“I would be happy to, and I’m glad you were satisfied with what I had to share today.”

Pastor Valentine chuckled. “‘Satisfied’ isn’t even the word. You have been the one man I’ve truly looked up to for a while now, even before I accepted my call into the ministry, so having you accept my invitation has been the highlight of my year.”

“Well, I’m glad and it was an honor.”

“And I also want to thank you, Mrs. Black,” he said to Charlotte, “for taking time to make the trip here as well. I know you live only about an hour and a half away, but I do still remember what it was like for my wife, God rest her soul, and how demanding a first lady’s schedule can really be.”

“This is true, but unless our son, Matthew, needs me to be home to attend one of his football games or something else school related, I pretty much travel with my husband to most of his out-of-town speaking engagements. Which actually works out fine because Matthew loves staying with my aunt when we’re gone, and Curtis doesn’t travel nearly as much as he used to anyway.”

Curtis lifted a forkful of Caesar salad from his plate. “No, these days, I tend to turn down far more opportunities than I take on, but after traveling around the country for so many years, I eventually decided that I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my family.”

“Totally understandable,” Pastor Valentine said, and then looked at Alicia. “So, Miss Alicia, and I guess I’m sort of changing the subject a bit, but your father tells me that you’ve written the next worldwide bestseller.”

Alicia smiled. “Well, I don’t know about all that, but I did just finish writing my first novel.”

“That’s really impressive. It takes a lot of patience and diligence to write a book, fiction or nonfiction, so I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Alicia said, smiling at him again, her stomach fluttering.