Page 15 of Mark My Words

“Thirdly, no, you don’t pick up where you left off. You start anew. Where you are right now. There’s nothing holding either of you back. He’s done his tour in the army. He’s on the brink of graduating from college, again. You’ve finished college and have your own market. Neither of you has kids with others, relationships with others—there is literally nothing holding you back but yourselves.”

“Stop.”

“What?”

“You’re making me excited.”

Angelica smiled. “You should be thrilled! This is a fairytale if I ever heard one.”

Destiny agreed, but deep down, she wondered—could it be so simple as clearing things up? “I don’t know.”

“What don’t you know?”

“Men need their moms. I’ve got a feeling she’s gonna be a problem.”

“Let him take care of it. Like he said.”

Destiny nodded, then let her head fall back.

“When was the last time you had some wine?”

She lifted her head, brow raised, “It’s ten a.m.”

“And you’ve got something to celebrate, forget the time.”

Shuffling through the cabinets, Angelica shimmied on her feet in a quick dance step when she found a bottle of wine. “I’ll put this on ice, and before I leave, we toast.”

Destiny smiled, warm inside, and wondering what Malik was doing at that moment. “Okay. I guess.”

Angelica squealed. “I like this new you!”

Destiny laughed, watching her friend prance around the kitchen, making her a plate of breakfast.

Chapter Six

She was the only one on his mind when he woke. That and this visit that was a must as soon as he was conscious. His knuckles rapped against the old wooden frame, and after two minutes, the door opened, and a gasp broke through on the other side.

“Malik, baby, I didn’t know you were coming into town?”

“Mom, you know I’m not that far from you now at Morehouse.”

“I know, but you’re so busy nowadays with your studies. How school going anyway?”

Malik eased across the threshold, giving his mother a hug and bracing for the conversation that needed to be had. “Mom, I need to ask you a question. And school is fine.”

His mother frowned. “Sounds serious.”

“It is.”

“Should I be worried?”

“It’s nothing life-threatening. I just need to know how your relationship is with Destiny.”

Shock ushered up her brows, eyes widened. Mrs. Jernigan cleared her throat and turned her eyes from his.

“Mom?”

“Well, it’s been a long time.”

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