The Summer of Me (8 page)

D
ANIEL AWOKE THE NEXT MORNING TIRED AND RESTLESS.
Though he had done a good job of hiding his reaction, meeting Bertice at the cancer walk had shaken him. Bertice was the woman who had unknowingly captured Phil's heart. Phil said she was innocent, but how innocent could she be? And what about Destiny? Did she know her friend was involved with Phil? Was she involved herself? She didn't strike him as the kind of woman to fall for something like this. But Natalie had hinted that her friend's financial situation was shaky. Destiny was involved with Phil's scam. He knew it in his gut. What was he going to do? He couldn't talk to Gavin or Natalie because of the promise of secrecy he'd made to William and George before agreeing to take on the case. There was no point in calling them either since he knew they would tell him to keep quiet and let the situation play itself out. He just wasn't sure he could sit by and let the women get themselves in deeper. That's why he was seated at this Waffle House waiting for Phil. He had a plan.

“Hey, man,” Phil said when he joined him at the table. “What's so urgent that we had to meet this morning? Nobody's up for breakfast this early on Sunday except preachers, lovers, and truck drivers.”

Daniel didn't even smile at Phil's teasing words. “Thanks for meeting me,” he said.

“No problem,” Phil said, taking a seat. Almost immediately, the waitress came over, poured him coffee, and took his order. Unlike him, Phil didn't settle for coffee. No, he also ordered the Hungry Man breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage.

“That's a heavy breakfast,” Daniel said.

Phil took a long swallow from his cup of coffee. “I'm sure you didn't get me down here this early in the morning to discuss my breakfast caloric intake.”

“No, I didn't,” Daniel said. “Did you sign up a Destiny Madison in the last few days?”

Phil nodded. “Bertice brought her in. She's one of her friends. I didn't want to do it but you told me I had no choice. I had to keep doing things the way I'd always done them.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Daniel said. “But we have a problem, so we have to make some adjustments.”

“What kind of problem?” Phil asked.

“I know Destiny. She's a close friend of close friends of mine and so is Bertice.”

Phil sat back in his chair. “You're joking, right?”

Daniel shook his head. “I wish I was but I'm not.”

“So are you going to tell them what's going on?”

“You know I can't,” Daniel said. “If they knew what they'd gotten themselves into, they'd want out and right now they can't get out. If we're going to catch these guys, we need to keep the status quo.”

The waitress brought Phil's food and then returned to the table and refreshed both their coffees. After nodding his thanks to her, Daniel said, “We're going to have to keep a close eye on them. If they find themselves in trouble because they were victims of the identity theft part of the scam or some other scam that we don't know about, I need to know.”

“And how do you propose we keep an eye on them?”

Daniel met his eyes and smiled. “You're going to ask Bertice out.”

Phil's eyes widened. “No I'm not. I can't.”

Daniel nodded. “Yes you can.”

Phil shook his head. “I can't date her while I'm lying to her. I'd been holding out some hope of us getting together once your team gets to the bottom of all of this.”

“It's not ideal, I know,” Daniel said, understanding the man's reluctance, “but it's our only option right now. We have to watch out for them.”

“You may be right,” Phil said. “But my asking Bertice out after all this time is going to seem odd.”

“Not if she knows you've been interested in her for a long time.”

Phil's eyes widened. “And how's she going to know that? I'm not going to tell her.”

“I'll mention it to Destiny,” Daniel said. “I'll suggest that
the four of us do something together. My friend and his wife have been trying to fix me and Destiny up since I arrived in town, so she won't suspect anything out of the ordinary.”

Phil forked some pancakes into his mouth. “What makes you think she wants to go out with you?”

Daniel smiled to himself. “I feel pretty sure she will. We hit it off when we met. But if she won't do it for me, she'll do it for you and Bertice. I'll tell her that you're trying to find a way to get to know Bertice better and you need her help. She'll go for it. Women like that kind of stuff.”

Phil's lips curved into a frown. “You realize we're not teenagers, right? Your plan is sounding very high school to me.”

Daniel agreed that the idea wasn't particularly sophisticated, but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice. Besides, just because it was a simple idea didn't mean it wasn't a good one. “The matchmaking my friends are doing with me and Destiny is straight from high school and it hasn't stopped them. Besides, like I said before, women go for this kind of thing. Believe me, it will work.”

Phil took another swallow of coffee. “I'm not so sure it would work with the women I know.”

“Let's hope Destiny and Bertice are not like the other women you know,” Daniel said, thinking of Margo, who had initially gotten Phil involved in this scam, but deliberately not throwing her name in the man's face.

Phil gave a wry smile. “Good point, well stated.”

Daniel finished off his coffee. “I'll be meeting with Destiny sometime this week on another matter. I'll lay the groundwork then. I'll also tell her that I'm trying to get you
to come to church. You and Bertice both. That might work even better than a traditional date. Don't make any plans for Sunday. If things work out the way I hope they will, you and Bertice will be joining me and Destiny at church.”

“Church?”

