DANIEL SMILED AT THE WOMAN, UNABLE TO RECALL her name. He only knew she was a member of the matrons group at Faith Community. According to Gavin, the women brought him lunch on special occasions, but they had brought lunch every day since Daniel’s arrival, with a different woman delivering the meal each day. “Thank you so much,” he said. “But you-all really don’t have to feed me every day.”
“We don’t mind, Brother Daniel,” the woman said. “It’s part of our ministry.”
A knock on the open door interrupted their conversation. “Something smells good in here,” Natalie said, walking fully into the office next to Gavin’s where Daniel had been installed. “What do you have here, Eve?” she asked. “I hope there’s enough for me.”
Eve smiled, but Daniel noticed the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Of course, Sister Weston. We brought enough for you and the pastor. We’d never leave you out.”
Natalie leaned over and brushed a kiss against the woman’s cheek. “I knew you wouldn’t,” she said. “I was just teasing.” Natalie rubbed her stomach. “Gavin loves your cooking, so you know he dived in as soon as you brought it to him. I stopped by his office before coming here to meet with Daniel so I dived in with him. You are the best cook I know. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about catering the upcoming regional pastors’ wives luncheon. Not a big group, about forty women. Do you think you’d be interested? You’d make some great contacts.”
Daniel watched as Eve’s eyes brightened.
“I’m more than interested,” she said. “Thank you so much for thinking of me. I really want to get my catering business off the ground. Every event helps me to do that.”
“We have to help each other,” Natalie said. “It’s all part of belonging to the family of God.”
“I’m glad to be a part of a church that lives those words rather than just saying them,” Eve said to Natalie. Then she turned to Daniel. “Enjoy your lunch. I’m going to run along. I don’t want to keep you two from your meeting.”
Daniel stood. “Thanks again, Eve,” he said. “You-all are certainly making me feel welcome here at Faith Community.”
Eve waved him off. “It’s like Sister Weston said, it’s what we do in the family of God.”
Daniel watched as the young woman walked out of the room. “You’ve got some great members,” he said to Natalie.
Her eyes flashed amusement. “We’ve got some eager single women. They don’t do this for everybody. You’re special.” She grinned outright. “And you’re single.”
“Don’t you start,” Daniel said.
Natalie chuckled. “You’re a rarity. Single Christian men are hard to find.”
“I’m not even going to comment on that,” he said, reaching for the pad on his desk. “Let’s sit at the table. I’m assuming Gavin told you about the personal finance program I want to start.”
Natalie followed him to the table and took a seat. “He sure did. It’s very generous of you to offer to use the proceeds from Gloria’s life insurance to fund it, Daniel. More than generous. You really don’t have to do it.”
He nodded. “Yes I do,” he said. “It’s what she would want.”
“Yes, she’d be pleased that you’re using the money to help others, but she’d also want to know you’d taken care of yourself.” She raised her question-filled eyes to his. “Have you?”
“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I don’t need much. Besides, I still get partnership checks from GDW Investigations and the company is doing well.”
“If you’re sure,” she said.
“I’m sure.”
She leaned toward him. “A personal money management program is exactly what this church needs. I can’t believe we haven’t already done one. I guess we were just waiting for you. How long has a program like this been in your heart? Why do you want to do it?”
“In the work at GDW, we see a lot of people who get themselves in bad situations because they’re desperate for money. These people tend to fall into three categories: those who just did a poor job of managing what they had, those who never had enough in the first place, and those who were greedy and just wanted more. I wanted to do something to help the folks in the first two categories and maybe keep folks from compounding their money problems by doing something illegal. I’m not sure what we can do for those in the third category.”
“And you saw a lot of that when you were working at GDW?”
“More than I care to remember,” he said, thinking of Phil. A part of him wanted to tell Natalie and Gavin about him, but he knew the importance of secrecy when dealing with cases like this. He’d give them all the details once they closed the case. “It breaks your heart sometimes. If I can stop just one person from deciding to take a shortcut to financial well-being, the program will have been worth it.”
Natalie smiled. “You have a big heart, Daniel Thomas.”
“I guess I’m living up to the Faith Community standard then, since I’m just doing my part as a member of the family of God.”
“Have I told you how happy I am that you decided to join us?”
He chuckled. “Several times.”
She sat back in her chair. “Well, I am,” she said. “We need you. I don’t think we realized how much until you got here, but God knew.”
