The Divine Appointment Read Online Free PDF

leather-covered top and oak drawers contained many personal and historical secrets that would never be discovered.
    The whole room exuded success…for good reason. In his ten years as an attorney, Eli had risen head and shoulders above his peers. Now, at thirty-five, he was recognized as one of the best trial lawyers in Tennessee. He was at the point in his career where he possessed the two traits most important to a successful lawyer. He was old enough to have the necessary experience in handling difficult cases but still young enough to be hungry.
    The legal business had been good to Eli. He had a nice home. Luxury cars. A large bank account. He had no complaints about where he was in life. And he knew exactly where he was going.
    He and Sara had been high school sweethearts and had married as soon as they graduated from the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville. She had studied primary education. He had studied political science. He had gone on to law school, and she had supported them during those lean three years. Eli had worked for another law firm in Jackson for a couple of years, but since he’d started his own practice eight years ago, Sara hadn’t worked outside the home.
    Barbara entered Eli’s office not long after he did, and the two of them spent the better part of an hour reviewing files and charting a course of action on each. Barbara made notes in a steno pad of the files on which she needed to prepare drafts of discovery requests and on which depositions needed to be scheduled. Armed with enough assignments to keep her busy for several hours—even days perhaps—she left Eli’s office to return to her workstation.
    “Hold my calls,” Eli directed as Barbara left. “I’ve got some things I need to get finished this morning, and I don’t want to be disturbed.”
    Barbara nodded and closed the door to his office as she exited.
    Eli removed several files from his credenza and stacked them neatly on his desk. He opened the first one and began dictating a letter to the opposing attorney about scheduling a date to conduct depositions of physicians who had treated his permanently injured client. But his mind wandered, and he laid the dictation recorder on his desk. He ran his fingers through his hair and stared across the room at nothing in particular. Losing concentration had become a common occurrence since his argument with Sara last week about having children.
    He wasn’t certain why that particular disagreement troubled him so much—especially since they had disagreed in the past about having children. But this time it had been almost a week, and he was still bothered by it. Was it because he’d violated the old adage of not going to bed angry? Or was it because Sara had cried herself to sleep? She had never done that before.
    Eli sighed. Sara was a great wife. She didn’t deserve to be upset about anything. He would make it up to her somehow…
    The built-in intercom in the telephone on his desk rang, startling him. He punched the button to speak to the intruder.
    “Your wife’s on the phone,” Barbara said over the intercom before Eli had an opportunity to scold her for disobeying his instruction.
    Eli picked up the receiver and pressed the blinking light to connect to the line on which Sara was holding. “Hey, honey. I was just thinking about you.”
    “Really?” She sounded surprised and pleased. “What about?”
    “Just how wonderful you are. What are you doing for lunch?”

    The Oval Office, the White House, Washington DC
    President Richard Wallace entered the Oval Office at precisely 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday for his therapeutic daily quiet time. It was never completely quiet at the White House, but this time of day was the quietest. A carafe of coffee, pastries, and fresh fruit were waiting for him when he arrived. The two Secret Service agents who escorted him from the third-floor residence assumed their post immediately outside the office door after he entered.
    “Preacher is in the