An awkward silence descended. Charley was finding this a little harder than she thought.
“Marcus, I want to give you some Willoughby family history,” Skip said. “We value family very highly. My wife and I raised Charley’s dad in such a way that he respected our opinion, sought our counsel, and even sought our input on whom he should date.” Skip gestured toward Charley’s mom. “Dottie was a natural choice because we knew her parents. They were good friends, rest their souls.”
Her mom nodded reverently.
“Charley was raised that same way,” Skip continued. “We were longtime friends with the parents of the young man she was engaged to. And although that didn’t work out—scoundrel that he turned out to be—we still intend to play a part in helping Charley choose whom she will bring into this family, which of necessity starts with whom she will date.”
Skip paused, but it was clear he wasn’t done.
“I respect that you seem to be a hardworking, churchgoing young man,” Skip said, “but the fact is, we don’t know you or your family.”
“What?” Charley was incredulous. “Mom just said she knows his mother and the rest of his family.”
“Charley, that was eons ago,” Dottie said. “I haven’t seen them in years.”
“Well, I can’t give my blessing to this,” Skip said. “Frankly, you scared me when you first walked in. I thought you were about to announce an engagement.”
Charley felt an incredible letdown. “What about you, Mom?” She looked at her. “Are you supportive?”
“Did you two talk to Marcus’s parents?” Dottie asked. “I’m curious as to what they said, Marcus.”
Marcus glanced at Charley. “My dad wasn’t there, but we talked to my mom. She had her reservations.”
“See, that’s interesting,” Dottie said. “I admit I have my reservations as well. Maybe it’s our generation. Maybe we’re a little wiser from all we’ve seen in this town.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, but it’s hard to be supportive of this. I have to agree with your grandfather.”
Charley stood, reaching for Marcus’s hand. He stood with her.
“It makes me sad that I don’t have your support,” she said. “I don’t know if Marcus and I will last a week, a month, or a lifetime. I just know we’ve decided God’s opinion matters most. And we can’t think of anything He doesn’t approve about our relationship.”
They walked out of the room, her family following.
Charley turned. “I’m glad we talked to our families at this early stage, so we’d know where we stand. I just ask that you’d be willing to pray about this and see if your heart is God’s heart.”
Skip folded his arms. “Charley, as the head of this family, I have to tell you that this isn’t over. I have to look out for your best interests.”
Charley and Marcus walked out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Tuesday, August 17
Stephanie and Sam entered the side door, shopping bags in hand. They lugged them into the kitchen, but no one was there.
“Hey, Janelle, where are you?” Stephanie called.
“You’re back?” Janelle said. “I’m in the bedroom. Come in here.”
Sam was excited. “Wait till she sees,” she said.
They passed Daniel and Tiffany’s room, where Daniel was at a desk doing homework.
Stephanie looked over her shoulder at Sam. “That’s probably what you needed to be doing tonight instead of shopping. I should’ve asked you.”
“No worries,” Sam said. “I didn’t have a lot of homework today. Plus, I get a lot done in study hall.”
Janelle was ironing the kids’ clothes, with Tiffany spread across the bed doing a worksheet.
Sam dropped her bags on the floor, looking at Tiffany. “You’ve got homework in kindergarten?”
Tiffany sighed, head propped on her elbow. “I finished that as soon as I got home. This is Mommy’s work.”
Janelle chimed in, “The class is learning the alphabet, but Tiff was already working on reading and writing, so I make sure she keeps moving from where she was.”
Sam took a closer look. “Nice penmanship,” she said. “And I like the way you drew that cat next to the word.”
Tiffany beamed. “Thanks.” She looked at her mother. “Mommy, can I take a break and play with Sam?”
“Y’all love playing with Sam,” Stephanie said. “What’s up with that?”
Sam had come over on Saturday and stayed much longer than she’d planned because Tiffany, Claire, and Dee were having such a good time with her.
Janelle laid aside a shirt she’d ironed and picked up another from a pile. “You’re almost done, and anyway, Sam’s about to show me what she got. You can play with her in a minute . . . if she’s upfor it.”
“If I’m up for it?” Sam said. “Question is whether Tiffany’s up for it. I think the piggyback rides were too much for her last time.”
“No, they weren’t.” Tiffany sat up, shaking her head. “It was fun! Can we do it again? We can go get Claire too.”
Sam had a tentative look. “Well, only if you think you can take it. I’m going super fast this time.”
Tiffany’s eyes got wide. “This is gonna be so wild.” She hunkered back down. “Okay, let me hurry up and finish.”
“Do it neatly, Tiff.”
She didn’t look up. “Yes, Mommy.”
Janelle set the iron down and smiled at Sam. “So show me the goods. Looks like the outing was fruitful.”