“Yes, church,” Daniel said. “You do know what that is, right?”

“Funny,” Phil said. “It's just been a while since I've been to one. You sure did get hooked up with one quickly. You've been in town only a minute.”

Daniel realized he hadn't told Phil much about what he was doing in Atlanta, other than this case. “I'm one of the associate pastors at the church.”

Phil's eyes widened. “You're a pastor? When did that happen? You weren't a pastor the first time our paths crossed, were you?”

Daniel shook his head. “A lot's happened since then.”

“A whole lot. So you're a pastor and an investigator. What a combination.”

“I've given up the investigator title. I'm just helping out on this one last case. I was reluctant at first, but I can see now why I was chosen to work on it. I needed to be here to protect Destiny and Bertice. And you, of course.”

“I hear you,” Phil said. “But this whole thing gives me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Forgetting about Bertice for a minute, how do you think Destiny is going to feel when she finds out you've been lying to her? Heck, you're a minister. How can you lie to either of them?”

“I'm not lying to them,” Daniel said, though he knew
technically he would be lying by omission. “Besides, I'm doing it for their own good. They got themselves into this mess. We're only trying to get them through it with the least amount of scarring.”

Phil laughed. “You haven't dealt much with women lately, have you?”

Daniel's thoughts naturally went to Gloria. “No, not much.”

“It doesn't sound like you have. This plan of yours could really blow up in our faces.”

“Stop being so negative,” Daniel said. “You wanted to get closer to Bertice and now you get the chance. Don't think it to death.”

D
ESTINY WAS LATE LEAVING WORK ON
M
ONDAY, WHICH
meant she was going to be late for her five-thirty appointment with the campus career counselor. She checked her watch as she pulled her car into the parking lot of the Career Center. It was already 5:30. She grabbed her purse off the passenger seat, opened the driver's-side door, and got out. As she half-trotted to the Career Center front door, she realized she didn't remember the name of the person she was supposed to meet or the meeting room number. She slowed her pace while she rummaged around in her purse looking for her appointment card. She found it just as she reached the revolving glass entry doors.

She greeted the receptionist and handed her the appointment card. “Sorry I'm late,” she added.

“No problem,” the young woman said. “You don't meet with Mrs. Robinson until six fifteen.”

“I thought my appointment was at five thirty.”

“It is, but you're scheduled to complete some computer
assessments before meeting with the counselor.” The young woman stood. “If you're ready, I can take you to the computer lab.”

Destiny took a deep breath. “I'm as ready as I'll ever be.”

“Good,” the girl said, “then follow me.”

Destiny followed the young woman, who she guessed was a work-study student, down a short hallway to a computer lab with about twenty workstations.

“You can take a seat at any computer,” the girl said. “If you press the space bar, a page with the words
Career Assessment
will appear. After that, just follow the on-screen instructions.”

Destiny did as the girl directed. “Well, I got the career assessment screen so I guess everything is all right.”

The girl nodded. “The on-screen instructions are really clear,” she added. “If you have any trouble, just ask me. I'll be back at the front desk. We usually have a student working back here who answers questions but she's out sick today, so I have to cover both the front desk and back here.”

“No problem,” Destiny said, already making her way through the on-screen instructions.

“Oh yes,” the girl added, “these tests are not like entrance exams, so you're free to go to the bathroom or to get some water as needed. When you're finished, you can come back out front and I'll get Mrs. Robinson for you.”

When the girl left, Destiny took a deep breath. She didn't like tests because, in the past, she hadn't been good at them. As she read through the items on the career assessment, she relaxed a bit. All she could do was her best, so she committed to doing that. After what seemed a short time, she
reached the final screen that signaled the completion of the assessment. “That wasn't so bad,” she said aloud, feeling pretty good about what she had just accomplished. It was a start, she thought, as she got up and made her way back to the reception area.

The young girl turned as Destiny made her way back to reception. “Perfect timing,” she said. “Mrs. Robinson is ready for you.” She pointed down a hallway to the left. “Her office is down that hall, the second door on the right. Good luck!”

“Thanks,” she said, finding the girl's enthusiasm contagious. Destiny was beginning to feel a bit excited herself. Who knows? she thought as she made her way down the hall. Maybe she'd enjoy college a lot more the second time around.

Destiny stopped outside Mrs. Robinson's office, took a deep breath to fight back her returning anxiety, and then cleared her throat to make her presence known. She could do this, she told herself.

An older woman with graying hair looked up from the desk where she was seated. “Come on in,” the woman said with a smile. “Welcome to Hillman, or maybe I should say welcome back.”

“Thank you,” Destiny said. Calmed by the older woman's warmth, she took a seat in the chair in front of the woman's desk.

Mrs. Robinson turned her attention to the computer monitor on her desk. “The results from your assessment were sent directly to my computer. Let me print a copy for you and one for me. It will take a couple of minutes. The printouts go
down the hall. Somebody will bring them to us when they're ready.”

Destiny nodded and back came her anxiety. She reminded herself that she'd taken a career assessment, not an achievement test. There was nothing to worry about.

