In Pursuit of an Emerald

All ex-slave Violette McMillan ever wanted is to see her troubled daughter Emerald grow up to be a better person than she has been so when Benjamin Catlett an old acquaintance asks her to become his bookkeeper in 1869 in a business that is sinking due to southern backlash during the Reconstruction era she agrees. But when his arrogance surfaces their goals collide and Violette wonders if she might be forced to renege at the expense of her daughters future education.Benjamin Catlett is plagued by his past as a free man of color whose African American father was a slaveholder. Renouncing his fathers way of life he moves to Natchez hoping to quietly atone. But his new hire Violette McMillan and her flirtatious teenage daughter Emerald test the limits of his good intentions one time too many offending his straight-laced upbringing and tempting him to fire her.Will the Lord who tugs at the heart of both Benjamin and Violette prevail in their efforts to tolerate each other and finally affirm the love already blossoming in their hearts?