The Color of Hope - By Kim Tate Page 0,3

be assembled,” Libby said. “Can’t wait to see you!”

“You too, girl.”

Stephanie hung up and glanced at Cyd, who appeared contemplative.

“You mentioned Travis,” Cyd said. “I was just thinking how challenging it must be to be a pastor in Hope Springs right now.”

“Gee, thanks,” Stephanie said. “Just when my mood lightens a little, you remind me of another downside to this move—the churches.”

“I wouldn’t call it a downside.” Cyd was still pondering. “I actually think it’s kind of exciting.”

Stephanie frowned at her. “So . . . members of New Jerusalem and Calvary Church are complaining about a once-a-month joint service because they don’t want to worship together.” She gestured around them. “We happened to have grown up in this multiethnic church. Tell me what’s exciting about stepping back into the sixties.”

“But look what’s happened there in just the last year. God switched up the leadership at both churches, bringing Todd and Travis back to pastor. Janelle just moved back and was instrumental in coming up with the joint service. And now you’re moving down.” Cyd nodded, clearly piecing it together in her mind. “There will always be people who resist change, but it’s still exciting when God is at work. Who knows? Maybe this is why you’re moving, to play a role in all of this.”

“In the church thing?” Stephanie said. “I doubt it. I’ve never been active in anything churchwise.”

“Doesn’t mean you won’t. You’re more of a leader than you know.”

Stephanie smirked at her sister. “I still think the whole move is crazy.”

Cyd smiled. “Maybe crazy is just what Hope Springs needs.”

CHAPTER TWO

Thursday, July 29

Libby took the Hope Springs exit early Thursday morning, her mind loaded with things to do, the first being, “Kick yourself for agreeing to oversee this reunion.”

Her dad, Wood, and his twin sister, Estelle, had helmed it for decades. They’d begun planning this one as well, sending out notices to family members of the date and reserving a block of hotel rooms in Rocky Mount. But they lived out of state and had wanted for some time to pass the planning duties to the next generation. And when Libby pulled together a last-minute celebration of Grandma Geri’s eighty-seventh birthday last spring, the prodding to take the reins of the annual reunion became unavoidable.

Her dad and Aunt Estelle had promised to stay in the mix, but once Libby got going, her ideas took on a life of their own. Planning was in her blood. And while she loved what those ideas had produced, the reunion as a whole had sucked too much time away from her real job—especially this week. She’d taken the entire week off, going back and forth between her apartment in Raleigh and Hope Springs.

She turned down Grandma Geri’s street, catching herself for still thinking of it that way. But how could she not? That’s how she’d thought of it all her life. It would take a long time to get used to walking through the door of the family home and seeing Janelle and Stephanie living there instead of Grandma Geri.

Her foot tapped the brake a little as she approached Travis’s place, and the butterflies swirled. They always swirled when she passed his house. She glanced over and saw the door ajar, with only the outer screen in place. Probably about to take his morning jog. Or maybe her cousin Marcus was up and about. To her surprise, the two of them had forged a tight bond after reconnecting at Grandma Geri’s party. Marcus had asked Travis to mentor him spiritually, and Travis took it seriously. Next thing Libby knew, Marcus had been hired for a position at Hope Springs High and was staying with Travis until he got his own place.

Just as Libby realized her car had stalled, Travis opened the screen door and walked out, clad in Duke shorts and a T-shirt, arm muscles clearly defined. He looked even better than when they’d dated in college, though she wasn’t sure what to think about that. Finding out he’d become a pastor had thrown off her equilibrium where he was concerned—and she hadn’t quite gained it back.

“Good morning!” He was smiling. Always that smile. “You were stopping to say hello, right?”

He often chided her for driving past his house to get to her grandmother’s and never stopping by. She smiled back. “Yeah, that’s it. I was stopping to say hello.”

He laughed. “Now that you told that lie, you have to stop.”

She pulled into the driveway behind his SUV and felt her heart