Evelyn Carmichael arrived in Nashville, Tennessee with hopes of starting a new life for her and her four-year-old daughter far, far away from her abusive ex-husband. She was absolutely sure she could make a life for them without the help of any man on Earth. And then she met Pastor Adam Singletary.

From his vantage point on the stage, Adam Singletary’s body went very still as he watched the woman slip quietly, otherwise unnoticed, into the back of the church and take a seat on the last row. She set her purse on the floor and then looked up directly into his eyes. An arc of unseen electricity connected them, jolting his body to the center of his being. She’s finally here, he thought.