for your tour now?” His eyes danced
with mischief as if he had been in on the joke with Octavia.
    Landon nodded and proceeded to follow him
throughout the two-story facility. He guessed the director’s age to
be somewhere near fifty years old. His mannerisms reminded him of
his eighty-year-old grandfather. Not many men possessed the
combination of an air of authority while being seemingly
approachable.
    He and his grandfather, his father,
mother…and so many others had separated on bad terms long before he
had made the decision to leave town and start over. It was draining
rehashing his past as he contemplated his future. This is just a
temporary bridge to cross, he reminded himself.
    I died on a cross for you, God
whispered.
    Why did God have to constantly tap into his
thoughts? I know , he silently admitted as he kept in step
with Brother McCoy. The facility looked more like a residence than
the compound that had been a shelter he had he lodged in overnight.
The floors and walls were clean and the place smelled of
disinfectant.
    Turning down a short hall, Brother