Samiah sped up by an extra five miles per hour. The quicker she arrived at the center, the quicker she could escape the confines of this car, which seemed to have contracted since she left the office. Or maybe it was the sudden, potent dose of pheromones whirling around that had taken up all the space.

The directors of the Right Path foster care center were waiting for them when they pulled up to the nondescript building located in a strip mall just off the highway exit. Samiah made introductions and then followed the couple into a cramped, windowless office.

During their nearly two-hour-long meeting, where they were shown the center’s woefully inadequate and antiquated computers, along with the hundreds of files that needed to be digitized, Samiah paid attention to Daniel’s attentiveness. He provided thoughtful suggestions and offered to support the center’s efforts in any way he could.

He is not perfect.

She had to occasionally remind herself that, despite all evidence to the contrary, there had to be something wrong with Daniel Collins. There were no perfect people. There had to be a flaw lurking somewhere. She wished he’d go ahead and reveal it already. Maybe then her mind would stop with this insane tendency it had to paint him as the most genuine, giving, exemplary human being she’d encountered in ages.

He turned to her as they exited the center.

“Do you know how much the work Trendsetters is doing is going to help them?” he asked.

“That’s the point,” Samiah said, charmed by his enthusiasm. “The funds they save can be better put to use by helping place more kids.”

“I can get behind a company like this,” he said with a nod. Once settled in her car again, he continued. “But here’s what I don’t get. Why are you the one doing this? Isn’t this the kind of thing HR handles? It doesn’t seem like it would be in Implementation’s wheelhouse.”

“I know,” she said. “But it’s my baby.”

“This particular project?”

“No, Trendsetters’ work with nonprofits. Barrington established a program for charitable giving from the beginning, but there’s a big difference between throwing money at an organization and doing actual hands-on work. I thought Trendsetters could do more, so I started doing more.”

“Most people don’t think this way. You do know that, don’t you?”