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Callie. Apart from allowing Val to put a down payment on a house, Callie always refused her daughter's financial help.
    A twinkle in her eyes showing that she'd deduced Val's intent, Callie said blandly, "I'd love to do a wall hanging, but it will be my gift for your office warming."
    "I'll be the envy of the Baltimore legal community." Val accepted graciously since it was obvious her mother wouldn't accept payment. Callie had never cared much about money. As compensation, she had the artist's ability to make her home comfortable and attractive while spending less than most people put into a sofa. Though Val's childhood had been chaotic in some ways, it hadn't lacked color and imagination.
    Callie frowned. "If you're looking for worthy clients, I have one for you. The music teacher at my school, Mia Kolski, is being harassed legally by her ex-husband, a slimeball who keeps dragging her back to court. She's a single mother and can't afford the legal fees, so she's terrified of losing custody of her kids. Her husband doesn't really want them, he just wants to punish her for being smart enough to leave him."
    It was a common story, but it still made Val's blood boil. "Have her call me at home to set up an appointment. Maybe I can help her."
    "That's my girl," her mother said again. "You've spent
    so many years with those corporate bandits that I was beginning to think you had gone over to the dark side."
    Val grinned. "You're such an unrepentant old lefty."
    "Watch that word old ! " Callie's expression turned serious. "I'm really, truly glad you're doing this, Val. Though I wasn't a very good Quaker, the principles still speak to me, which is why I took you to meetings and sent you to Friends school. I wanted you to grow up better and wiser than me. It seemed to be working, until you hit adolescence."
    The waiter arrived to take their orders, giving Val time to think about her mother's words. For years the two of them had attended the Stony Run Meeting which was directly adjacent to Friends School.
    At the school she discovered friendship and the joys of learning. At the meeting, her idealistic young heart responded to the spiritual purity of Quaker silence and belief. Later she had fallen away from faith, while her mother moved to the Unitarians when she acquired a Jewish significant other who wasn't comfortable in a Christian church.
    As the waiter left, Val said lightly, "It's hard to be a good Quaker and an adolescent, and becoming a corporate litigator is even worse. Harvard won't grant a law degree unless you swear a blood oath to deliver your soul over to the dark gods of materialism."
    Callie grinned. "I almost believe that. I don't blame you for wanting to live a comfortable life. Even when you were an adorable infant with carrot-colored curls, it was clear that you weren't cut out to be an artist and live in a garret. You used to line all your toys up in neat little rows, and you always qualified your opinions, just like your father. I guess you were born to a be a lawyer, but it really makes me happy that you're going to be using your abilities to help people who need help. Now tell me more."
    Val was happy to oblige. It was interesting that having given up trying to win her father's approval, she had her mother's instead.
    And it felt darned good.

 
    Chapter 4

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    One long sweep of the roller covered most of the sprawling graffiti tag, which screamed BURN! across the side of the abandoned rowhouse. Rob eyed the paint critically. The tan color wasn't a bad match. It would do until they were ready to completely repaint the wall.
    After obliterating the rest of the graffiti, Rob closed the bucket and wrapped the roller. "Can you finish up here, Sha'wan? I have to get over to the church. I may finally have a tenant--a lady lawyer."
    His partner asked, "Is she hot?"
    "That's no way to talk about a lady."
    Sha'wan grinned, unrepentant. "Yeah, but is she hot?"
    Rob remembered Val Covington's well-curved figure