Charley was sure she could hear her heart hammering.
“Whenever I see myself with someone, it’s a black woman. That’s what I happen to prefer. Is that wrong?”
“Marcus, I thought you were bringing me my purse!”
The sound of Aunt Gladys’s voice startled Charley, causing her to step back—and into the door. She headed quickly into the living room, realizing she still needed her bag. Her feet kept moving anyway. She’d get it tomorrow. She just needed to get out of—
Someone grabbed her hand and turned her around, and she wished her heart hadn’t fluttered. Marcus.
“Please tell me you didn’t hear that,” he said.
“I heard enough.”
He sighed. “I didn’t mean—”
“There’s nothing to say, Marcus. Really. Everything’s cool.”
He looked at her. “But I can’t leave it like this, Charley.” He tried to make eye contact, to no avail. “Can we talk a few minutes? We could go for a walk.”
Charley tried to stifle her emotions. He had no clue what she’d been feeling all weekend, so no clue how much it hurt. She needed to keep it that way.
She shrugged. “Sure, I’ve got a few minutes.” She turned slightly toward the back door, and he opened it, holding it as she walked past.
They moved through pockets of people, out of the lighted backyard, and up the street. They’d never had a moment alone like this, and Charley’s senses were on hyper alert—aware of his slow gait, the fresh scent from his shower, the brush of his arm when he drifted too close. Why now was she feeling drawn to him more than ever? What a joke.
“This is so awkward,” Marcus said. “I’m really sorry. I never would’ve said that if—”
Charley held up a hand. “Marcus, I know. And please, you don’t have to apologize. I think we all have a certain image in our heads of our ideal mate.”
He walked in silence a few feet. “But as soon as I said it, I was sort of convicted.” He paused. “Just last night I was telling you God has me thinking differently about relationships. So it hit me, Am I thinking like God wants me to think, or like I was raised to think?
She glanced at him. “How were you raised to think?”
“You want me to be frank?”
Charley nodded.
“Mom always said, ‘Don’t bring home no white girl, especially not one with blond hair and blue eyes.’”
Charley felt a stab. “Aunt Gladys said that? But she’s been so nice to me.”
“It’s not that she doesn’t like white people. It’s just, when it comes to marriage . . .” He turned toward her. “Your parents never said anything to you about interracial dating?”
“There was never a reason to,” she said. “They promoted a relationship with Jake from the time I was young.” She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know what my mom would think.”
He looked at her. “What about you?”
“It’s not on the list of what’s important to me. Maybe that’s unrealistic, I don’t know.”
They rounded the bend and continued on for several yards, passing Travis’s house.
“What is important to you?”
“That he have a heart for God. That’s my main thing right now.”
They walked in silence awhile.
Charley paused in the middle of the street. “I’d better start back. I have a lot to do in the morning, especially now that I’ve got a new position to think about.”
“Which I’m still really excited about. But . . . I feel like the dynamic has changed between us.”
“Not really.” She started a slow trek back to the house. “Just maybe back to the way it was before Friday night.”
“But why? I feel like we became friends this weekend. How did the conversation with Stephanie change things?”
Charley couldn’t think of a quick answer, not one she wanted to reveal, anyway.
He stopped walking. “Charley, seriously, I’m trying to understand. We’re not friends now? It’s not like I said anything negative about you. I said I liked you.”
She laughed a little, but it held no humor. “Yeah, like a sister. But if I were black . . .” She cringed the moment it came out of her mouth. “Forget I said that. I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
She walked a little faster than before, with Marcus keeping pace, silent. She almost wished he would defy her, keep talking. Part of her wanted to know more of what he was thinking, more about those words to Stephanie. “Maybe you did detect a little something.”
But her saner self was raising the professional wall, hoping they never broached this subject again.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Thursday, August 5
It might’ve taken a couple of days longer than expected, but by Thursday, after the dust from the reunion had cleared, everyone had gone, and she’d sufficiently caught up on sleep, it hit Stephanie—Hope Springs was home.
No carryout on Friday nights from her favorite local restaurants. No radio stations she had any interest in hearing. No department or boutique stores a mile away to drop in on when she was happy, sad, or mad—or Smoothie King or Ted Drewes frozen custard. And no impromptu visits with her parents or Cyd and Cedric. But she had a new normal she was enjoying—daytime kitchen table chats with Janelle and Becca.
