Hope Springs

by Kim Cash Tate

  “Don’t be silly. You didn’t brave the wind and cold trying to look cute out there for nothing. I know you need these ASAP, so soon as you know which ones you want, I’m on it.”

  “Really?” Becca was smiling. “You’re a gem, Patti. Okay—”

  Her phone beeped, and she looked at it. “Hey, Patti, that’s my agent. I’ll call you . . . Okay.” She clicked to take the call. “Nick, hi, I’m about to take off. Hope you’ve got good news.”

  “Would a two-book contract fall under ‘good news’?” His voice brimmed with excitement. “They loved our proposal.”

  “Get out of here!” She was whispering, but the enthusiasm was unmistakable. “Two-book contract? Did they say they loved it, or are you saying they loved it?”

  “Talked to the main editor who handles Worth & Purpose’s speakers, and those were her words—‘I love it.’ ”

  “Get out of here!”

  “All electronics need to be powered off at this time . . .”

  Becca bowed her head behind the seat. “We’ve got so much to talk about! I have to tell you about the planning meeting today with Worth & Purpose too.”

  “Call me when you can, even if it’s Christmas. I never take off.”

  “You’re the one who made me a workaholic. You’re a bad influence.” She saw the flight attendant coming toward her. “Okay, gotta go.”

  Becca powered off her phone and iPad, tucked them into her bag, and sank into her seat—then came forward suddenly again. She’d forgotten to call Todd. Ugh.

  Things were already a tad strained between them. News of his dad’s death had rocked him, and he’d wanted the family to drive to Hope Springs the next day. Any other time Becca would’ve done all she could to be there for him. She knew how close he’d been to his father. But the timing couldn’t have been worse.

  Patti had squeezed Becca into her schedule on short notice, and she needed those pictures right away. And the meeting in Nashville was easily the most exciting event of her life—spending the morning with some of the heaviest hitters in women’s ministry, talking through her ideas for the conference. The speaking team had already had their planning meeting a month ago, but one of the speakers had to bow out due to pregnancy complications requiring bed rest. They’d contacted Becca three weeks ago and invited her to come on board. Given the upcoming holidays, she had the option of meeting in person or, if time didn’t permit, by conference call. She’d jumped at the chance to meet at their offices and had been giddy ever since—until her father-in-law’s death . . . and the funeral planned for the same day as her meeting.

  Todd had thought it an easy matter. “Can’t you contact Worth & Purpose to see if they’ll reschedule?” he asked. But Becca chafed. She was the new kid on the block. How would it look if she asked the leadership team to switch gears at the last minute? Plus—and she knew it deep down—she didn’t want to reschedule. So she asked if the funeral could be set for the afternoon. That way, she could make it after her meeting.

  Still, she’d missed the wake the night before. And every day she’d spoken to him, something in his voice let her know that her presence the entire week had been missed. She felt bad that she wasn’t with him in Hope Springs. Actually, she felt bad that she’d been enjoying her week. But now she had meant to switch focus, turn all of her attention to Todd, beginning with a call to let him know her flight was on time and she’d definitely be there. How could she have forgotten?

  Becca sighed as the plane took off after a long taxi down the runway. She let her eyes close, and her mind couldn’t help but drift back to the morning she’d had. She’d been praying and working toward this level of platform for what seemed like the longest time. And it was finally here. As the plane taxied and took off, she thanked God for opening doors that only He could’ve opened.

  “Excuse me for eavesdropping.”

  Becca opened her eyes again. It was the woman sitting next to her.

  “I heard you mention Worth & Purpose. Do you work for them? I went to the conference in Huntsville last year and loved it.”

  “Oh, I’m actually one of the speakers for the upcoming year.” Becca wondered if the excitement of being affiliated with Worth & Purpose would ever get old.

  “Wow, really?” The woman looked more closely at Becca. “I’m honored to meet you.”

  Becca smiled. “I’m honored to meet you too. I’m Becca Dillon, by the way.”

