Authors: Adrianne Byrd
Chapter 28
“S
omebody got laid,” Lu Jin surmised with a smile.
Blushing, Destiny’s coffee cup stopped midway to her lips. She opened her mouth with no idea of a good response.
“Don’t bother lying.” Lu Jin waved her off. “I know that look.”
“What look?” Destiny sipped her coffee and frowned.
Lu Jin shook her head. “You really are lousy at this, aren’t you?” She laughed. “Do you realize that you’ve been humming ‘Natural Woman’ for the better part of an hour?”
Had she? She hadn’t noticed.
“And,” Lu Jin went on, “you just put a ton of cream and sugar in your coffee—you always drink it black.”
Destiny looked down into her cup and noticed for the first time the hot liquid was a light tan color. “All right. So you caught me.”
Lu Jin perked as she wiggled her brows. “Was it with who I think it was?”
Another wave of heat scorched Destiny’s face as she bit her lower lip and nodded. “I can’t believe what’s happening between us.”
“Well, thank God for small miracles. Maybe we all can breathe a little easier around you two.”
Destiny’s brows slanted. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. I’ve been afraid to mention Miles’s name around you all week.”
“Why?”
Lu Jin rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding. I think you called him everything but a child of God after what happened the first time.”
“Oh, that.” Destiny waved off her observation. “That’s over with now. We’ve talked it through and we decided that we’re going to take our relationship to the next level.”
“So you guys are officially a couple now?”
“Yep.” Destiny nodded.
Lu Jin stood from the bar stool and walked around the counter to hug her. “That’s great. I’m so happy for you.”
Destiny’s gaze drifted. “Yeah, everything’s great.”
Lu Jin surveyed her friend’s expression. “So what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Destiny answered with a flat-line smile.
“Well, you’ve convinced me.” Lu Jin crossed her arms. “Come on, spit it out.”
Destiny drew in a deep breath. “The problem is everything
is
so good.”
Lu Jin’s brows cocked. “You want to run that back by me?”
With shoulders dropped, eyes leveled, Destiny confessed, “I’m afraid to believe in this feeling—I’m afraid that it’s not going to last.” She waited for her friend to say something cynical, but when she didn’t speak, Destiny continued, “It’s like I’m expecting at any minute for it all to be snatched away.”
“I don’t believe it,” Lu Jin finally broke through her stupor.
“What?”
With a bark of laughter, she said, “You actually believe in that family curse.”
“No, no. That’s not it,” Destiny emphatically denied, but her protest sounded hollow. She closed her eyes. “I know it’s stupid.”
Lu Jin exhaled and when she spoke, there wasn’t a hint of her previous amusement. “I wouldn’t say it was stupid.”
Opening her eyes, Destiny’s gaze darted to Lu Jin to evaluate her sincerity. “We’re talking about seven generations of Stafford men. What would I do if the curse proves true?”
Lu Jin draped her arms around Destiny’s shoulders and gave them a supportive squeeze. “Maybe you shouldn’t dwell on what-ifs. You could go crazy doing that.”
Destiny lowered her head. “How can I do that? When I’m watching him sleep, those questions damn near smother me. And I can’t help but feel that we wasted ten years finding our way toward each other.”
“Wishing you should have taken him up on his offer in the elevator that fateful day?”
Despite her misery, Destiny laughed. “Not quite.”
Smiling, Lu Jin returned to her stool and picked up her coffee cup. “Frankly, I don’t think you two would’ve gotten too far ten years ago—or even five. You were different people.” She shrugged. “People change.”
Destiny tilted her head and frowned.
“What?” Lu Jin asked.
This time, Destiny shrugged. “I don’t know. I get the sense that you weren’t just referring to me and Miles.”
Lu Jin waved her off. “Don’t be silly. Of course I was.”
Destiny watched her, but said nothing.
“In my heart of hearts,” Lu Jin said, “I think this is your time to be together.”
“I hope you’re right.” Destiny drew in a deep breath. “Because I couldn’t handle it if I lost him.”
