No Wasted Tears (21 page)

“But he’s going to come for you one day real soon.” She pulled her close in a
hug.

Sara stood and kissed her on the forehead, giving her the doll that was lying on the floor beside her. As she walked out of the room, Destiny began to cry softly. So from that day until she turned fifteen, she asked her aunt about her father. But he never came. After a while she stopped hoping. And then she started
hating.

She hated her mother for choosing to live with Jesus and not her and she hated her father for being so weak, not wanting to raise her.

Her aunt was good to her. She provided her with things other
children didn’t have at that time. She always got what she wanted. Sometimes she wondered how her aunt was able to provide for her after closing her club. But she always said her sister left plenty of money to take care of her only
child.

Destiny shook herself out of her reverie. It had been years since she had thought of her father. She pushed the memories of her childhood back to her subconscious so that she could focus on Bible
study.

But it was hard to do especially after going to her counseling with Elder Ford. She knew others saw her as a woman who was smart and confident, with a great career. But it was all a
façade.

Inside she now understood she was still that little girl who wanted people to like her, always trying to please others in hopes that one day her father would return. She had always been the type of person people could depend on. It had worked until her senior year in college when she was raped and met Stanley. Before that people always told her how fun she was to be
around.

Despite all that, she longed for reassurance. And now after her counseling she knew why she was having feelings of loneliness and of inadequacy. She knew that’s why she felt like crying for no reason at all. She had tried to hide the reality from everyone, including herself, for all of these years. No matter what outer trapping of success she wore, inside, she was still the uncertain little girl whose daddy had left her with her aunt and had not come
back.

Destiny watched as Adam took a sip from his water and placed
it to the side. He looked out at the people who were in the room. “I think this will help to put it all in perspective for some of you. It happened to me. I have made mistakes in my past that I’m not proud
of.”

Why was he looking at her? It was as if he saw right through her after that statement. Then he added, “Fortunately for me, growing up in a Christian household taught me the right way to ask for forgiveness. I have gone before God and my family, sincerely asking for forgiveness. I know that God has forgiven me, as well as most of my family. Isn’t it sad that even now, some of my family members are not only unwilling to forgive but anxious to mention my past sins, my mistakes, over and over again? But it’s funny how God works because sometimes he will show you that the person holding you in condemnation is guilty of the same mistake they choose to keep condemning you for. You have to decide to be at peace with them because you have done the right thing. Your prayer is that they will forgive you and no longer harbor any ill feelings so that they may move on. There is a saying: ‘Acid is more destructive on the vessel in which it is stored than on the object in which it is poured.’ I hope that they will learn to forgive and ultimately find their own inner
peace.”

Closing her eyes, Destiny began to pray like he had just told them in Mark 11:25, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father, who is in heaven, will also forgive you for your transgressions.” Destiny released tears as she prayed; they felt like a flushing out of all the things that were in her
past.

From a pew in the back of the church, she watched Pastor Wheeler’s eyes jolt between the congregation and Destiny Harper.
She got the name from a very informative woman sitting next to her with nothing better to do than gossip. Fury coursed through her blood, making her hands shake and her pulse thud. How dare he pay that much attention to her with a church full of congregants? How dare he, especially with her in the audience? Although, he didn’t know she was present. She’d been planning their reunion for over six months. Her body vibrated with anger as she remembered the way he’d looked at Destiny from the pulpit. His gaze had reflected such tenderness, making it glaringly obvious that he cared deeply about Destiny Harper. Her eyes flashed with heat. In her mind she hissed,
You Mr. Wheeler are,
annoying the hell ou
t of me
. She was jealous. She hated admitting it, but she was positively vibrating with it. She held herself, rocking backward and forward in her seat, her hands were clenching and unclenching wanting to hit
something.

Destiny, she learned was running from her past, just the memory of her informant’s sob story about her life made her want to roll her eyes. What kind of woman let a man walk all over her? She’d feigned sympathy when she listened to the woman give her the story, all the while wanting to laugh at the stupidity of the woman. If she had been in Destiny’s shoes, Stanley Womack, corporate executive or not, would have hit her once and then she would have killed him. Shelton, her initial informant, had gotten her some details of her life, but what she really appreciated was getting Stanley’s
information.

She’d only struck up this friendship to find out more about Destiny. She must have had some issues because this young lady had met her in a domestic violence class. Within a few minutes, she’d pegged Destiny as dull and totally useless to Adam as a pastor—that was until she’d seen the way he had looked at her during service. After that, getting to know as much as she could about her had been less about curiosity and more about keeping her enemy
close.

Soon she’d have Adam Wheeler where he should have been years ago—in her bed. But this attraction he had with
this woman annoyed her as much as the realization that if she did not do something soon she’d lose him again. Adam needed a real woman, not a weak fool who ran from the first signs of trouble. He needed someone like her. It was time to take Miss Goodie-two-shoes out of the equation
.
A smile lifted the corner of her
mouth.

Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her phone and quickly left the church. She found the contact number for Womack Corporation and hit “talk.”

