Daphne got up and moved closer so she could see the screen. Howard did the same.
Judge Phillips hit the arrow, and there was Colleen in full rage mode screaming at Leah, calling her ugly and stupid, and telling her she’d never get a husband.
Colleen jumped up and slapped the phone off the desk. She then turned on Leah. “You deceitful little heifer!”
She raised her hand to slap her, but Gary stepped between them just as Howie grabbed Colleen’s arm. “Stop it!” Howie yelled. “What’s the matter with you!” He threw her back into her chair.
“That never happened!” Colleen screamed.
Tiffany cried, “Liar! I have a video of you yelling at me, too!”
“Fine!” Colleen snarled. “Stay with your boring-ass father. I don’t ever want to see you ungrateful little bitches ever again. You hear me?” She snatched up her coat and stormed out of the courtroom.
The judge looked shaken. Leah simply sat, tears in her eyes. Gary put his arm around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. Tiff was crying too, so he consoled her as well. He glanced at Howard. “Thank you, man.”
“Not a problem. Your Honor, I’m withdrawing from this case.”
“Understood.”
Howard left the chambers, but the judge’s concern for Leah and Tiff was so plain that Gary wasn’t sure he even noticed the departure.
Daphne said, “Your Honor, in the face of what just transpired—”
The judge cut her off. “I got this, Counselor. Leah? Tiffany?”
They looked his way.
“I’m sorry this happened. I’m going to make it a condition that before either of you visit your mom again, she takes twelve weeks of anger management classes, six months of parenting classes, and provides me with weekly progress reports.”
Leah said, “She isn’t going to do all that.”
“I know.”
Leah studied him for a long minute and then she smiled. “You’re good.”
He smiled back.
Leah said, “Thank you.”
Judge Phillips turned to Tiffany. “Are those conditions agreeable with you, Tiffany?”
She nodded and replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Clark?”
“Yes.”
“Ms. Summers?”
“Yes.”
“Then this hearing is over. You girls have a great life.”
On the drive home, the girls were quiet. Tiffany, riding shotgun, gazed out the window. Leah was in the backseat texting, he assumed, Brain. He wasn’t sure either of them wanted to talk, but he needed to know they were okay. “How are you ladies doing?”
He looked in the mirror and met Leah’s sad eyes. Tiff glanced his way for a moment, then returned to gazing at the countryside. “Dad’s concerned,” he said. “Can you humor me, at least for a few minutes?”
He saw a small smile play over Leah’s lips. “Just nothing to say, Dad. Mom is who she is. Maybe she’ll change one day, but I’m glad Judge Phillips put up that roadblock.”
Tiff said, “So am I. I hope she changes, too. Otherwise she’s going to be really lonely when she gets old and that’ll be sad.”
Once again he found his girls impressive. Colleen had acted like a monster and yet her daughters were hoping she and her life turned out okay. He wondered if she’d ever realize how blessed she was.
“Okay, the dad grilling is over. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.”
He met their smiles and concentrated on his driving.
At Siz’s going-away party, Bernadine glanced around at the wall-to-wall people in attendance and was pleased at the turnout and the smiles everyone wore. After the awful night Sam Miller was shot and her own foiled kidnapping by the Russian mob, a celebration was in order. She was saddened by the reality of losing Siz, though. As Rocky mentioned earlier, his moving to Miami was like saying good-bye to one of the town’s children, and he and his colorful hair would be dearly missed. Even though the party was in his honor, he’d insisted on cooking, and the buffet table groaned with a bevy of tasty appetizers destined to make everyone miss him and his skills all the more. There were the spinach-stuffed filo-dough squares she loved so much, along with barbecued drummies, fish tacos, meatballs, tiny pizzas, fruit, and a variety of desserts.
During the course of the evening, Bernadine had met Siz’s parents and siblings for the first time, and their pride in him was evident in the way they spoke to her about how much he meant to them and how special they considered him to be. His band members, both current and former, were also in attendance, and would be playing a set for them later. The band, Bloody Kansas, had become a weekend staple at the Dog, and their jazz-infused playing would be missed as well. Later, she’d be presenting a few gifts to Siz on behalf of the town, but for now she just wanted to go through the buffet line and get a couple more of the spinach-stuffed pastries and try to find herself a seat. Once she had taken what she wanted from the buffet, she looked around for a seat, but in the noisy crush saw nothing. People were stuffed into the booths around the walls like the spinach stuffed into the pastries on her plate.