* * *
“To Destiny and Miles,” Adele saluted and held up her champagne glass.
“I’ll toast to that,” Violet heartily agreed as they clinked their glasses together.
“I can’t believe it’s finally happened—and without our help,” Adele marveled. “Or do you think we played a small part in it?”
“As much as I would like to take some credit for this wonderful miracle, I don’t think so.”
“Too bad,” Adele said, disappointed. “I guess at this point it doesn’t matter how it happened. So what do you think about a summer wedding?”
Violet drummed her jeweled hand against her chin as she thought about it. “Summer is good, but spring would be better, don’t you think?”
Adele nodded. “Yeah, and it would be sooner.”
Violet laughed. “And here I was thinking I was being subtle.”
“About as subtle as a hammer over the head.” Adele laughed. “What about a ceremony at Calloway Gardens?”
“Ooh, nice. But what about on a cruise ship?”
Adele snapped her fingers. “I like the way you think.” Then she frowned. “You think Destiny and Miles would be upset with us planning their wedding? I mean, they’re not engaged, yet.”
Violet waved off her concern. “No sense in splitting hairs. They can thank us later. Besides, I want a wedding as soon as possible and a grandchild nine months later.”
“Here, here.” Adele raised her glass again.
* * *
Miles, drenched in sweat, faked to the right, then turned left and made a beautiful three-point shot into the basketball net. His four-man team erupted in a roar of victory.
Wes mumbled his congratulations.
“Don’t look so disappointed.” Miles drew in large gulps of air. “You guys haven’t been able to beat us in over a year.”
Wes glanced at his team of Juan, Zack and Theo and noticed they wore the same bleak expression. “We’ll get y’all one of these days,” he panted.
Jared slapped Wes hard on the back. “Never give up on your dreams,” he said.
Miles’s team laughed.
“Everyone’s a damn comedian,” Wes frowned.
Kyle slapped Wes on the back. “Hey, we get our best material from you guys.”
“Ha. Ha.” Wes tried to remain sour, but a smile crept across his lips.
“So, lunch is on you guys again,” Elliott happily reminded them.
“Hell, you still have money left over from the pool, I say
you
buy lunch.”
Miles frowned. “What pool?”
All, except for Wes, looked sheepishly at him.
Miles rolled his eyes. “Never mind, don’t tell me.”
Wes shrugged. “You just couldn’t wait one more night, could you?”
Despite his annoyance, Miles laughed. “Technically, it was close to four in the morning.”
Wes’s head jerked toward Elliott. “That made it the first of September. Hey, give me my four hundred dollars.”
“Four hundred?” Miles asked shocked. “It was that much.”
Wes ignored Miles. His gaze remained locked on Elliott. “I want my money.”
The other guys laughed.
“You guys are going to have to do lunch without me.” He looked at his watch. “I’m having lunch with Destiny today.”
Jared smiled. “So you two finally made up?”
Miles’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why—was there another pool for that, as well?”
Guilt covered their faces and Miles had his answer.
“You guys are impossible.”
“Maybe so,” Wes conceded. “But you and Destiny yield a higher return than anything on the stock market. I’ll give y’all that much.”
“I’ll put that in my stack of useless information,” Miles replied with a roll of his eyes. “Maybe the next pool should be on what year you finally hook up with Lu Jin.”
Theo chuckled. “Now, that’s a bet I wouldn’t mind getting in on.”
All humor faded from Wes’s expression as Miles read his friend like an open book.
“You sly devil,” he said.
The other men looked at Wes, dumbfounded.
“Mind your own business,” Wes warned with a humorless grin.
Miles shrugged. “I’m just following your example.”
In a burst of good cheer, the guys pounded Wes’s back and congratulated him.
“I should have never doubted your strategy,” Theo marveled. “You are definitely the man.”
“Whatever,” Wes said, as pride seeped into his features.
“I better get going,” Miles said, turning to retrieve his gym bag from the side court.
“We’ll catch up with you later, man,” Zack called after him.