  “A bunch of us from church are road-tripping again to Huntsville to see you guys in about a month. Will you be there?”

  “That’s actually the first gathering of the new season. I won’t be speaking at that one, but I’ll be there.”

  “Well, I’ll be praying for you.”

  “That means a lot. Thank you.” Becca extended her hand. “And tell me your name.”

  “Name’s Judy.” The woman shook Becca’s hand.

  “Thank you so much, Judy. I appreciate your prayers.”

  Becca sank into her seat again. She’d gotten up early to fly to the meeting and would have loved to catch up on sleep, but there was way too much swirling in her mind. She reached down and pulled a notepad out of her bag. They loved her proposal! She was so excited she wanted to work on the first chapter.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  You know what, Lindell? You’re not allowed to drive anywhere else, ever again.”

  Stephanie looked out the window of the rental car as Lindell parallel parked, her gaze toward the white-steepled church up the street with all the people heading inside. “I really can’t believe this. We should’ve been in Hope Springs two hours ago.”

  “I didn’t get us that lost.” Lindell shifted into park and turned off the engine.

  Stephanie blank-stared him. “Wow.”

  Lindell opened his door and Stephanie followed, taking quick strides along the sidewalk that paralleled the long line of cars along the street.

  “I didn’t even want to come to the funeral.” Stephanie stared ahead. “But if I’m gonna come, could I not be wearing jeans? This is so embarrassing.”

  “Babe, I told you we could’ve changed at the house. Wouldn’t have mattered if we were ten minutes late.”

  They’d gone by Grandma Geri’s house first. Only a teenage cousin was there, who was babysitting the smaller kids. She’d given them directions to the church.

  She held up a hand. “Lindell, I just . . . can’t. You have no idea.”

  It’s not a big deal, Stephanie. Let it go and be nice. It’s not like Lindell got lost on purpose.

  Stephanie huffed. Lord, You don’t let me get away with anything anymore. Can’t I enjoy a good attitude for a few minutes?

  And why was God in cahoots with her sister? The voice in her head always sounded exactly like Cyd’s.

  She peeked at Lindell as they neared the church. “Sorry.”

  He moved his head closer. “Did you say something?”

  She cleared her throat. “I said . . . sorry . . . for getting so upset.”

  Lindell put an arm around her. “It’s all right, babe. I was frustrated too.”

  There was a line outside the church. They walked up and took their place behind an older couple.

  Seconds later she heard, “Stephanie! Is that you?”

  Stephanie saw someone farther up in line looking back at her. “Janelle? And Libby!”

  Her cousins got out of line—along with a guy she didn’t know—and came back and joined them. She gave them both big hugs.

  “Look at you, Stephanie,” Libby said. “You look good! Love your hair. So thick and pretty.”

  “Thanks, girl, but I’m about to get the fly short cut like you. That is fresh.”

  She spied Lindell’s raised eyebrows over that idea.

  “You and Janelle look good too,” she said. “Amazing how much you still look the same.”

  “So do you,” Libby said.

  Stephanie swatted away the comment. “No need to be kind. I didn’t have to wear Spanx last time you saw me.”<
br />
  They laughed and turned to Lindell.

  “And this is my husband, Lindell.”

  Lindell hugged them. “I met your parents at our wedding. It’s nice to meet you two finally.”

  “I was sorry I couldn’t come,” Libby said. She turned to the guy next to her. “And this is Al. Al, Stephanie and Lindell.”

  “So what took you so long to get here?” Janelle said as they huddled together in line. “I was afraid you’d gotten lost.”

  Stephanie brought her gaze over to Lindell.

  “Uh,” Lindell said. “I thought I could wing it without the map—”

  “Even though I specifically got a map at the airport . . .”

  Quiet, Stephanie.

  Hmph.

  Lindell was still explaining. “—and somehow got on the wrong ramp and didn’t realize we were headed west.”

  “Ooh.” Janelle cringed. “Sorry to hear that.”

  Stephanie so wanted to add to the story, like how she tried to tell him he was going the wrong way. She chewed her tongue instead.

