No Wasted Tears (11 page)

“I invited Destiny and her guest to dinner after service today,” Adam shared, a little put out by Marvin’s
tone.

Silence settled around them, and it was quite uncomfortable. To break the ever-thickening ice, Destiny stood and extended her hand in a gesture of welcome to Marvin and the woman at his
side.

“I’m Destiny Harper, a friend of Adam’s,” she said with a
smile.

“Hi, I’m Kristen Milton.” She started giggling. It didn’t surprise Cynthia; she was always the dumb-blond type a hustler of the female
persuasion.

“Kristen, it’s so nice to meet you. This is Cynthia Mason,” Destiny
said.

“Oh, my God. Cynthia, is that you? I still remember you coming to the school to watch Marvin play ball. Girl, where have you been? You look so good. I love the braids, and you put on some much-needed weight in all the right places. What happened you dropped off the face of the earth? It’s good seeing you again, and girl, we’re looking good for twenty-five, aren’t we?” She gestured with her hand at their bodies. The two women hugged each other lightly without the smile reaching either of their
eyes.

Cynthia arched one slim eyebrow as she caught Marvin’s
eyes roaming over her
body.

“Have a seat, Kristen,” Adam urged, already pulling out the seats vacated by Sara and the twins. He began to walk away with Marvin. “We need to talk,” he grated to Marvin once Kristen was
comfortable.

“What’s she doin’ here, Adam?” Marvin demanded as the two of them headed for the lounge of the beautifully lit dining
room.

Laughter lilted somewhere in the distance, and both men turned to find that it was the ladies whom they had left at the table. Destiny, Cynthia, and Kristen were all giggles and smiles. “Well, praise the Lord. They all are getting along fine,” Adam remarked in a stressed
voice.

Marvin rolled his eyes. “Whoopi
doo.”

Adam stopped in the area just off the lobby and folded his hand across the sleeve of his brother’s shirt. “What are you doing here, Marvin? I thought you were going to be at church today. Then you show up for dinner with a woman. Why is she
here?”

“First of all, I didn’t come to church because I overslept. Secondly, I definitely didn’t know that Cynthia was back in town. Thirdly, Kristen is just a friend. She called me today and asked what I was doing. Since I hadn’t eaten, I thought she would be good company,” Marvin snapped his answer and pulled his arm away from his
brother.

“Mom told me that you had your nose opened by someone at church today. I wasn’t coming here without someone when I knew you were going to have a date,” he stated
flatly.

Adam chuckled. “Right, like I have dates all the time. What about all the times I had to be the third wheel with you and Cynthia? Did I ever complain? No, I showed up. We had a good time. I went home, and you took Cynthia home. End of
story.”

“That really hurts a brother’s feelings, Adam. You act like I was insensitive,” Marvin said, holding a hand over his
heart.

“The truth will make you free, brother.”

They both laughed. Marvin stopped Adam from leaving by catching the cuff of the blue sports coat he wore. “Adam, what is she really doing here after all these years?” he said in a serious tone. “You know if I knew Cynthia was here, I never would have brought a
date.”

“Hey, guys,” Cynthia, said as she strolled over. Their conversation silenced immediately. Marvin was speechless. He was enjoying the scent of Cynthia’s perfume that settled beneath his
nostrils.

“I wanted to say good-bye. I’m going to take Miss Sara back to the house,” she told
them.

“What about the key lime pie we ordered earlier?” Adam was having a good time and didn’t want their day to end just yet. In actuality, he didn’t want his time with Destiny to be cut
short.

Cynthia knew Adam wanted to spend more time with Destiny. But she had to get out of there. How could she cope with this right now? What she wanted was breathing space. She needed time to get her head clear, away from Marvin, and time to think. Kristen told her she worked for Marvin’s company, so they must have had a cozy set up with her being right at his
fingertips.

“This is my dessert.” She lifted the box in a gesture to show them both that she was prepared to leave. “Adam, I realize that you may want to spend more time with Destiny, so I took the liberty of telling her that you could bring her
later.”

“I would have enjoyed your company as well, Cynthia, but if you have to go, I understand,” Adam
replied.

Marvin watched the exchange between Cynthia and his brother. He smiled, smoothing a hand across the front of the blue branded collar shirt he wore. He thought about how incredible she still
looked.

“I have to leave anyway,” she whispered again. “I start my new job with the real estate company tomorrow, M and W Enterprises. I have some things I need to do tonight
before I meet my boss. So I guess I’ll see you both later.” She leaned in close to hug Adam. She spoke a hushed good-bye to Marvin and was about to ease
by.