Except “enjoy” might not be the best word for today. They were a little on edge, awaiting Todd’s return from a meeting with his elder board.
“It’s been two hours,” Stephanie said. “How much could there have been to say?”
Becca sipped some sweet tea. “Maybe lots. Todd said he’d never heard Skip so angry. I’ve been really praying for God to take control of that meeting. Nothing good comes from anger.”
Janelle looked over her shoulder from the sink. “I’ve been praying too. This is such a pivotal time.” She sprayed one of the dishes from lunch and put it in the rack. “I can’t get that newspaper article out of my mind. When you think about where this town has been and where we are today, there’s been significant change . . . everywhere but the church. That’s crazy.”
“It’s been weighing on Todd’s mind too,” Becca said. “Gave him a different perspective as to why it was so hard for his dad and your Aunt Gwynn to be together. Things were really ugly back then.”
“And we’re still experiencing the effects all these decades later,” Stephanie said. “I knew nothing could get Aunt Gwynn to the reunion, but I thought for sure Keisha would come.”
“Me too,” Janelle said. “But at the same time, I can see why she didn’t. She was overwhelmed at Grandma’s funeral, inundated with questions about who she is and how she fits in the family.” She rinsed a glass. “People meant well, but who wants to go through that? I hope she was serious about finding another time to come when she can just visit with us.”
“Todd’s hoping for that too,” Becca said.
The screen on the side door slammed and lots of little feet came pattering inside. Claire, Tiffany, and Dee had been running around outside, but now they stood shoulder to shoulder before the grownups, grinning.
Janelle and Becca cast an amused glance at one another, waiting.
“Mom, we have a fabulous idea.” Tiffany looked at the others, as if wondering how she should share this wonderful news. “You know how me and Claire are starting kindergarten at Hope Springs Elementary Monday?”
Janelle sat down at the table. “Yes, in fact, I do.”
“Well . . .” Tiffany smiled at the others. “You say it, Dee.”
Dee looked tentative. “We were wondering . . . since I’m starting kindergarten too . . . if I could go to school with Tiffany and Claire.”
“Oh, I love that you girls want to go to school together,” Janelle said. “But, Dee, sweetie, you live in Rocky Mount, and you have to go to the school in your neighborhood.”
Dee pouted. “But I don’t want to go to that school. I want to be with my friends.”
“I’ve got another idea, Miss
Janelle!” Claire said. “You and Mr. Kory could get married, like, today. Then he and Dee could move in, they’d be living here, and she could go to school with us.” She grinned at her solution.
Becca looked at her daughter. “Claire, you’re—”
“Oh, could you?” Dee was all over it. “Can you ask Daddy?”
Janelle was smiling. “Dee, as soon as your daddy gets here after work, I promise I will ask him if we can get married today so you two can move in.”
“Yayyy!” the girls said, running back out.
“Don’t slam the screen door,” Becca called. “Ethan is taking a—”
It shut with a loud clap.
“Just think,” Janelle said, “this time next week our little girls will be in a classroom.”
“It’s really hard to believe,” Becca said.
“So much will look different around here next week,” Stephanie said. “The kids will be in school, Lindell will be in Haiti, Janelle starts her job”—she looked at her cousin—“which should be pretty cool.”
“It’s only part-time, but I’m kind of nervous,” Janelle said. “It’s been so long since I’ve been accountable to anyone on a job.”
Stephanie tossed her a look. “Oh yeah, and you’ve got such a mean boss.”
“That part is pretty cool,” Janelle said. “I’m gonna love being Travis’s assistant.”
“Executive assistant,” Becca added. “You two know each other so well. It’ll be a great fit.”
“Only problem is I don’t know how long I can do it. Kory and I haven’t set a date yet”—she smiled—“assuming it won’t be today. And we haven’t talked about whether we’ll live in Rocky Mount, Hope Springs, or someplace else.”
“What?” Stephanie looked at her like she was crazy. “Y’all better live in Hope Springs. Don’t play with me.”
Janelle laughed. “That’ll be my vote. Anyway, I think I’m more excited about your job than mine, Steph.”
“Girrrl, I think I lost my mind. Did I really tell Marcus I’d do it?” She aimed a finger at them both. “One of you drugged me.”
