“Miss Lattimer, I’m sorry, but the tests show that great amounts of scar tissue have developed from the surgeries you had as a child when your bicycle was struck by a car. It appears your fallopian tubes are blocked, which will prevent you from ever being able to have children.”
She blinked back the tears and sniffed. “Does God answer all your prayers, Seth?”
“Yes.”
She jerked her head around and stared at him. “He does?”
He nodded. “He either answers it with yes or no. The no answers are the hardest to take, but He’s always there to get me through the tough times. Later on I see that He only had my best interests at heart.”
Callie gave a grunt of disgust. “Unfortunately, every time He says no to me it doesn’t seem to be in my best interest.”
“Yeah, I’ve had that happen, too. All I can do is keep being faithful, and know it will all work out in the end.” Seth let his gaze drift over her face, and in the light from the dashboard panel she saw the hurt in his eyes she’d first witnessed two years ago. She knew what he was referring to, but she turned her head away and didn’t say a word.
Her lips trembled, and she bit down on them and willed the tears in her eyes to go away. The chemistry between them was starting to make itself known again, and she couldn’t let that happen. She’d given Seth his freedom so he could have the life he wanted. She wasn’t about to do anything now to change that. The best thing she could do was get out of Memphis fast.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said without turning to face him.”
“About what?” he asked.
“I think we need to speed up this investigation. So I’ve decided I’m going to go to the Midtown Mission Monday and volunteer my services.”
The car swerved, and he jerked the wheel to bring the car back into its lane. “You’ll do nothing of the sort.”
She turned a stony gaze on him and spoke with all the authority she could muster. “Yes, I am. It’s time we found out who tried to kill Uncle Dan and me. Maybe while I’m there, if I keep my eyes and ears open, I can find out some information that will help us.”
“Callie, I don’t think...”
She held up her hand. “It’s no use, Seth. I’m going to do it whether you like it or not. I want to take Uncle Dan and get out of Memphis, and I can’t do it until this case is solved. There’s no need for further discussion. I’ve made my decision.”
He started to say something, but instead nodded. “Okay, if that’s what you want. I don’t want to stand in the way of your getting back to the exciting life you’ve carved out for yourself in Virginia.”
He stared straight ahead and didn’t speak again. Callie studied his angry expression out of the corner of her eye and wondered what he would say if he knew how much the words she’s just spoken had cost her. She had to put that out of her mind, though.
Right now she needed to concentrate on whether or not there was something at the Midtown Mission that would lead her to the people who’d tried to kill her and her uncle. And she intended to start Monday.
* * *
Seth didn’t like it a bit. Callie had no business going undercover at Midtown Mission. Truthfully, he didn’t know if there was anything unlawful or dangerous going on there, but he didn’t like her putting herself at risk just in case she did find suspicious activity. He’d tried to speak to her about it several times, but she’d dismissed his concerns.