The Summer of Me: A Novel

by Angela Benson

  “I’m not babysitting you, Destiny,” he said. “You’re my lady and I’m supporting you. That’s the way relationships work.”

  She met his eyes. “But ours is not a normal relationship.”

  “How do you mean?”

  She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. “It’s not wise for undercover cops to get involved with their targets, is it?”

  “That doesn’t apply to us because I’m not a cop and you’re not a target.”

  “Not technically, but it’s close enough.” She looked directly at him. “How much of your concern for me is because of the case and how much is because of your interest in me? Were we spending so much time together because you enjoyed my company or because you wanted to keep watch over me?”

  “Why can’t it be all those things?”

  “It can, but it makes everything complicated. You see, I know how I feel about you, but I’m not sure you know how you feel about me.”

  “So now you know my feelings?”

  “I’m not trying to be offensive, Daniel. I’m just being honest. When I left Atlanta, I thought I knew where we were as a couple. Tonight, I have no idea.”

  “Those are your insecurities,” he said. “Not mine.”

  “Maybe they should be.”

  “What are you saying?”

  She released a deep breath. “I think we both need to take a step back and reevaluate our relationship. I need to reconcile the Daniel I left in Atlanta with Daniel the investigator. He’s still a great guy but I don’t know him well.”

  “There’s only one Daniel.”

  “That’s easy for you to say but not so easy for me. I’m just asking for a little time, Daniel. I’m not running away and I’m not pushing you away. I just need some time not just to figure out how I feel about you but to also figure out how I feel about myself. According to Malcolm, I need to stay out here a few extra days. I see now that I need that time to get recalibrated.”

  “And you can’t do that with me here?”

  “I could, but I don’t think that’s best for us in the long run. You need to get back to your life and rethink how I fit in it, and I need to do the same with you.”

  He began shaking his head. “I don’t need to rethink anything,” he said. “I know how I feel about you. I—”

  She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Don’t say it,” she said. “If it’s true tonight, it’ll be true when I get back to Atlanta. Emotionally, I’m not prepared to hear anything more. Not tonight.”

  He pressed a kiss against her fingers. “Even though I don’t want to, I’m going to honor your request and get a flight back to Atlanta tomorrow. But I want you to know that I’ll be waiting for you to come home to me.”

  “I’m counting on it,” she said. After pressing a soft kiss against his lips, she got out of the car and headed into the hotel. She didn’t bother to look back though she knew in her heart that Daniel was waiting for her to do so. They needed a clean break, if only for tonight. For both their sakes, she kept facing forward.

  Chapter 40

  WHEN DESTINY WALKED INTO THE LOBBY OF THE hotel, she was surprised to find her mother waiting for her. “I thought you were going to the room,” Destiny said.

  “Is everything all right between you and Daniel?” her mother asked, rushing toward her. “You two aren’t fighting, are you? He’s a good man, Destiny. Whatever he has done couldn’t be bad enough to make you overlook everything he did for you today.”

  Destiny didn’t want to get into a deep discussion with her mother. “I’m tired, Mom,” she said, continuing on toward the elevators with her mother on her heels. “I thought you’d be in the room by now.”

  Stepping on the elevator behind her, her mother said, “I was worried about you and Daniel. What happened when we went for that walk on the beach? Before we left, we were all getting along well and enjoying ourselves, but by the time we got back, everything had changed. What happened?”

  Destiny took a deep breath. She’d known her mother long enough to know that she was not going to give up until she got the answers she was seeking. “Do we have to do this now?” she asked. “Can’t you at least wait until we get back to the room?”

  Her mother frowned, but she didn’t say anything more as the elevator doors opened and they got off and headed to their room. The silence ended as soon as they entered the room and closed the door behind them. Her mother dropped down on the end of the bed. “Now tell me, what’s going on with you and Daniel?”

  Destiny wiped her hands down her face. “The problem is not really me and Daniel. It’s Kenneth. When you-all went walking on the beach with the kids, he lit into me about what happened today and threatened to take custody of KJ and Kenae.”

  “What are you talking about?” her mother asked. “Kenneth wants custody of the twins?”

  Destiny sat next to her mother. “Yes, he does. Though he hasn’t come right out and said it until tonight, he’d been making noises. It started with his suggestion that the kids live with him during the school week. Now he’s using what happened today as an example of bad parenting on my part.”

  Her mother began shaking her head. “I feared something like this might happen, but I thought, or hoped, that Daniel coming here and clearing everything up with the identity theft would put an end to it.”

  “Well, Kenneth thinks there’s more to it than the identity theft.”

  Her mother sighed. “And he’s right, but there is no way for him to know for sure. You’re right. Kenneth had to have been thinking of getting custody of the kids long before now. He’s just using this incident as an opportunity to do what he’s always wanted. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am.”

  “Well, I can’t let him do it. I’m going to call Malcolm, the attorney, in the morning, so I can see where I stand legally.”

  “That’s a good idea,” her mother said. “I just wish you hadn’t gotten involved in all of this in the first place. It really wasn’t worth it. I hope you see that.”

