No Wasted Tears

by Sylvia D. Carter

  “I truly don’t mind at all. Lord knows there have been times when I needed a helping hand and someone was there for me.”

  Adam returned to the coffee he was drinking then turned his head and asked, “So are you nervous about your move to a new state? Maybe your houseguest can help you adjust.”

  Destiny took a drink of her Coke before answering. “Yes, I am a little nervous. I don’t really know our guest; my aunt adopted a young lady that lived next door to her. From what I’ve been told, she’s a wonderful person. She has two twin boys who are five years old. She’s originally from the Seattle area, and is returning for the first time in several years.”

  Destiny was telling Adam about Cynthia’s life. But it was better than telling him about hers. She had never met Cynthia, but her sons were adorable. They had the cutest dimples, curly hair, and brown eyes. Whenever she went to visit her aunt, she would have the boys. Auntie helped Cynthia out while she was going to school. It wasn’t a problem. She had plenty of room.

  “I’m a twin.” Adam made that statement while still studying Destiny. “I have a brother, Marvin, who lives in Seattle as well. He’s a real-estate investor. He made his first fortune when he got out of college and has been successful ever since. As a matter of fact, he just opened his own office. I guess you can tell I’m proud of him. My parents think he’s who shot the bear.” Chuckling, he took another sip of his coffee.

  Destiny looked at Adam and wondered if his parents were proud of him as well. After a long moment she forced herself to meet his gaze once more. “Um…I know this might be a strange question but”—she quickly licked her lips for courage before she continued—“What about you? Are they proud of you as well?”

  Adam looked at Destiny for a moment before his answer. “I guess that came out wrong. They’re proud of both of us. I just traveled a different path than my brother. I graduated from Morehouse School of Religion, and I’m working on my doctorate at the University of Washington’s School of Theology and I’m the pastor of the Greater Community Church of Faith. And now I’m returning home for some much needed rest since I’ve been in Charleston for a convention this past week.

  Destiny turned her head to look out of the window. She saw her reflection, but she also saw something else.

  Suddenly, Adam turned in her direction. Her stomach gave a funny tingle. Is he watching me? And why on earth would he do that? When she looked his way, he wasn’t studying her but finishing the coffee, and his attention was squarely focused on that task.

  She asked, “I thought you were in a conference. Didn’t you get any rest while you were there?”

  There it was again, she thought. A slight pause before he chose his words. “I did get a little rest, but I’ve been attending conferences for a while now. The one thing I’ve learned is that you must manage your time effectively between classes and reuniting with acquaintances.” He seemed caught up in his thoughts once again, but this time it was delight that spread over her face. “I have very little time to relax with all of the workshops. I intend to relax on Friday, and I have all day Saturday to rest and get ready for Sunday morning. Such is the life of a pastor. I’m lucky. I don’t have a wife, so I can really relax when I get home. What about you? Are you married?” He looked at her ring finger as he asked.

  She blinked when she saw Adam watching her as she looked over at his wedding finger. Was it her imagination or was he smiling? Then again, she really didn’t know him, which was the way she liked it and wanted to keep it. Getting too close to men—especially single, handsome, and apparently nice men—always led to trouble. At least that was her experience.

  “Uh, I’m not married. I thank God for that because if I were, you would be sitting here alone.”

  Nodding his head with understanding, he replied, “Just thought I’d ask. You never know. These days a lot of couples don’t wear their rings.”

  She blinked again. There he went again, and this time he was definitely smiling and laughing. The gentle curve of his mouth was uplifted. As he laughed, a hint of his dimples came to life in his brown cheeks. She felt a flutter of wonderment and dismissed it. She wasn’t interested in Adam or any man, especially after this last disastrous relationship.

  But she responded, “I believe that if I were married, I would definitely wear my ring because I know that my man would be worthy of wearing it for.” Maybe she had said too much, but it was out now.

  Adam watched Destiny’s facial expressions. A man might think she was made of ice because she didn’t smile much. But all evening he had been watching her. Although this was the picture she wanted to present, he believed there was another person wrapped up in all that hurt. He could see a woman who was vulnerable and damaged by the hurt that had occurred. He’d seen the look on her beautiful face when he asked to hold her hand.