“Is the lady in need of a seat?”
She turned to Mal and smiled. “Yes.”
“I have an extra, if you don’t mind sitting with me.”
How could she resist? “Lead the way.”
On the far side of the room, Amari watched the OG walking Ms. Bernadine to a booth he was sharing with Ms. Marie, Ms. Gen, and Uncle TC, and hoped the two were going to fix the problems that had split them apart. Now that the money Mal had taken had been paid back, it seemed like a real possibility. The OG and Ms. Bernadine made each other happy, so he wanted them to work things out. He was sitting with Brain, Leah, Tiffany, Mr. Clark, and his lady friend from Boston. They’d been checking out the fascinating pictures on her phone that Nori had taken while hiking in Peru. He hoped she stayed in town long enough for him to talk to her because he had a bunch of questions about her trip and it was too loud in the Dog to hold any kind of serious conversation. Tiffany had been casually taking sneak peeks at him since they arrived, and truthfully, he’d been doing the same. He was still trying to process what his feelings toward her really meant, while continuing to hope they’d disappear. He kept his mom’s advice in mind, however, and didn’t ignore her when she spoke to him. He just pretended the kiss never happened.
“Is Zoey’s band really playing tonight?” Tiffany asked him.
He nodded. “They’re covering Janet Jackson’s old song ‘Miss You Much’ in Siz’s honor.”
Amari thought the Exodusters, as the band was called, was getting better, and both Zoey and his brother had a ton of talent, but their group was still louder than they were good. The practices kept Devon out of his hair, though, so he didn’t mind having to listen to them play occasionally.
A few minutes later, Amari’s dad, the OG, and some of the other men began moving tables so Zoey and Devon’s band could start the entertainment portion of the party. That meant that the people seated at them would have to stand, but no one seemed to mind.
Tiffany said to her dad, “I need to talk to Amari for a minute. Is it okay if we go outside so we don’t have to shout to be heard?”
Amari froze. What in the world did she want to talk about now?
Her dad looked his way, and Amari prayed he’d say no. Instead, he said, “Sure, just don’t elope.”
Heat burned Amari’s cheeks.
Tiffany gave her dad an eye roll. “Thanks, Daddy.”
Amari said, “I—I need to let my mom know we’ll be outside. I’ll meet you out there.” He got to his feet, and although he played with the idea of disappearing and going home, he knew he wouldn’t. His mom was helping the band set up.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, babe. Did you come to help?”
“Um, no. Tiffany wants to talk to me for a minute outside. I just wanted to let you know I was leaving for a few minut
es.”
She paused before asking, “Does her dad know?”
“Yes. He just told us not to elope.”
“You didn’t appreciate that, did you?”
“No.”
“Okay. Go see what she wants and come right back.”
He nodded and made his way through the madness to the door.
It was a late-September night on the plains and it was cold. Amari was glad because that meant they wouldn’t be outside very long. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Just wanted to tell you thanks for letting me talk to you about the custody hearing.”
“I heard from Brain that your mom kinda lost it.” Brain hadn’t shared all the particulars and Amari hadn’t asked because it was really none of his business.
“Mom was a hot mess, but we won’t have to go to Atlanta unless she takes a lot of anger-management and parenting classes.”
“So it worked out in the end.”
“Yeah.”
“Good, I’m going back in, it’s cold out here.”
“I’m sorry for kissing you.”
He blinked. “Um. Let’s not talk about that, okay?”
“Okay,” she said softly.
Then he felt bad. “Look. When we first met you and I didn’t get along at all. Do you remember what you called me?”
“Ghetto boy,” she said.
“Right.”
She came to her own defense. “I was a brat back then. I’m older now, and—I like you, Amari, and I think you like me.”
He didn’t reply. He heard the band start up.
“Do you?” she asked.
“Tiff, I don’t know whether I do or not, but it’s cold out here. I’m going in and I can’t leave you out here by yourself, so come on.”
“Okay.”
But he didn’t move. Instead he just stood there looking at her, with the moon overhead and the faint sound of Devon and Zoey’s band playing inside. A part of him wanted to kiss her, but for all his Detroit swagger, he didn’t know how to ask. So he pulled the door open and let her enter ahead of him.