  Since Destiny agreed with her mother’s assessment, she wasn’t offended by it. “I see it all right, Mom. I made a mistake, a big mistake, one I won’t make again, but it was a mistake. It shouldn’t be something that Kenneth can use to take my kids.”

  Chapter 41

  AFTER A SLEEPLESS NIGHT, DESTINY HAD STARTED THE day with a renewed sense of purpose. Kenneth’s threat to take custody of the kids had triggered an instinct that she hadn’t known she had. There was no way he was going to take her kids and there was no way she was ever going to do anything again that would make him think he even had a chance at doing so.

  She owed a lot of her good spirits to her late breakfast meeting with Malcolm. He’d relieved many of her concerns about losing custody of her children. According to him, had she been convicted, or even charged, with a felony, Kenneth may have had a case for a custody hearing. Given that she wasn’t even arrested, there was really no case for Kenneth to bring related to the L.A. police incident since the case was being adjudicated as an identity theft case in which she was the victim. Malcolm further advised her to get her custody and child-support agreement with Kenneth recorded by the courts. He’d even given her the name of a good family law attorney in Atlanta who would help her and she’d already scheduled an appointment.

  With her primary concern alleviated, she needed to clear up one more matter before she left California. She refused to spend her remaining extra days at odds with Kenneth, and by extension, Mary Margaret. They needed to clear the air, which was why she was waiting at the beach restaurant for the two to arrive. It was no coincidence that she had chosen the restaurant where she’d had the police encounter. She wanted Kenneth and Mary Margaret to see that she had no reason to run and hide.

  She waved to the couple when they entered the restaurant. As she watched them weave their way through the crowd and to her table, it occurred to her that she hadn’t planned her outfit today as a dig at Mary Margaret. She realized she was not in competition
with the woman, not when it came to her kids or when it came to Kenneth. She’d bet some folks would call that personal growth. “Did the kids get off okay?” she asked when they reached the table.

  Mary Margaret nodded. “They should be at the mall now. Your mother got to the beach house about thirty minutes ago and my mother was pulling up when we left. She’s going with them. She and your mom have become fast friends.”

  “That’s good to know,” Destiny said, referring both to the kids and to her mother’s budding relationship with Mary Margaret’s mother. “And thanks to you two for joining me. I know this was short notice.”

  “I’m glad you called,” Mary Margaret said as she took the chair that Kenneth pulled out for her. “We didn’t like the way things ended last night, did we, Kenneth?”

  Sitting next to his wife, Kenneth said, “I could have handled it better.”

  Destiny could only smile. “Do you know why I chose this restaurant, Kenneth?”

  He smirked. “You wanted to come back to the scene of the crime?”

  She chuckled, in no way offended by his smirk or his words. “That’s part of it, but the primary reason was so that you could see that I’m not afraid to show my face here. I would even feel comfortable bringing the kids back. They enjoyed themselves in the arcade.”

  “I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make, Destiny,” Kenneth said.

  She drew a deep breath. “I don’t want you to question my parenting of the twins or to threaten to take custody from me. I want you to respect me as their mother as I respect you as their father and Mary Margaret as their stepmother. We’ve done well coparenting the last few years and I don’t want that to change.”

  “Neither do we,” Mary Margaret said. “Yesterday was a bad day all around, Destiny. We were worried.”

  Destiny tilted her head in Kenneth’s direction.

  “Okay, I was worried,” he admitted. “Hell, Destiny, I was more than worried. I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on with you and the police.”

  “I understand,” she said. “And I apologize for giving you cause to worry. I want you to know that I appreciate you for rushing down here to get the kids so my mother could come to the police station and be with me. I wanted her to stay with the kids and not bother you, but she wanted to come be with me.”

  Kenneth shook his head. “Your mother did the right thing by calling me. I would have been angry had all this gone on and I had not known about it. You can’t keep things like that from me. If it concerns the kids, I need to know. And this concerned the kids because of what could have happened.”

  Destiny nodded. “I can respect that, Kenneth, and I’ll continue to keep you in the loop where they are concerned, but I also need something from you.”

  “Like what?”

  “I need you to trust me,” she said. “It was unfair of you to challenge my parenting because of what happened. It was cruel to even suggest that you would challenge me for custody. That can’t happen again.”

  “I was angry, Destiny,” he said. “You would have been angry, too.”

  She shook her head. “The anger I understand. The threat to take the kids, I don’t. Is becoming the custodial parent of the kids something that’s on your mind? If it is, I need to know.”

  Destiny noted the quick glance Kenneth shot at Mary Margaret. “I’ve thought about it,” he said. “We love having them with us. Seeing them every day after school has been great and so has the time we’ve spent together this summer. We enjoy having them with us.”

  “I would never begrudge any time that the kids spend with you and Mary Margaret,” she said. “And I understand how important it is to the kids’ well-being that you’re a concerned and caring father. I want you to have a strong relationship with them. That said, I don’t plan now or in the future to yield custody of them to you.”

  “Not even during the school year?” Kenneth asked. “You want to keep hauling them back and forth across town?”

