distance between himself and his administrative assistant, and he took on a gruff demeanor to make sure things stayed distant. The last thing he needed was for the two of them to get too friendly with each other. The only woman he could ever possibly love had died six years ago.
Moving away from the window, he returned to the chair behind his desk. He would work for another hour or so before he called it a day. On the way home he would stop at one of the fast-food places and grab a sandwich. Usually he didn’t stay all day at the office on the weekend, but, after the press conference, he had decided to get a headstart on next week’s work.
He cringed in anger every time he thought about Dashuan Kennedy and his poor attitude. Players like him gave any game a bad name. He definitely wasn’t any kid’s role model. In fact, as far as D’marcus was concerned, whether they won or lost, the Chargers probably would be better off without Dashaun. There was no doubt Kennedy was a gifted young basketball player—but he was one who had some kind of a chip on his shoulder. D’marcus felt whatever issues Kennedy was having extended beyond his bad-ass ego problem. Frankly, D’marcus was ready to trade him, but the other two owners saw Dashuan as their hope for the coming season.
He felt a strange prickling sensation and looked up, surprised to see Opal standing in the doorway of his office. Before he could open his mouth to ask what she was doing there, she entered and placed a take-out box in front of him.
“I know what you said, but I couldn’t see myself letting you starve. If you don’t want to eat it you can trash it,” she said, before turning to leave.
“Why?” he asked before she had reached the door. When she turned around, his eyes flicked over her with a cool expression. “Why did you come back? With the food?”
She tilted her chin and he saw a stubborn glint to it when she said, “Because I refuse to become a grouch like you. Life has been too good to me this year for me to do that.”
“Then, I suggest you count your blessings, Ms. Lockhart.”
To his surprise, she smiled. “Trust me, Mr. Armstrong, I do. Maybe it’s time for you to start counting yours.”
His eyes narrowed at the boldness of her statement and before he could give her a reply, she was gone.
Opal quickly stepped onto the elevator thinking she could probably go ahead and kiss her job goodbye. However, today her boss had gotten on her last nerve. Maybe she was out of line for returning with food, but she had known he wouldn’t take the time to eat anything.
A part of her wondered why she even cared, but she did. Once the crowd at the reunion had begun dwindling, that part of her that was too filled with kindness to let even someone like D’marcus Armstrong not share in such a wonderful meal had decided that, no matter what kind of attitude he had, she would not let him dictate hers. By nature she was not a mean-spirited person and she refused to let him turn her into one.
As she made her way through the parking lot toward her car, she glanced over her shoulder and looked up. D’marcus was standing at the window in his office staring down at her. She sighed, deciding she would report to work on Monday as usual. If he asked for her resignation because of what she’d said, there was nothing she could do about it. But he’d needed to hear what she had said. He of all people should be counting his blessings.
As she got into her car she forced any worries about next week aside. Tomorrow, she would go to church and say a prayer for him. She would also make sure she got all the spiritual preparations she needed for when she saw D’marcus Armstrong again.
On Sunday morning Opal sat in a pew beside Amber and Ruby in the Lakeview Baptist Church. This was Pearl’s Sunday to lead a song, and they were all excited. Reverend Kendrick would be delivering the message after the scripture was read, and Opal felt she needed to hear the Word today, more so than ever.
D’marcus Armstrong might have pissed her off something awful yesterday, but that hadn’t stopped him from invading her dreams last night. Some of her thoughts had been downright corrupt, and a lot of what she had imagined them doing together was shamefully sinful. And, to make matters worse, she didn’t even like the man. Not to mention there was a good chance he would be kicking both her and her job to the curb tomorrow. Her sisters would refuse to believe that she, of all people—someone who never lost her temper—had actually gone off on D’marcus Armstrong.
She cleared her mind of the issues facing her with her boss when Pearl stepped up to the mic to sing. The church was packed—not unusual for the first Sunday of the month. And Opal thought the choir’s new robes looked really nice.
Pearl began singing “What a Mighty God We Serve” in a way that only Pearl could do. Within no time, the church was rocking, people were standing on their feet rejoicing, getting caught up in their own testimonies to the fact that God was truly awesome. Pearl and the choir members were singing out of their souls, but it was Pearl’s beautiful voice that was stirring things up, causing jubilation to spread throughout the congregation.
After Pearl’s song ended and the scripture had been read, Reverend Kendrick stood before a packed and electrified house. “I want to thank Sister Lockhart for that song, because while she was singing I was sitting there thinking about just what a mighty God we do serve.”
He paused to glance over the congregation, and for some reason Opal thought he looked at her a little longer than the others. A guilty conscience will do that to you, she thought, shifting in her seat.
“How many of you ever pause to not only think about how mighty God is,” Reverend Kendrick continued, “but also about all the many blessings he bestows? Most of us just assume we’re at where we are in our lives because we are deserving. Well, that is not the case, because none of us are deserving. We have all sinned at some point in our lives. Some of us are still sinning.”
Opal hoped no one saw her blush when she felt her cheeks get a little warm.
“But God loves us anyway,” Reverend Kendrick continued. “He forgives us, and we have to find it in our hearts to forgive others, even those we may feel don’t deserve our forgiveness.”
D’marcus Armstrong suddenly flashed across Opal’s mind.
“But we have to forgive them, just like our Father constantly forgives us,” Reverend Kendrick went on to say.
Opal shifted in her seat, thinking it was too bad D’marcus wasn’t at church today. If he embraced the concept of forgiving and forgetting, then she wouldn’t have to go to bed tonight worrying about whether she still had a job tomorrow.
Reverend Kendrick interrupted her thoughts by saying, “We should especially forgive those who don’t deserve our forgiveness, and continue to pray for God to work to change their hearts. And I’m standing before you as a living witness that miracles can happen. You just have to believe that they can.”
Chapter 3
Monday morning Opal was seated at her desk when D’marcus arrived. He glanced over at her, gave her a curt nod as he crossed the room to his office.
“Mr. Armstrong, the minutes from Saturday’s meeting are typed and on your desk. I’ve also saved them in an electronic file.”
At her words, he’d slowly turned toward her and now she quickly searched his features for any indication that she was about to be fired. He wasn’t smiling—not that he ever did—but aside from that, she couldn’t gauge