  “Pastor Jim sure was special.” Libby cast her eyes about the crowd. “Not too often everybody comes together like this.”

  “So Calvary is where Jim pastored, right?” Stephanie asked.

  “Right,” Janelle said. “And his father was the pastor here before him.”

  “But . . .” Stephanie did a double take of the surroundings. “This isn’t the church we went to when I visited, the one our parents grew up in.”

  Libby pointed down the street. “That would be New Jerusalem, couple blocks down.”

  “Got it,” Stephanie said. “New Jerusalem is the black church; Calvary’s the white church.”

  “And that’s exactly how it stays,” Janelle said. “Until there’s a funeral. Then things turn multiethnic.”

  They moved up near the entryway, and Stephanie could see that the service had already started. A handful of ushers were moving about, trying to find room for each waiting group. The pews were almost filled.

  Libby was turned sideways, able to see who was coming. She suddenly got a look in her eye and turned to Janelle. “Flash from the past.”

  Janelle looked at her. “Who?”

  Libby nodded toward the back of the line. “Kory.”

  Stephanie had no idea who Kory was, but from the look on Janelle’s face, Steph knew she’d find out soon.

  Janelle’s heart accelerated before she even laid eyes on him. She sucked in a breath, did a slight turn, saw him talking to someone, and turned back. “What’s he doing here?”

  Libby made a face. “Seriously, Jan?”

  “You know what I mean. It’s not like he was close to Pastor Jim or anything.”

  Libby shrugged. “You never know who Pastor Jim impacted. Could’ve been one conversation.”

  An usher walked past the two people waiting in front of them and leaned into Stephanie. “Grandma Geri saw you back here and asked me to come get you and your husband. We made room on the first pew.”

  Libby had a look of mock indignation. “What about us?”

  The usher smiled. “Wish we could’ve made more room near her. But you’ll be seated in two minutes.”

  Libby waved her hand. “I’m just kidding. I know Grandma couldn’t wait to see them.”

  Janelle watched Stephanie and Lindell follow the usher up a side aisle to the front, but her thoughts kept gravitating to who was behind her. She wanted to look again, but didn’t. “Is his family with him?”

  Libby shifted to scope out the scene better. “He’s with his daughter and Kevin and his family.”

  Kory’s older brother, Kevin, had married into the Sanders family—on a great-aunt’s side—when Janelle was eighteen. Janelle didn’t make the wedding, but that same summer Kory had attended the Sanders family reunion for the first time. She remembered it well, summer before college.

  “You know his wife left him, right?”

  Janelle was stunned. “Kory’s wife? Left him?”

  “Left. Him. Girl, I thought I told you.” Libby lowered her voice. “As good a man as Kory is, she left him for someone else. It’s always the nice guys who finish last.” Libby narrowed her eyes as if the woman were standing right there. “I knew she wasn’t right when he brought her to the reunion that time. Something about her.”

  Janelle remembered that summer well too, when she was twenty-six, seeing Kory with his wife for the first time, him seeing her with David . . . “I can’t believe it,” she said. “How long ago?”

  An usher came to get them, and Libby leaned over as they walked. “Earlier this year. Kevin told me at the reunion last summer.”

  The usher guided them to the left side, second to last row, and they squeezed in as others made room. The Calvary choir, robed in blue, was finishing a slow worship hymn. Todd took to the wooden podium right after.

  Libby looked at Janelle. “Todd’s bringing the message himself?”

  “I was about to ask you that.” Janelle shrugged. “I’ve never heard him speak, but he is an assistant pastor at his church.”

  Todd was staring down at his dad’s casket, now closed. He looked somber, but there was a real peace about him.

  When he looked up, he took a moment to gather his thoughts. “I remember when I was a boy, I’d come and hang out with Dad at church on Saturdays and sneak up to this very pulpit and play preacher.” He smiled. “But I never imagined standing up here for his funeral.” Todd paused, then gestured toward the front. “I couldn’t be doing this without Pastor Brooks. Most of you know he was my best friend—some might say partner in crime—growing up.”