“I think it will be perfect for you,” Becca said. “I’m already praying.”
“On that we agree,” Stephanie said. “I’ll need tons of prayer. Shoot, if I’m gonna substitute teach, I should’ve asked whether they needed anyone at the elementary school. That’s more my speed.” She thought about it. “Nah. They’re both treacherous.”
“Did Marcus say where you’d be assigned?” Janelle asked.
“Not yet. But I said don’t give me math or science . . . or history . . . or English . . . or home ec . . .”
Janelle threw a napkin at her. “I will rejoice as God uses you in ways you haven’t even imagined.”
The screen door opened again, and heavier feet made their way into the kitchen. Stephanie expected to see Todd, but Travis walked in with him. None of the women said anything. They looked, and waited.
Todd and Travis pulled out chairs and sat, looking somber, unhurried. After a few seconds Todd sat back and cleared his throat.
“You may as well all hear this at once,” Todd said. “There won’t be any more joint services.”
The women all spoke at once.
“What?”
“Why not?”
“Honey, what happened?”
“I won’t get into everything that was said in the elder meeting,” Todd said. “But the bottom line is that Calvary was being cast in a bad light. Although there were members of both churches who opposed the service—for various reasons—that newspaper clearly had an agenda to paint certain Calvary members as racially prejudiced. In particular, Skip Willoughby. I didn’t like the tone when I read it, and Skip was understandably incensed.”
Todd stared downward for a moment, then looked back at them. “He reminded me that I was hired to shepherd Calvary, and to carry on the tradition of my father and grandfather to uphold its standing in the community. I can’t be a Lone Ranger, going against my elder board, men who are in place to help guide me and the church.” He sighed. “I agreed it would be best to forgo any more joint services for now. My focus will be on Calvary alone.”
Stephanie was sure Janelle and Becca were as stunned as she. No one jumped to speak. Which wasn’t to say that Stephanie had no response. There was a lot she could say.
“Todd . . .” Becca paused, taking her time. “I honestly don’t think you were being a Lone Ranger. There were a lot of people from Calvary at those first three services. I think they succumbed to the pressure of a small few who opposed it.” She quickly added, “But even if you were being a Lone Ranger, you prayed long and hard about this. You felt convicted to make a change as you studied the Word. As a leader, sometimes you have to go it alone if it’s God’s will.”
“Becca, you really can’t,” Todd said, “not when you’ve got a hierarchy to answer to, and this one’s got a lot of history behind it. Skip’s been on the elder board for decades. If I go it alone, they’ll just fire me.”
“Todd, I have a question,” Janelle said. “I get that you were hired to shepherd Calvary—but the part about being hired to carry on tradition and uphold the church’s standing in the community . . . where is that in the Bible?”
“Actually, Scripture says for the sake of tradition, people neglect the commandments of God.” Travis was subdued. “But I said I’d keep quiet. Todd is already mad at me.”
“I don’t know why you keep saying that,” Todd said. “We just agreed to disagree, that’s all.”
The women glanced between them, waiting.
“Go on and tell them,” Todd said. “We’re all family here.”
Travis leaned forward. “I just asked Todd, what if Skip Willoughby’s objections are in fact about racial prejudice? It’s not much of a stretch, given his history. I just wanted to know how that would affect Todd’s decision.”
“And I said we can’t hold people’s pasts against them,” Todd said. “There are many people who held to certain beliefs and attitudes in the sixties who’ve changed. That’s what forgiveness in Christ is about.” His eyes were weary.
“Okay,” Travis said, “but you haven’t answered my question.”
Todd steepled his fingers and sighed. “I can’t go there. I don’t even want to assume one of my elders could think that way.”
Silence descended on the room.
“We’ve got Soul Sisters tonight,” Becca said. “They’ve been praying every week from the beginning about this. Can we update them?”
“Sure,” Todd said. “It’s no secret. The joint worship service on first Sundays is no more.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Saturday, August 7
Travis was beginning to think he and Trina had lingered too long. It had seemed like an innocuous enough outing. He’d run into her at church as he was putting the final touches on his message for tomorrow. She’d come to make copies of a flyer for the choir picnic. A gourmet cook, she liked to tease him by asking his plans for dinner. As usual, he had none, and she admitted the same, so it seemed like no big deal when she said they should grab a bite.
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