Chapter 19

The loud ringing of the telephone woke Cynthia up from her sleep.
She’d left the maternity ward of the hospital hours ago because the twins and Taylor had started getting sleepy, and she knew they had to go to school the next day. She and Sara came home to put all three children to sleep. Taylor had a fit because she didn’t want to leave without seeing her brother. But Sara promised that on the next day she would take her first
thing.

Cynthia, finally shaking off her daze, picked up the
receiver.

“He looks just like
Richard.”

Cynthia clenched her fist and raised it in the air, shouting, “Yes!”

Sara heard Cynthia talking loudly and sounding excited. She rushed from her room, asking, “So she had the
baby?”

“A healthy baby boy, seven pounds and twenty-two inches long. She delivered at three thirty-six this morning. Baby and momma are resting
fine.”

She handed Sara the phone; they talked for a few minutes, and then she hung
up.

Walking into the living room, Cynthia turned to Sara. “I’m so excited for Tina. There’s nothing like being a mother.” She placed her hands on her
stomach.

“You want another baby, don’t you? Can’t say I blame you. Every woman wants a chance to experience motherhood. It’s a gift from
God.”

Cynthia realized she expressed herself without knowing it. Sara
had never given birth. “I’m sorry, Sara. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“Child, I’m not sad. The best thing that ever happened to me was Destiny. I loved her from the day she was born like she was my own. I promised my sister I’d watch over her little girl, and I did. Sometimes I wished she didn’t have to go through so much pain. But I know it’s all about to change. Pastor Wheeler loves my baby, and I believe in my heart she loves him. They just got to get through all of the mess in their past in order to see the blessing in their futures together. They’ll be good for each
other.”

“I can say with confidence that you’ve been a blessing to me and the twins as well. They love you like you were their
grandmother.”

“But I’m not. Child, you got to do right by them babies. They need to know their father, and they need to know their grandparents,” she said, looking sternly at Cynthia. Sara walked over to the sofa and joined her hands with Cynthia. “I know you love the Lord, and I know you know that nothing happens in the life of a believer that God doesn’t know about. It wasn’t an accident that you had those babies. It was God’s providential will. God knew.” Laughing and patting Cynthia’s hand, she said, “He knows his children, doesn’t
he?”

“If that’s the case, and I know that it is, I sure wish he’d let me know so that I could be prepared for what was going to happen next in my life,” Cynthia said, shaking her head. “Sometimes I think God has an awesome sense of humor. He must laugh at us making a big to do about something he already has worked out.” Wiping the tears, she reached for a tissue on the
table.

Standing, Sara looked at
Cynthia.

“I’m sleepy, and in the morning, there will be three little people looking for me to cook breakfast, so I’m going to sleep. Will you do me a favor? Put that letter on the table by the door in Destiny’s bedroom; somewhere she will be able to see it. I thought she’d be here sooner, but since she isn’t, she can get it when she gets in.” And with that, Sara walked back to her
room.

Cynthia continued to sit on the sofa for a few more
minutes. She decided to pray before going back to bed. She got on her knees in front of the sofa. “Father God, I know everything that you do is perfect and good. I need your divine guidance to give me direction. I love you, Lord, and I trust you with every area of my life. Instruct me, God, on what you want me to do. I know you respond to our prayers in a variety of ways. You have used signs and your Word to teach me how to trust you more. God, let your will be done in my life and my sons’ lives. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

With that, Cynthia began to feel a sense of peace. She got up to go to bed. Going to retrieve the letter for Destiny, she put it on her pillow, closed the door, went to her room, and fell asleep almost before her head hit the
pillow.

Chapter 20

Destiny opened the door to her room at exactly five o’clock in the morning. She was tired, but she was happy for Tina and Richard. It felt amazing to have held her god-son. Throwing her handbag in the chair that sat by the bay window in her room, she caught glimpses of a new day peeking through the curtains. Turning around to prepare for bed, she saw an envelope lying on her pillow. Walking over to pick it up, she looked for a return address, curious because all she saw was her name written across the front. She sat down on the bed, tore open the envelope, and began to
read.

Dearest Destiny, my precious little girl,

This is my last expression of love that I have for you. You see, I’m desperate for you to know me, your mother. If you are reading this letter, then it’s safe for me to say that you’re at least twenty-six. Happy birthday, my darling. I wish I were there to see you all grown up.

Destiny hadn’t even thought about it with all of the excitement. Her birthday was today. She was twenty-six years old. She never thought about birthdays. Hers were always uneventful and had always come and gone quietly. But this year, her mother had remembered, and it brought sad, happy tears to her
eyes.

More than anything, I wish I could be there with you to celebrate your day, but our God had a plan for your life, just as he had one for mine. I loved you from the moment you were conceived. Your father and I were desperately in love with each other. We met, fell in love, and not long after, we were married. It was a magical summer romance. So much had happened in such a short period of time, but for us, it was the most wonderful time of our lives. One day we were a couple of foolishly in-love young adults and the next, we were husband and wife.