Hope Springs (37 page)

“I'm sayin'!” Travis had the biggest grin on his face. “So I said, ‘Sister Mason, nobody can make hot water cornbread like you. Could you please do me a favor and make that instead?' ”

“What she say?”

“She said Brother Mason never liked her cornbread, so she didn't think anyone else liked it either. Said she'll make a batch for the church and one for me to take home—and you know I love when I can take some food home, since I can't cook.”

“Will you
please
find you a wife? Don't make no sense that you're still single, all these nice young ladies running around here.”

Libby was sure of it; she should've left.

“I might not get married,” Travis said. “I might be like the apostle Paul and live a life of singleness, eating fast food.” His brow wrinkled. “I wonder if he ate fast food.”

“Oh, you'll get married,” Grandma Geri said, “if I have to find you a bride myself. Got a bunch of grands and great-grands, you know. One sitting right here.”

Libby's stomach went from jumping to double Dutching. “I think that's enough, Grandma.”

Grandma Geri looked at her. “I done told you I don't have much time. So I'm gonna say whatever I need to say.”

She started coughing again, and Libby gladly got up to pour water for her. She handed it to her grandmother. “Should I call the nurse?” she asked.

“I'm fine,” her grandmother coughed out. “Stop trying . . . to . . . change the subject.”

Libby watched her closely anyway, ready to call the nurse if it persisted much longer. She refused to look at Travis.

Grandma Geri started right in when her coughing subsided. “Now, Libby, those guys you've brought to the house are nice enough young men.”

Libby guessed she should be thankful her grandmother's mental faculties were still sharp.

“But ain't none of 'em in the kingdom, are they?”

Why, oh why is she questioning me in front of Travis?
She cleared her throat. “Grandma, is this really necessary right now?”

Travis was looking downward. At least he was kind enough to give the appearance of having sympathy for her.

“Life is not complicated, baby. The wrong choices—no matter how right they seem at the time—can follow you the rest of your life. You see that with me and Gwynn. Obeying God is always the right choice. Always.” She cut an eye over to Travis. “Now that young man
is
in the kingdom, just so you know.”

Libby found that last part amusing, though she wouldn't show it.

A nurse pushed the door open and entered. “I'm going to have to ask you two to let Mrs. Sanders rest,” she said.

Libby wanted to tell her she was ten minutes late.

“I was just getting a second wind,” Grandma Geri said.

“Grandma, you were in rare form this evening.” Libby kissed her cheek. “Rest well. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you.”

Travis hugged her. “The church is praying. God's got you. Grace and peace, Grandma Geri.”

They walked out into the hall and started toward the waiting area. After a few feet of silence, Travis looked over at her. “Sorry you had to go through that.”

Libby shrugged, following the tiled squares down the hall. “Just Grandma being Grandma.”

“For the record, marrying you wouldn't work anyway.”

Her stomach jumped, thinking of the reasons she herself had said he couldn't marry her. “Why not?”

“You can't cook either.”

She laughed. “I beg your pardon. I've learned a lot over the years.”

“You learn how to cook?”

“Depends on how you define ‘cook.'”

Travis laughed heartily. After a few moments, he said, “How are you doing? This was a tough day for your family.”

“Very tough.” She looked at him. “Paralyzed? It's horrible the way cancer ravages the body. I'm thankful she's in good spirits despite everything. But it's starting to hit us that Grandma may not be with us long. I can't imagine what our family will be like without her.”

“Or Hope Springs, for that matter,” Travis said. “What would it be like for the Sanders family to be gone from that house at the end of the street? I can't imagine.”

“I honestly hadn't thought about that,” Libby said. “What will happen to that house? We have to keep it. Where else would we have our family reunions?” She shuddered. “I don't want to think about any of it. One day at a time.”

Almost to the waiting room, she stopped and looked at Travis. “I want to thank you for always being there to lift Grandma's spirits. You're a special man.” She paused. “A true man of God.”

“I love your grandmother. Always have, even when I was giving her fits as a boy running in her garden. We had some fun down at that house.”

“Ooh, remember we used to play hide-and-seek at night? Don't laugh, but I thought it was scary. I wanted somebody to find me so I wouldn't be alone in the dark.”

“You don't remember that time I found you behind the water tower, do you?”

Travis had turned that penetrating eye thing on. Libby took a steadying breath.

“I remember. One of y'all mischievous boys had changed up the rules. If you were the one seeking, you could pick one person you found and kiss them.” Libby laughed at the memory. “And Janelle said she'd only play if the kiss could be on the hand.”

“And when it was my turn to look, I found you and picked you as the one I wanted to kiss.”

Libby laughed again. “And I said, ‘I ain't kissing you.' So I held out my hand, and you kissed it.”

“What you don't know,” Travis said, “is that I refused to wash my face that night, because my lips had touched Libby Sanders's hand.”

“Stop lying.”

“I'm serious.”

They stared at one another, the history between them coursing through their veins.