  She wasn’t as tough as she pretended to be. You couldn’t look at her physical appearance to judge this because she was beautiful. She had the most gorgeous hair, which fell on her shoulders, and her eyes were an extraordinary color with specks of gray when the light hit them, but it was the way her shoulders slumped when she spoke that made him curious. Now, as he watched her, he realized just how beautiful, lonely, and maybe even hurt she really was.

  Why he was noticing, he couldn’t really say. He’d given up on women for a while, and trusting them was the part he had to learn all over again. Regina had taught him that lesson well. Regina was the only woman he’d ever proposed to, believing he loved her. And he thought she loved him. That was until she discovered he was returning home to pastor in Seattle and wouldn’t be staying in Atlanta, her hometown.

  They had planned a beautiful fall wedding at her father’s church in the city. New Haven Baptist Church was well known, as was her father. He was one of Adam’s professors in seminary. Adam had developed great respect for not only Dr. Michael Webber but his wife, Mildred, also. He spent a lot of time at their home. Had eaten many Sunday dinners with them and some meals on occasion through the week. Dr. Webber even allowed him to minister from his pulpit. When he met their daughter, Regina, who was attending Spelman College, their relationship developed over the last two years of college. With all the time they spent together, it seemed only natural for them to fall in love. Adam always told Regina that he was going back home to pastor in the Seattle area. It was a burden he had since he received his calling at nineteen.

  Regina seemed to be fine with that until he told her about the offer from the Greater Community Church of Faith in Seattle. She had refused to listen to reason.

  She shook her head. “I can’t leave Mom and Dad. I am their only child, and they might need me.”

  Adam stiffened; the warmth that was in his eyes faded. “Then, by all means, stay here with them.” That was all he said as he began to walk away from her. This was not the way he had planned on ending his day. He thought she would be excited about his announcement.

  “Don’t do this to me, Adam, please,” she said, her hand touching the curve of his jaw. “Don’t make me feel as if I’m betraying you because I care about my parents.”

  The word betraying stayed with Adam as he said calmly, “Regina I’m going to accept this pastoral position, and either we agree on this or I guess the wedding’s off.” With that said, he walked toward his car from her parents’ front porch.

  “You’re going to walk away from our wedding because of a church in Seattle?” she shouted so loud that her parents came to the front door. “Then go on, Adam, and be the pastor of some poverty-stricken community church in Seattle. You could have worked with Daddy becoming the pastor, but no. That was too easy. You have to be the inner-city warrior for your old community.”

  Regina began to cry. Watching from inside the screen door, her mother walked outside, wrapping her arms around her daughter.

  Dr. Webber looked at Regina then at Adam. “Son, I wish things had turned out differently, but baby girl just isn’t ready to leave home. Don’t worry about the wedding. We will handle
all the cancellations and let everyone know.” He began walking toward Adam with his hand held out.

  All he said was, “Son, you do what the Lord told you, and if God sees fit for Regina to be in your life, she will. But for now go and take your final exams, go home, and be the pastor that God called you to be.” He had tears in his eyes when he spoke those words.

  Adam took one final look at Regina, but she turned her head to her mother’s chest and wept.

  After hugging her father, he whispered, “I do love her, you know.”

  Dr. Webber responded, “I know you do, son, but Regina has some growing up to do. I’ll tell her mother you said good-bye. God bless you, Adam.”

  And with that, Adam got in his car, drove off, and never looked back. His last thought was that when he did get a wife, she would have to support him in ministry.

  Chapter 4

  They landed slightly ahead of schedule. As the plane taxied to the gate, Destiny couldn’t help but to feel a few nervous butterflies. She had enjoyed her conversation with Adam; it was easy to flow from one subject to another. He made her feel comfortable, which is probably why they both had enjoyed the in-flight movie. Now her focus was on meeting Cynthia at the baggage claim. Sara said that she’d be easy to recognize with her blonde braids.