“Sounds like a plan,” Miles agreed. Anxious to see Destiny, he hurried to his car. He would be the first to admit that his excitement to see Destiny was a bit strange. After all, there was rarely a day he didn’t see her—but this was the first time he could be with her in a sort of silent possession.
He smiled and allowed his thoughts to drift toward the future. He rolled off the name “Mrs. Destiny Stafford” and liked the sound of it. Why not? It wasn’t like they were rushing things. They had known each other for ten years, he reasoned.
Thoughts of Destiny were the reason for Miles’s good mood and the reason he ran a red light. A horn blared and Miles looked to his right.
“Dear God, no,” he said, seconds before a truck plowed into him.
Chapter 29
W
hen Destiny received the call from Wes, her world tilted on its axis. She remembered screaming, but not collapsing in a heap on the floor. Thank God Lu Jin was still there. She had taken the phone from Destiny’s steel grip to speak with Wes.
Snapshots of Miles flashed in Destiny’s mind. She remembered vividly the last time she’d seen him, kissed him and made love to him.
“Come on, Destiny,” Lu Jin urged. “We need to get over to the hospital.”
Destiny remained on her knees—promising the Lord everything, if he would just spare Miles.
“Destiny?” Lu Jin said again. “He’s being taken to Grady Hospital. He’s not dead...”
Destiny heard the word “yet” even though Lu Jin hadn’t said it. Her heart squeezed as tears drenched her face. “I can’t,” she choked out between sobs. In her mind, she already knew what she’d find once they made it to the hospital. “I can’t.”
Lu Jin’s arms slid around Destiny as she grabbed her friend and held on for dear life.
“It’s going to be all right,” Lu Jin murmured against her ear.
Destiny shook her head, unable to bring herself to believe her friend’s encouraging words. The what-ifs had returned in full force and she suffered something akin to an anxiety attack.
Through it all Lu Jin remained by her side. When she was finally able to pull herself together, Destiny realized that she was wasting precious time feeling sorry for herself. Miles needed her and her place was by his side.
Minutes later, they were zipping through traffic in a rush to get to the hospital.
* * *
When Violet ended her call with Wes, she forced herself to remain calm but experienced a strong sense of déjà vu. But her facade didn’t fool Adele.
“What is it?” Adele stood from her chair and moved over to her friend.
Violet fought her rising tears and lifted her chin. “I need for you to drive me to the hospital. There’s been an accident.”
* * *
Grady Hospital’s emergency room was a whirlwind of activity. And for a long while no one could tell Destiny where Miles had been taken and Destiny thought the wait would kill her. For the time being they were directed to the waiting room.
She asked Wes for the twentieth time if he had called Violet.
“She’s on her way,” he assured her, and draped an arm around her shoulders.
Lu Jin allowed Destiny to clench her hand.
“How bad was it?” Destiny asked Wes, unable to bear another moment of not knowing.
His hesitation wrenched Destiny’s heart.
“I really can’t say,” he finally answered.
The other guys, still dressed in their sweats and T-shirts, paced in front of her. She wanted to scream and tell them to stop. Their pacing was increasing her anxiety, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
“Would you like for me to bring you something to drink—some water, perhaps?” Wes asked.
“No, thank you.” She looked up at him and for first time noticed the deep lines etched into his features. He’d been Miles’s childhood friend—had teased him mercilessly about this silly family curse—and now this.
She smiled and watched helplessly as a tear slid from his eyes.
He jumped from his seat and mumbled, “I got to get some air.”
Lu Jin dropped Destiny’s hand and stood, then as if in afterthought, she looked down at Destiny.
“It’s okay,” Destiny assured her. “Go to him. He needs you,” she said.
Lu Jin leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Thanks,” she said, and then took off after Wes.
Destiny watched her and wondered how long had she suspected something between them? She closed her eyes and shook her head. Did it matter?
Standing, she walked over to the nurses’ station and asked yet again about Miles’s status. At least this time, there was some information about him in their system.