Daniel agreed with her. His primary reason for being in Atlanta was to support Gavin and the church ministry, but working this case with Phil was also part of the reason he was here. He hadn’t been able to balance the two in the past. He hoped to do better going forward. “Enough about me,” he said. “I got another idea listening to you and Eve talk about her catering business. What would it take to get something like that up and running?”
Natalie shrugged. “I have no idea, but I bet Eve does. You should have asked her.”
Daniel shook his head. “I wanted to talk to you first. I had thought to use Gloria’s insurance money to help folks get themselves out of personal financial binds, but maybe we can focus on helping folks start small businesses where they can employ folks in need.”
Natalie’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea, Daniel, but I don’t see why we can’t do both things. You’re starting with a good bit of money. There’s no reason we can’t help folks out short term and also help them long term with starting a small business. Of course, folks are going to need some education in what starting and running a small business entails but you’re the perfect person for that. Look what you, William, and George did with GDW Investigations. You’ve come a long way since you started.”
Daniel nodded. GDW had started with just the three of them working out of rented space above a Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of downtown Memphis. Today, they had a floor of offices in a major downtown business complex and employed more than fifty full-time staff. “The business certainly exceeded our expectations.”
“So let’s call the programs you’re starting here the Ephesians 3:20 Project. This fund is going to be the answer to somebody’s prayer in a way they never imagined. You think you’re popular now. Just wait until folks find out what you’re doing.”
“The name works for me,” he said, “but I don’t want folks knowing that I’m funding the project. Let’s keep the focus on what the project is doing rather than who is funding it.”
“I understand you want to be humble about it, Daniel, but folks are going to figure it out since you’re running the project.”
He shook his head. “Then I won’t run it. I’m sure you know somebody in the congregation who could do it.”
“Yes, but you’d still need to be involved, especially with the small business education.”
“I’m on board with that,” he said. “I just don’t want to be the face of the project. You can bring on somebody to do that.”
Natalie smiled. “I think I have just the person. And you’ve already met her.”
“Eve?”
Natalie shook her head. “Destiny.”
Daniel eyed her. “This is not you matchmaking again, is it?”
Natalie chuckled. “Let’s just say it’s matchmaking plus. That you and Destiny would get to spend some time together as friends and coworkers is a bonus. The real truth is that Destiny could use the extra work and the money that goes with it.”
Daniel hated to think of Destiny in need. He’d been raised by a single mother so he knew that finances could get tight. “So her ex-husband is one of those deadbeat dads?”
Natalie shook her head. “It’s more complex than that,” she said. “If you want to know more, you’ll have to talk to Destiny. You are going to see her again, aren’t you?”
Daniel grinned. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Never. Not when it matters. And you and Destiny both matter.”
“Well, you and Gavin have done your parts. Now you need to step back and let us figure out the rest.”
“Yes, sir,” Natalie said, giving him a mock salute.
“I’m serious, Natalie,” he said.
“So am I.”
Daniel didn’t believe she was going to give up her matchmaking, so he decided to let the topic drop. “If Destiny needs money, why can’t she be one of the recipients of a fund award?”
Natalie’s eyes widened. “She’d be perfect.” She leaned closer. “She’s trying to do something for her family this summer and her plans to get the money to do it fell through. This could be just the opportunity she needs.”
“Well, that’s great. Will you talk to her or should I?”
“Let me do it,” she said. “Destiny can be prickly at times. Her pride rises up and makes her think she can’t accept help from friends. She’d appreciate the work though, so I’d still like to talk to her about working with you on developing the programs.” She looked at Daniel. “She’d have to know you’re putting up the money for the programs. Are you okay with that?”
Daniel nodded. “I’m okay with her knowing. I don’t think she’d announce it to the world.”
“No, she can be discreet.”
“Well,” Daniel said, “then I think we need to pull her in on the planning as well. The two of us can rough out the broad parameters of both programs today but I’d like to get her input as well. I want her to feel a sense of ownership for the work we’re trying to do.”
“You’re putting your heart into this, aren’t you, Daniel?”
“It’s Gloria’s heart,” he said. “I want this program to honor her. She lived a life of service so I know she’d be pleased to know she was still giving service, even in death.”
Natalie covered his hand that rested on the table with her own. “She knows, Daniel. And we’ll honor her every day. There’s no reason we can’t name the fund after her.”
He shook his head. “She wouldn’t want that. She was all about the work, not the recognition. Her joy will be in seeing how lives are changed because of what we do. That’s enough.”