“We'd better get back to the waiting room.”

He didn't say anything. Wouldn't break their gaze.

And Libby felt a pull like none she'd ever felt before.

“You're right,” he said. “We'd better get back.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Saturday, February 13

T
he hospital had become the campout spot. Janelle and Stephanie had been there since morning with the kids, and Becca was just now arriving with hers. Janelle got up to greet her.

“How's Grandma Geri doing?” Becca asked.

“About the same. Aunt Gladys is in there with her now.”

“Mom,” Daniel said, “can we
please
go hang out with Kory? Doesn't he live near here? There's nothing to do in the waiting room.”

“Yeah, we could go see Dee,” Tiffany said. “Mommy, will you call them? I want Dee to sleep over with me and Claire tonight.”

“You guys, I told you we're not doing that anymore. You just have to accept it.” Janelle gave Becca an exasperated look.

Becca set Ethan down, keeping an eye on him. She nodded toward Todd and Travis on a sofa in the waiting room. “Looks like they're in deep conversation over there. About the meeting tonight?”

“Yeah, we were all talking about it. I guess there's never been one like this with both Calvary and New Jerusalem members. It's pretty historic.”

“Todd's not so sure it'll go well.”

“Travis either. And if it doesn't, I'll bear the brunt of the blame, I'm sure.”

“Don't say that—Ethan, come here, sweetie.”

Stephanie went after him. “I'll watch him,” she said. She gathered all the kids around her.

Becca continued. “There were a lot of factors that went into this meeting. The whole revelation about Jim and Gwynn played a big part, and the Bible study at the diner. You were just the one who had the lightbulb moment that put it all together.”

“Speaking of lightbulb moments,” Janelle said, “I'm still thinking of the one you had about humility. How are you feeling about everything now?”

Becca's pause was thoughtful. “Honestly, it's still hard, still disappointing, still a little embarrassing. Still hard not to focus on
me
.” She gave a wry smile. “I need a lot of work in the ‘emptying of self' department. Have to keep telling myself it's
His
ministry, not mine. God should be able to do what He wants with it, right? He might know a little about how it'll fit with everything else He's got going on earth.” She laughed lightly at herself.

“Are you praying about what's next?”

“I'm praying about what's
now
.” She pointed at Claire and Ethan. “I don't even want to think about ‘next.' And I definitely don't want to chase after anything, even if it's only in prayer. I want to learn how to chase after God.”

“Amen, Becca. I need to learn that too.”

Todd and Travis came over to the women.

“We need some feedback on how we're thinking about approaching this tonight,” Todd said.

“In other words,” Travis added, “we want to know whether we'll get thrown out of town.”

Janelle and Stephanie arrived late at New Jerusalem, twenty minutes after the meeting had started. They had waited together with Aunt Gladys to talk to the doctor about Grandma Geri, and it had taken longer than expected. They hightailed it over to the church as soon as they got back to Hope Springs.

The church was absolutely packed, with some standing in the back and to the sides of the pews. Travis and Todd had designated New Jerusalem as the location because it provided more seating than Calvary, but she didn't think they expected it to be
this
full. The scene struck her the same as at Pastor Jim's funeral. Something beautiful about seeing both congregations together.

Janelle looked around, half wondering if Kory might be there. After all, he'd joined New Jerusalem and had been very much interested in the preliminary discussion about this. But she doubted he would bring Shelley here. They'd probably find a church together in Rocky Mount.

“The bottom line is this,” Todd was saying. “As people of God, we have to be willing to examine ourselves. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Only then can we do God's good and perfect will.” He looked out at the sea of black faces and white faces. “In this world—in this country—we are separated by skin color, and we understand the ugly history that fueled it. But we are citizens of a different kingdom. We belong to Christ. And in Christ's kingdom we don't regard one another according to the flesh. We are one.”

Janelle didn't think she'd ever seen the church this quiet. Not a single
amen
answered Todd's words.

“And so,” Todd said, “we wanted to set a biblical foundation at the outset, with the hope that the balance of the meeting will proceed within that framework. Pastor Travis will share what we are proposing.”

Travis came to the podium without notes. Taking his time, he regarded every section of the sanctuary, moving his gaze along slowly. Interesting the effect it had. Some seemed to squirm a little, uncomfortable with the pause.

“I grew up in Hope Springs, as many of you did,” he began, “and I had no concept of the term ‘the body of Christ.' I had no concept of what it meant to be one in Christ. I had a better understanding of race and division than reconciliation and unity, and my understanding of race and division came mostly from the churches. I wonder if God is pleased with that.” He inserted another pregnant pause. “Here in Hope Springs recently we've seen a change. And sad to say, it didn't start in the churches. It started in the Main Street Diner with Janelle Evans and Sara Ann Matthews, and it has flourished with members of both Calvary and New Jerusalem.”

Janelle glanced across the aisle where she'd spotted Beverly and Allison earlier.

Soul Sisters
, Beverly mouthed and smiled.