“It looks like he’s in surgery at the moment,” the nurse named Theresa said, without taking her eyes from the computer screen.
Surgery?
Destiny’s heart slammed against her rib cage. “What type of surgery?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m not pulling that information up. I’m sure that one of the doctors will be out here to speak with you soon.”
With no other option, she turned away from the station and returned to the waiting room, all the while praying for a miracle.
* * *
Violet and Adele arrived at the hospital. Both wore the same stricken expressions. Destiny greeted Miles’s mother with open arms and Violet slid into her embrace quietly. Then Adele joined their embrace.
An hour later, there was still no word from the doctors.
“I can’t stand this,” Destiny said, and then pressed a hand against her mouth. Tears glided down her face as she prepared herself for the worst. Only bad news could take so long, she reasoned.
“I need to get out of here,” Destiny finally said and bolted from the waiting room.
“Wait. I’ll come with you,” Adele said, rushing behind her.
Outside, Destiny inhaled Atlanta’s muggy humidity as though it was the finest tropical breeze while tears fell freely down her face.
“Destiny?”
She heard her mother behind her, but she wasn’t ready to slip her brave face back on—not yet. “It’s all right, Mom. I’m fine,” she lied, without turning to face her.
Adele moved next to her and draped a supportive arm around her. “You are far from being all right,” she said.
Destiny closed her eyes and pursed her trembling lips together.
“Come on. You can talk to me.”
Destiny gave a half laugh and pulled away. “Well, that’s a new one,” she said, unable to rein in her sarcasm.
“W-what is that suppose to mean?” Adele asked, hurt echoed clearly in her voice.
Destiny faced her. “Don’t you remember the last time we were here?”
Adele’s face clouded.
“
I
do. I remember it quite well actually. We were here waiting for the final word on Adam. Is this beginning to sound vaguely familiar?”
“Destiny, don’t.”
“Don’t what—talk about Adam? Hell, that should be easy, we haven’t talked about him in twelve years. But you know what, Mom? I
want
to talk about him. I want you to know that there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him. It kills me to know that you blame him for Dad’s death.”
Adele’s usual calm demeanor was shattered and she looked on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Destiny lowered her voice, regretting her outburst.
“There’s no need for you to be sorry,” Adele said. “You’re just saying how you feel. You should never be sorry for that.” She reached inside her purse and removed a tissue.
Destiny stared at her. “How do
you
feel?”
“Ashamed.” Adele flashed her a brief smile. “Ashamed because you’re right. I did blame Adam for Edward’s death. Pain has a way of easing itself when there’s someone to blame for it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone to blame for Adam’s
death. It’s sort of a weird cycle I have going inside of my head. It’s stupid really.” She sniffed and blotted her eyes. “Really stupid.”
In that brief moment, Destiny realized what she was doing; she was picking this moment to lash out at her mother to cover up what was going on now. She moved over to her mother and draped her arms around her. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Adele reached up and caressed her daughter’s cheek. “And I didn’t mean to hurt you all these years.”
They stood beneath the portico of the emergency room entrance for some time and when they returned inside, they were puzzled to find the waiting room empty of their friends.
“Excuse me,” Destiny said as she once again returned to the nurses’ station. “Was there any news on Miles Stafford?”
Nurse Theresa looked at her. “What was the name again?”
“Stafford,” she said.
The woman typed in the name, and then winced as she looked back up at her. “It looks like he’s been moved to I.C.U.—it doesn’t look like he’s regained consciousness.”
Destiny nearly crumbled to the floor. “May I see him? I believe our other friends and family have already gone back there.”
“Just follow the signs leading down that hall and it will take you to I.C.U.”
“Thank you.” Destiny flashed her a weak and trembling smile. She and her mother turned away and headed in the direction the young nurse had pointed them.
* * *
Nurse Beverly returned to her chair and looked over at her coworker Theresa who was solemnly shaking her head.
“What’s with you?” Beverly asked.
“That poor woman. She’s here to see that shooting victim Miles Stanford up in I.C.U.”