  Soft laughter rippled through the congregation.

  “Thank you, my friend, for all you’ve done for me this week, and for the help your congregation has offered. Dad couldn’t stop telling me how pleased he was that you’re at New Jerusalem now.”

  Libby sat up in the pew and craned her neck. “I can’t see,” she complained. “He’s not talking about Travis Brooks, is he?”

  “If you called your grandmother like you should, you’d know the Hope Springs news.”

  “I know you’re not talking.”

  Janelle stifled a chuckle. “Okay, but I knew that. Pastor Richards retired, and Travis Brooks replaced him. He just moved back a few months ago.”

  Libby didn’t reply, and Janelle let her gaze drift past her cousin to see where Kory might be seated. But Todd had already started into his message, so she turned her focus to the front.

  “And the first question people are asking me,” Todd was saying, “is ‘How are you doing?’ A natural question, same question I ask others who’ve lost a loved one. What’s surprising to me, though, is that my answer keeps changing.” He looked more engaged now as he looked out among them. “First I was practically numb. I’d only talked to my dad two days before and he was fine. Then he was gone. When I got to Hope Springs and walked into an empty house, the numbness turned to sadness. I realized I hadn’t just lost a dad, but a friend, someone I talked to about life, ministry, sports.” He took a breath and let it out. “But a new feeling is coming over me, an urgency. I don’t know . . .”

  He looked as if he were searching for words, discovering for himself whatever was unfolding in his heart.

  “There are times in our lives—times like this—when we get an up-close look at death, and it reminds us of our own mortality.” Todd stepped out from behind the podium. “The question is, what are we going to do with that close-up view? How will it affect us?” He paused. “Know how it’s affecting me right now?”

  “Come on, son,” an older member of New Jerusalem urged. “Let the Lord use you.”

  “It’s starting to energize me,” Todd said. “I know the work my dad did at this church and in this town. I know he impacted a lot of lives. He used the time God gave him faithfully. I want to take hold of that legacy and do the same. I want to live the rest of my life full-out, all for God, holding nothing back.”

  “Amen,”
said someone near them. A few people had taken to their feet, all New Jerusalem members.

  Todd’s eyes filled with passion. “Anybody else feel like you’ve been dragging through life, going through the motions? Come on! Why not live on fire for Jesus?”

  Was that what she’d been doing? Janelle wondered. Dragging through life? David’s death had had the opposite effect on her. Instead of turning toward God, she’d shied away. She’d kept going to church, mostly because of the kids, but her faith had taken a beating as she struggled to understand why God would take her husband in the prime of their lives.

  She closed her eyes and continued listening to Todd even as prayers bubbled up on the inside. Lord, I need You. I need You to fill the empty spaces David left.

  Todd shared the gospel at the end of his message, inviting people forward as the New Jerusalem choir sang. After Travis’s closing prayer, the pallbearers lifted the casket and led the procession out. Libby’s dad was one of them. Uncle Wood and Pastor Jim had spent many a day roaming those woods by their homes as rough-and-tumble boys.

  Todd, his kids, and Pastor Jim’s two older siblings filed slowly out, with the rest of the church following pew by pew. Weird . . . wasn’t Becca supposed to be here by now?

  Their row began moving, and Janelle suddenly spotted Kory in the back of the church. She felt awkward, unsure what to say, yet unable to avoid him. Calvary Church had one exit and he was standing right beside it.

  Janelle struck up a conversation with family members as the group moved toward the double glass doors. They were all gathered around Stephanie, since so many hadn’t seen her in a long time. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kevin head out with his family and Kory’s daughter, while Kory remained. She wasn’t sure if she was the reason until she got closer and he touched her arm.

  “Janelle.”

  She turned and looked into his eyes. “Kory. Hi.”

  “I didn’t know you’d be here,” he said.

  His voice was the same; that was her first thought. As if it would change. Her second thought was that he still had that same aura that awakened all of her senses.