Seeing Amari and Tiffany come in from outside, Bernadine shot a quick look over at Lily. She was watching them too, and the quiet amusement on her face piqued Bernadine’s curiosity. Was something going on between the two teens? With the party still going on, it was a question that would have to wait for another time, so she settled back and watched and listened to the band finish up the Janet Jackson song.
Once they were done and the applause died down, Bernadine walked to the mic to make her presentation. She didn’t see Siz, though. “Where’s Siz?”
His dad called, “Check the kitchen.”
Everyone laughed. Rocky hustled into the kitchen and returned with him a second later. Bernadine said to him, “You already know how much we’re going to miss you, so I won’t go there. But I do want you to take what’s in this envelope as a token of how much we appreciate and love you.”
His hair today was navy blue with red highlights. While everyone watched, he opened the envelope and withdrew a check. When he saw the amount, his jaw dropped. He looked to Bernadine and then to Rocky with eyes wide as dinner plates. “Are you kidding me?”
Rocky said, “No, nephew. More than likely you’ll be at the bottom of the food chain on your new job, and they’ll probably pay you in onions and aprons. We don’t want you to starve or be homeless.”
“But, Rock, this says fifty grand!”
“And . . . ?”
Tears filled his eyes. “I can’t accept this.”
His mother said, “Yes. You can!”
Laughter followed. Siz gave Rocky and Bernadine big hugs and wiped his eyes.
Bernadine said, “Now, to make sure you get to work, I had a friend hook me up with a car dealership in Miami, and they have a brand-new SUV waiting for you to pick up after you arrive. The car is paid for, and here’s what it looks like.” She passed him a picture.
His jaw dropped again. More tears flowed, and he hugged them both once more.
When he recovered he stepped to the mic and said, “I’ve been blessed with a great biological family and a great Henry Adams family. I’m going to miss both so much. Thanks for my gifts. I promise to make you proud. And when I open my own place, everybody here eats for free! Now let’s party!”
His band members took to the area vacated by Zoey and her crew and blew the roof off with “Busting Out” by Rick James.
Watching the people of her town getting their dance on filled Bernadine with joy. Lily and Trent were on the floor along with Gary and Nori, Siz’s parents, folks with rhythm and folks with none. Bloody Kansas wasn’t playing Rhianna or Cardi B, but the teens were doing their thing, too. Out of the corner or her eye, she spied Crystal shaking it up with a tall, brown-skinned millennial with an Old Testament beard that may or may not have belonged to Moses.
Behind her she heard Mal’s humor-filled voice say, “Ain’t no party like a Henry Adams party, ’cause a Henry Adams party don’t stop.” She turned. He smiled. She did the same.
He asked over the music, “May I have this dance?”
She had no idea what to do about him, but tonight she wasn’t going to worry about it. “You sure you can keep up with a sister from Detroit?”
He chuckled. “Watch me.”
“Then let’s go.”
At midnight, the band was still jamming, and so was Bernadine Brown, Mal July, and the people of Henry Adams.
Author’s Note
Second Time Sweeter is our ninth visit to Henry Adams, Kansas. I hope you enjoyed looking in on our favorite small town. As always, questions remain. Has Mal finally seen the light? Is Bernadine willing to let that light into her heart? Can a new chef with meat and veggie tattoos replace our beloved Siz? Is Amari crushing on Tiffany Adele, or does he really have the flu? And Lord help us—is Riley really going to run for mayor?
Stay tuned.
See you next time.
B
About the Author
Beverly Jenkins is the recipient of the 2017 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for historical romance. She has been nominated for the NAACP Image Award in Literature and was featured in the documentary Love Between the Covers and on CBS Sunday Morning. Since the publication of Night Song in 1994, she has been leading the charge for multicultural romance, and has been a constant darling of reviewers, fans, and peers alike, garnering accolades for her work from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, and NPR.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Beverly Jenkins
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Destiny’s Embrace
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Midnight
Captured
Jewel
A Wild Sweet Love
Winds of the Storm
Something Like Love
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Through the Storm
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Vivid
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fi
ctitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
second time sweeter. Copyright © 2018 by Beverly Jenkins. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
first edition
Map of Henry Adams by Valerie Miller
Cover design by Richard L. Aquan
Cover photograph © Sergey/Agefotostock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Digital Edition AUGUST 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-269931-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-269926-8 (paperback)
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-284617-4 (library edition)
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