Beverly turned and caught a glimpse of the woman just before she turned a corner out of sight. “Humph. I thought she was here to a Miles
Stafford.
”
* * *
Miles smiled slyly at his family and friends, touched by their concern. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” he assured them. “I just have to wear this cast for a while—no big deal.”
“You scared me to death.” Violet threw her arms around him.
He winced in pain but didn’t dare to tell her to loosen her grip. He made a quick scan of the crowd and grew concerned when he didn’t see Destiny.
Lu Jin followed his gaze. “Oh!” She perked up. “We forgot to tell Destiny you were okay. I’ll go get her. She’s just right outside.”
Miles relaxed. “No, that’s okay. I’m free to go—I’ll get her.”
“Well, we better hurry. She was a wreck when the nurses mistakenly told her you were in surgery.”
Miles and the gang headed out of the hospital through the emergency room doors, and Miles was puzzled yet again when he didn’t see Destiny.
“Well, they were out here a few minutes ago,” Lu Jin said.
Miles frowned. “You guys, go ahead on. I’ll find Destiny and catch up with you later.”
“Are you sure?” Wes asked. “We don’t mind waiting.”
“I’m not leaving here without you,” Violet stated flatly.
“Then you can help me find her,” he said. “The rest of you, go on. I’m fine.” After a few pats on the back and hugs, Miles was finally free to go and search for Destiny.
Nurse Theresa looked thoroughly embarrassed by her big blunder and informed Miles that she had sent Destiny to I.C.U. for Miles Stanford.
Guessing at the torment Destiny may be going through, Miles and Violet rushed in the direction the nurse had pointed.
* * *
Destiny and Adele finally made it to the intensive care unit and asked one of the nurses for Miles’s room.
“I’m sorry,” Nurse Stacy said, ashen-faced. “Mr. Stanford has passed away.”
“What?” Destiny slumped back against her mother.
“I’m sorry, but if you want to talk to Dr. Bradley, he’s still talking to the other family members down the hall.”
Destiny simply stared at the woman.
“Thank you,” Adele said, and turned Destiny away from the nurses’ station.
“I don’t believe it,” Destiny murmured. “He’s gone.”
“Shh. Now, now.” Her mother led her a small group of chairs.
Destiny collapsed in one and released a floodgate of tears.
Adele pressed her daughter’s head onto her shoulder.
“All this time, he knew. He tried to tell us, but we wouldn’t believe him.” She closed her eyes and wanted to crawl inside herself. “I don’t think I can handle this,” she said.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but you will,” Adele encouraged in a small trembling voice. “Trust me, you will.”
Destiny shook her head. “It just isn’t fair. There wasn’t enough time.” She pulled away from her mother and tried to wipe away her tears, but her attempts failed as more tears slid from her eyes. Frustrated, she lowered her head into her hands and wept.
Adele pulled her back into her embrace.
“What am I going to do?” Destiny asked. “I loved him—and I waited too long to tell him.”
“Shh, honey. I’m sure he knew.”
Miles rushed up the hall, and the sound of a woman’s mournful tears reached his ears.
“It’s not enough,” Destiny sobbed. “I wanted to grow old with him—and have his children.”
Miles stopped in his tracks, surprised at what he was hearing.
“I woke up this morning with everything,” Destiny went on to say. “Now, I have nothing.”
“That’s not true, Desi,” Miles said. “You still have me.”
Destiny and Adele jumped from the chairs and turned around.
“Miles!” Destiny, unable to believe her eyes, raced toward him with her arms opened.
He swept her up into his embrace and spun her around. When he’d finally set her down, he was stunned to see her still crying. “There’s no need for these.” He wiped at her tears. “I’m here and I’m never going to leave you.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.” Destiny wagged her finger at him.
“You do that.” He kissed her. “You do that.”
Violet and Adele drifted toward each other, fresh tears springing from their eyes.
“What do you think about a winter wedding?” Violet leaned over and asked Adele.
“I think that only gives us a couple of months to plan—but it’s definitely doable.”
And about that curse...