“Cynthia, wait,” Marvin softly urged, his hand folding across the overlong cuff of her silver suit. “I’m sorry for what happened a few minutes ago,” he apologized once Adam walked
off.

“Sorry?” Cynthia spoke, confused.

Marvin blinked. “Walking in here with a date,” he clarified, looking at her as if he could not believe she misunderstood his
apology.

Cynthia shrugged. “Kristen is all right if you like her type, and obviously you
do.”

“But if I had known you would be here, I would have come alone or not at all,” he
continued.

“You don’t owe me any apologies, Marvin,” she assured him. She looked at his hand still holding her
wrist.

Marvin watched Cynthia’s eyes and felt a sudden rush of sensations from a single touch of her flesh. Brushing his thumb across the pulse point below her wrist, he finally released
her.

Cynthia turned and left. She ignored her desire to look back, knowing that if she did the boys would approach her in front of Marvin, and she wasn’t ready for
that.

Marvin watched Cynthia leave the restaurant. He then looked over to the table where his brother and the two ladies were
sitting.

“I ordered us some dessert,” Kristen was telling Marvin when he returned to the
table.

“Thanks, Kristen, but I’ve decided not to stay,” he said, fixing his date with a stare that showed regret. “I’m sorry, but would you mind if we left early?” he asked
her.

Kristen reassured him that she was willing to leave early by giving him a wink. “Just promise me that we’ll do it again.” She smiled before saying good-bye to Adam and
Destiny.

“Destiny, it was nice to meet you,” Kristen
said.

“Where is she staying?” Marvin asked
Adam.

“She lives with Destiny and Sara in the SeaTac area. But it’ll be easy for you to get the exact address from her resume since she will be working for you starting tomorrow.” Adam smiled at his brother before saying, “God works in mysterious
ways.”

Marvin looked at his brother before turning to walk away. “He sure does,” he replied, and with that, he joined Kristen before leaving the restaurant.
Yes
, he thought to himself.
Tomorrow won’t b
e soon enough to tal
k with
Cynthia.

Adam had been looking forward to his private time with Destiny. Since no one else was at the table, he moved to one of the vacant chairs. This way their conversation could be a little more
personal.

Scanning the restaurant Destiny didn’t want to appear squeamish because he moved his chair closer to hers.
Her gaze returned to his, two small frown lines sectioning her forehead. “This is a beautiful restaurant—you eat here often?” she asked. She pressed her lips together and looked away again like a shy
schoolgirl.

“I do but most of the time it’s on Saturdays when I’m not preparing for Sunday worship. It gets me out of the house and I can sit by the lake and listen letting the Lord speak to me at one of those picnic tables, weather
permitting.”

“Are you a
workaholic?”

“I guess I could have tendencies in that direction, but to me it isn’t really work because
I love serving the Lord. I enjoy the challenge of putting together a dynamic
sermon.”

Marvin was watching her and it made her a little nervous she avoided his eyes by looking at their surroundings yet
again.

Wistfully, Destiny replied, “I could just sit down in the grass out there and look at the lake and trees all day. It seems so peaceful here and I can see why you fell in love with it.”
He watched her reach for the pitcher of water on the table and refilled her glass before continuing their
conversation.

“So tell me about yourself.” Adam asked as he watched her squint her eyes as if she was trying to decide what she wanted to say to him. “What do you want to
know?”

“I don’t know. Tell me everything, anything. How does your family feel about you moving to Washington with your
aunt?”

“Well, let’s see…my aunt raised me from a newborn, so I had no family to consider in my move to Seattle but Auntie.” Looking up, she found him watching
her.

Adam gave her an encouraging smile. He wanted to hear more. “Your aunt sounds like a wonderful person. I could tell she loves you very much from our conversation earlier during dinner.” Adam looked up from the after-dinner coffee he was drinking and focused on Destiny. “What happened to your parents, brothers, sisters?”

“I’m an only child. My mother died in childbirth, and I really don’t know much about my father besides what my aunt has told me. From what I know, he left before my mother died. Sara worked hard owning a club, but back in her day, they called it a juke joint. After I finished college at Clemson, she moved us to Charleston. So here I am in Seattle, hoping that God will continue to guide me and all of my decisions from here on out.” Destiny looked up from the key lime pie she was pushing around on her
plate.