“I like to use this time before we get the paperwork to get to talk a bit more informally,” Mrs. Robertson said. “Are you okay with that?”

The warmth in the woman's smile did it again. Destiny felt herself relax. “It's fine with me.”

“Okay, then tell me a little about Destiny.”

Destiny shrugged, unsure where to begin. “What do you want to know?”

“You can start by telling me why you want to come back to school and why now?”

Destiny breathed a sigh of relief. She could answer those questions easily. “I'll start with the why now. I have six-year-old twins who are out of town for the summer so I had some free time.”

“I gather you're raising your kids alone?”

Destiny shook her head. “I have custody of them but I coparent with their father. They're spending the summer in California with him and his wife.”

“Do they go there every summer?”

Destiny shook her head again. “Oh, no, their father lives here in Atlanta. His wife is on a work assignment in L.A. for the summer and they wanted the kids to go with them for a long vacation.”

The older woman smiled. “I admire you for letting them
go. I know it has to be hard being without them, especially at that age. The good news is that school will definitely help you fill up some of the time.”

“So I've been told,” she said.

Mrs. Robinson lifted a questioning brow.

“To be honest, school wasn't high on my list of things to do this summer,” Destiny continued, surprising herself at how open she was being with the older woman. “My mother and my friends encouraged me to do it.”

“Sounds like you have a strong support network of people who care about you. That's good.”

Destiny nodded. She was blessed in that way even though she often took it for granted.

“What was the source of your reluctance about school? Why did you need a little push from your friends and family?”

Destiny gave a sheepish grin. “You've seen my records. I wasn't a very good student when I was here the first time. And I was much younger then. My brain probably worked a lot better back then than it does now.”

Mrs. Robinson met her gaze. “Grades tell only a part of the story,” she said. “I find that students do well when they're passionate about their subject area, if they see a purpose in the learning. And it's been my experience that older students, like you will be, tend to do well because they come here with a purpose. They're not here because their parents sent them; they're here because they want to be here, because they see the education, the degree, as valuable for their life's plans.”

Destiny wasn't sure where school fit in her life's plans. Her mother thought of a degree as a credential to get her
to the next level in her job at Marshalls. Her friends, like most people, just knew that people with degrees ended up in better financial condition than people without them.

“What are you passionate about, Destiny?” Mrs. Robinson asked. “What do you enjoy doing?”

Destiny thought for a few long seconds before answering. The older woman's question reminded her of one that Daniel had posed about her calling. She hadn't been able to answer him then and she wasn't sure she'd do any better this time. “Let's see. I enjoy my children. And I actually enjoy my job at Marshalls. A lot.”

“What do you do there?”

“I manage the cosmetics department.”

“You're a manager and you don't have a degree. That's impressive.”

Destiny wasn't sure how that was impressive but she smiled anyway.

“What about the job do you like?”

Destiny thought about the young girl she had taught to apply makeup today. Today had been a very good day at work. “I like making people feel better about themselves. The best days are when somebody comes in for a makeup session who has never used makeup or who rarely uses it. I like the way their eyes light up when I give them the mirror and they look at themselves. That look of joy makes me happy. I feel good knowing I helped put it there.”

“And you should feel good about it. You're helping to make a difference in folks' lives. What else do you like about the
job? You're a manager. How do you feel about the managerial tasks?”

Destiny shrugged. “To be honest, I do them because I like the manager's paycheck. The enjoyment comes from working with customers. The good thing about my job is that I get to do both. Our department is so small that it wouldn't work any other way.”

“You're fortunate, you know. There are a lot of people who find no enjoyment or fulfillment in their work.”

“Excuse me,” a man's voice said. Destiny turned and saw a young man, about the same age as the receptionist, standing in Mrs. Robinson's doorway. “I have your printouts, Mrs. Robinson.”

“Thank you, Larry,” she said, extending her hand toward him.

He put the papers in her outstretched hand. “You're welcome,” he said, backing out of the room.

Mrs. Robinson glanced down at the papers and then back at Destiny. “Before we get into these assessments, is there anything else that you enjoy or are passionate about?”

Destiny was quick to answer this time. “I also enjoy doing hair,” she said. Daniel's words came back to her and she began to wonder if she was identifying her calling.

Mrs. Robinson's eyes seemed to brighten. “You do? What's your specialty?”

“I can do a little bit of everything—chemicals, pressing—but my passion is natural hair styles. I'm pretty good at it, too,” she said confidently. Whether she'd be a good student
this time around was a big question, but she was confident in her skill with hair and cosmetics.

Mrs. Robinson smiled. “You want to know what I think, Destiny?”

Destiny nodded. She wouldn't be there if she didn't want the woman's opinion.

“I think you're going to be a great student the second time around because we're going to relate your schoolwork to your passion. You're going to be as passionate about school as you are about makeup and hair, or close to it.”

Destiny wasn't sure she agreed, but she hoped Mrs. Robinson was right. “You really think so?”

Mrs. Robinson shook her head. “I know so.”

A part of Destiny believed her.