  After departing the plane, Destiny followed Adam, moving toward baggage claim, focused on finding Cynthia. Then they both could journey to their new home together. As they approached baggage claim, Destiny noticed the woman she had seen earlier with the beautiful scarf walking around the carousal. She was the same woman who avoided her gaze at the airport before this flight.

  When she neared baggage claim, Destiny searched for anyone fitting the description that her aunt had given her. Unaware that someone had approached her from behind, she turned around, almost colliding with the woman she’d seen earlier. “Are you Destiny Harper?” she asked.

  Destiny was slightly taken aback, shocked that she knew her name. Then it dawned on her, so she in turn asked, “Are you Cynthia Mason?”

  “Yes, I am,” she replied with a smile.

  She was very pretty. Her eyes were dark, and her skin was the color of caramel. Destiny held out her hand, smiled, and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cynthia. I was looking for blonde braids. How was your flight?”

  Shaking her hand in return, she replied, “Good and it’s a pleasure meeting you as well. I can’t believe I saw you at the airport earlier. I didn’t want to stare you down, but I knew you looked familiar. Your aunt told me about your eyes and I wouldn’t be able to miss you, and she was right. They are unbelievable eyes.”

  “Wow, you’re good for my ego. I think we are going to get along fine.” Destiny answered.

  Cynthia continued saying, “I wrapped my hair in this scarf because I knew the flight was going to be long, and I wanted to sleep worry free.” She pointed to a couple of her braids that were peaking out.

  “I was looking for braids.” Destiny watched as Cynthia took her hand and touched her hair. “Girl, when you have twin boys, you do the simplest things possible to make life easy.” They both laughed.

  Nodding her head in agreement, Destiny stated the obvious. “I don’t know about that yet, but your boys are adorable. They were the highlight of my visits every evening after work at my aunt’s house.”

  “They are precious, but of course I’m biased. I can’t wait to see them. I’ve missed them so much.”

  Destiny responded, “I’m sure they missed you as well.”

  She nodded her head. “Miss Sara wanted them to come with her so that I could make sure everything was done before leaving Charleston. Nothing would have been done with two rambunctious twins getting in the way. The Lord himself sent Miss Sara to me.”

  Noticing Adam pointing to the carousal, she indicated which bag belonged to her. As he reached for it, he must have seen his as well because his attention went right back to the carousal before she could tell him she’d found Cynthia.

  The air was a little cool in the terminal, wrapping itself around her as the sliding glass doors continued to open and close. Her eyes darted back to Cynthia as she was putting her arms in her sweater; it was then that she noticed her fidgeting with the purse straps almost as if she was trying to avoid looking at Adam.

  “I sat next to him on the plane. He’s a pastor here in Seattle.” Smiling, Destiny glanced at Adam. He was moving toward them.

  “Cynthia? What are you doing here?”

  Destiny watched as Cynthia’s eyes froze on Adam. She tried but had no hope of disguising the look of shock on her face. She opened and closed her mouth, seemingly trying to get her voice to work. By the movement of her eyes her brain was flying off in all directions, confused, frightened, and lost. As if she were asking the question. “How could this be?”

  Destiny noticed her hands shaking. Shifting to look at Adam’s dark and intense gaze, she was a little surprised to see the gaze he was emitting was a little chilling but curious as well.

  “I could ask you the same thing, Adam,” she finally responded. Her tone was just as sharp as his had been. For a heart-stopping moment, no other sound left anyone’s lips.

  Adam looked over at Destiny, “I assume you two have met?”

  “Yes, we have. Adam, this is Cynthia. She’s the houseguest I’ve been telling you about.”

  Not quite letting the smile reach his face, Adam looked back at Cynthia. “I know Cynthia well. It’s been a while, and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of catching up to do.” With that said, he began to move toward the airport exit.

  Destiny, sensing something was going on, looked at her watch. “If you’re ready, we can get going, Cynthia. Are you okay?” Destiny asked, concerned by the stricken look on Cynthia’s face.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Just surprised to see Adam.”