  She shook her head. “That’s not what I want at all. I had planned this as a surprise for the kids, but I’ll let you in on it. When the kids return from their summer vacation, I’ll already have us moved into a house in their school district. There will no longer be a need to drag them back and forth across town.”

  “You’re moving?”

  She nodded. “I listen when you make a point that’s for the benefit of the kids. I listened when you suggested they would be better off at a school in your school district. And I listened when you observed the burden all the back-and-forth put on them. I love our kids, Kenneth, and every decision I make, I make with them in mind. I’ll probably make a mistake every now and then, but it won’t be because I wasn’t thinking of them.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Kenneth said. “I had no idea you were planning to move.”

  “You didn’t know because I didn’t tell you and I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure I could make it work.”

  “I guess congratulations are in order,” Mary Margaret said. “Welcome to the district!”

  Destiny gave Mary Margaret what she guessed might be her first sincere smile. “Thanks, Mary Margaret.”

  “And for the record,” Mary Margaret added, “we are not planning to challenge you for custody of the kids.”

  Destiny looked at Kenneth for confirmation.

  When Kenneth slowly shook his head, Destiny wondered who had made this decision, Kenneth or Mary Margaret. “Things are working well the way they are now,” he said. “I don’t see any need to change. I was upset last night and said some things that I shouldn’t have.” He glanced at Mary Margaret before turning back to Destiny. “I apologize for that.”

  “I don’t need an apology but I accept yours in the spirit you gave it.” She looked between him and Mary Margaret. “I appreciate you both and what you provide emotionally and financially for the kids. I don’t want you to think that I take you for granted, especially you, Mary Margaret. We haven’t always had the best relationship, but I think we’re in a good place.”

  Mary Margaret nodded. “So do I, Destiny, and I want to keep it that way.” Mary Margaret glanced at Kenneth, then added, “As we think about expanding our family, family harmony will be even more important.”

  “Expanding your family?” Destiny asked.

  Kenneth nodded. “We’re thinking of giving KJ and Kenae a little brother or sister. How do you think they would react?”

  Destiny felt her mouth drop open, and she quickly closed it. “They’ll be happy,” she said. “I’m even more glad now that they’ve had this summer to spend with you two. As long as they’re confident about their place in your lives, I think they’d welcome a younger sibling. They really are good kids.”

  “You’ve done a good job with them,” Mary Margaret said. “I hope I do as well with our little ones.”

  “I didn’t do it by myself,” Destiny said. “You and Kenneth played a big role.”

  Kenneth started laughing. “We should consider having our own reality show. We could call it the ‘Blended Family Experiment.’ On second thought, that wouldn’t work since we get along so well. We may need to create some drama.”

  Destiny began shaking her head and she noticed Mary Margaret did, too. “Our goal is to be drama free, and to that end there is one more thing I want to discuss with you two. I’d like to sit down with a family law attorney and draw up a child-custody agreement.”

  “I thought you were happy with the child-support arrangement as it is.”

  “I am,” Destiny said. “I’m not asking for more money or trying to give you less time with them or anything like that. I just think we need a legal record for the protection of the kids.”

  “I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Mary Margaret said. “What about you, Kenneth?”

  “I don’t see why we need to involve lawyers if we’ve done so well ourselves.”

  “Having a formal agreement keeps things clean between us, Kenneth. The little problem we
had about the child support this summer would not have occurred had we had a formal agreement. The document will help us take the emotion out of our decisions about the kids. Will you at least think about it?”

  “I’ll think about it,” Kenneth said.

  “That’s all I ask,” Destiny said.

  Mary Margaret picked up her menu. “If we’ve covered everything, I think we’d better order,” she said. “If we don’t, all three of us may end up in the back room in handcuffs.”

  Destiny knew their talk had been a success when all three of them laughed.

  Chapter 42

  DANIEL LOOKED AT THE STACK OF LOAN APPLICATIONS on his desk and thought about Destiny. Trying not to think about her was a futile activity. In a short time, she’d come to touch every aspect of his life. He looked again at the stack of applications. She had been right to go through the deacons and other church leaders to identify families who might be helped by a loan. The quickness with which the applications had been returned was a testament to how much the loan program was needed. He only wished he could focus on them. He’d probably been through the stack twice. Why did he even bother? He was going to fund them all anyway.

  Now that that was settled he let his thoughts freely go to their chosen destination: Destiny. He hadn’t liked the way he had left things between them in California. At first, he’d thought he should have fought harder to stay out there with her and help her work through whatever she had to work through about their relationship. Now though he recognized the wisdom in her decision.

  “How was Memphis?”

  Daniel looked up at the sound of Gavin’s voice. “Hey,” he said, welcoming the interruption. “Come on in.”

  Gavin walked fully into the room. “So how was it? Did the trip help keep your mind off Destiny?”

  Daniel looked up at his friend. “That wasn’t the purpose of the trip.”

  Gavin only grinned. He took a seat in the chair in front of the desk. “It was either that or you were avoiding Natalie.”