  “It’s going to be all right. Let’s get you to your boys,” Destiny said as they walked toward the car. “Because honestly, Cynthia, you don’t look all right to me.”

  Cynthia didn’t argue. She just waited with Destiny as Adam brought the Range Rover around to pick them up. While Adam put the bags in the back, Destiny opened the door for Cynthia.

  Adam eased the car into traffic. “Destiny, we are going to SeaTac right? I know the general area. Just give me the street address.” He looked over at her for a reply.

  Destiny began to look into her purse for the paper she had written the address on. Once she found it, she told Adam and placed the sheet back in her purse.

  Destiny glanced at the backseat when she heard Cynthia mutter something crossly, just before she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. The strain on her face evaporated once she began her conversation with whoever was on the other end. Turning around, she whispered curiously to Adam, “So how do you know Cynthia?”

  It was a moment before he answered. Destiny couldn’t help feeling he was holding something back from her, something important. Inhaling, Adam’s brain flew through what he knew about Cynthia Mason, wondering what brought her back to Seattle, “We all graduated from high school the same year. She went to school on Mercer Island. Marvin and I attended Bellevue High.” He focused on the road ahead of him.

  Finally his lips stretched into a brief on-off smile that didn’t involve his eyes. “That doesn’t seem to merit the reaction she had when she saw you walk through the door.” Destiny tried to read his expression, to see if any slight movement of his lips, eyes or forehead would provide some clue to the state of the relationship they apparently shared once. He gave a slight frown but did not elaborate on his response. She wondered if they’d been a couple.

  Adam couldn’t help but notice the look on Destiny’s face and the strange arch of her brows. “Cynthia and my twin, Marvin, dated from the eighth grade until they were seniors in high school. They were really in love. I thought if I ever were in love, I’d want it to be like theirs. But I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Cynthia’s parents, Edward and Gwendolyn Mason…”

  “You mea
n the Dynamic Duo? At least that’s what they’re called on CNN. They own the Mason Law Offices, right? And they handle all the high-profile cases.” Destiny gulped.

  Adam chuckled. “That’s them. Cynthia’s parents didn’t approve of her relationship with Marvin. Didn’t think he was good enough. So on the night of our graduation, Mr. Mason paid a visit to Marvin, and in not so many words he was ordered to stay away from his daughter or there would be consequences he did not want to pay. That’s the long and the short of it.”

  Adam reached out and touched Destiny’s hand before quickly pulling it back. “So you see why I was shocked, but it seemed to take a whole lot more out of her. I can only imagine Marvin’s reaction after he finds out she’s back in the city.”

  Destiny sensed that it was much more. Just seeing Adam could not have garnered that kind of reaction from Cynthia. Destiny also noticed that Adam never mentioned anything about Cynthia having children, which meant maybe he didn’t know. It wouldn’t be hard to put two and two together. Adam and Marvin were twins, and Cynthia had two beautiful twin boys. Come to think of it, they looked a lot like Adam. If Cynthia didn’t mention it, then she would keep her thoughts on the matter to herself. Besides, she would be dealing with her own skeletons in a few days. They would deal with Cynthia and the twins when they arrived at the house.

  Turning her head toward the window Destiny’s eyes filled with amazement realizing why Tina, her best friend from college, and her husband Richard were so in love with Seattle. They had been living in Seattle since the Seahawks drafted Richard in his senior year. Tina told Destiny that she would love it here when she begged her to relocate. She looked out the window, and in the distance she could see the rolling hills that looked as if they had been sprayed with a soft mist. Tina told her about the trees and the misty, grassy fields. She described the summers as being soft and relaxing caused by the rushing of the river that ran behind their home on Mercer Island. That’s where Adam said Cynthia’s parents lived, which also meant that Cynthia’s parents had money. So why had Cynthia been living like a pauper? It made no sense to her. But maybe when Cynthia was comfortable they would really talk. It was easy to sense she needed a friend. Maybe they could become good friends especially since they’d be living in the same house. That thought brought a genuine smile to her face.