“Miss Stephanie went kind of crazy,” Sam said.
“Did not.” Stephanie pushed her two shopping bags behind her legs. “There was just a super abundance of cute things—plus a super sale—so it only made sense to take advantage of it.”
Sam nodded with excitement. “Yeah. Turns out they reduce the prices even more after the back-to-school sales. I told Miss Stephanie she was like an angel. Felt like a thousand Christmases wrapped up in one.”
Sam had come over for dinner, and Stephanie gently asked if she’d had a chance to do any school shopping. Sam said no, that her clothes had gotten too small, but her mom couldn’t afford to buy anything new. So Stephanie had pulled Lindell aside and asked if she could take her shopping for maybe two pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts. She may have gone a tad beyond that.
Sam was digging in one of the shopping bags. “Check this out, Miss Janelle.” She held them up. “I’ve never had capris before, and I got three pair. Aren’t these olive green ones pretty?”
“I love that color,” Janelle said. “Try ‘em on so I can see.”
Sam’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yeah, and put on one of your new shirts with it.”
“Ooh, that’s the other thing,” Sam said. “They had graphic tees on sale—”
“Girl, five dollars each,” Stephanie told Janelle. “Crazy.”
Sam was laughing. “And Miss Stephanie was grabbing tees she liked, and then she stopped and said, ‘Oh. I guess I should ask if you like this.’” She extended her arms like it was a no-brainer. “I was like, are you kidding?” She rummaged around in the bag. “There’s a really cute one that says Peace, one that has Hope, and another one that has Love.” She rummaged around in the bag. “I’ll try the Love one on with the capris.”
She started changing, and Stephanie and Janelle exchanged glances. They’d already marveled about it on Saturday, how Sam was coming out of her shell around them, talking more, laughing. It warmed Stephanie’s heart. She’d never had a relationship like this, where she was pouring into someone else—where she wanted to.
“Ta-da!”
Janelle turned. “Sam, you look so cute! Those colors really look good on you.”
Tiffany jumped off the bed to take a good look. “Kinda matches your eyes. They’re so pretty.”
“Really?” Sam said. “Thanks, Tiff.” She went and dug in the bag, holding up another shirt. “This red one is my favorite.”
“Yeah, learned something
new about Miss Sam,” Stephanie said. “Girl loves red.”
“I’m not surprised,” Janelle said. “It’s bright and pretty, just like Sam.”
“Can we go get Claire to play piggyback now?” Tiffany said.
“Sam’s still showing us her clothes,” Janelle said.
“I can finish that when we’re done playing, if that’s okay,” Sam said.
Janelle smiled. “Of course. I appreciate your willingness to play with the girls.”
Sam shrugged. “I love it. They take you as you are.” She looked at Tiffany. “Let me change out of these clothes, and I’ll be ready.”
The doorbell rang then, and Stephanie and Janelle glanced at each other.
“Wonder who that is,” Stephanie said. Almost everyone simply walked into the Sanders house.
They both went to see, leaving Tiffany and Sam.
Janelle opened the door. “It’s Trina. Hey, girl, come on in.”
Trina walked in. “Hey, glad I caught you both home.”
Stephanie hugged her. “Come on in. Can I get you something to drink?” She eyed her. “See, I’m still practicing my hospitality.”
Trina laughed. “I don’t need anything, but I’m proud of you. I’m not doing too good with patience this week.”
“We won’t even go there,” Stephanie said.
Janelle ushered her into the family room.
“Okay, what am I forgetting?” Stephanie sat on the sofa. “Wednesday night is Bible study, Thursday is Soul Sisters. What brings you to Hope Springs on a Tuesday?”
Trina’s smile was bright. “I was helping Travis and Marcus clean up over there.”
Stephanie didn’t look at Janelle, only because she was dying to.
“They’re hilarious,” Janelle said. “We told them we wouldn’t help because they needed to learn to do it themselves. And they went and got help anyway.”
“Sorry. If I had known, I would’ve surely held the party line.” Trina took a seat. “Travis and I are about to grab dinner, but he had to make some calls first. So I thought I’d duck in and say hey.”
The sound of heavy feet and loud screams came at them suddenly. Sam came barreling into the family room with Tiffany on her back, ran around the perimeter and back out, zooming down the hall.
Janelle turned to Trina. “This is how we wind down before bed around here.”
“Ah, I’ll have to remember that for when I have my own kids.” Trina smiled when they heard another stampede in a different part of the house. “You know, I’m sure I’ve heard you two mention it, but I didn’t realize until today that your family grew up right next to Pastor Todd’s family, and Travis was right up the street. There’s so much history.”
Stephanie nodded. “There really is. I missed a lot, living so far away in St. Louis. But Janelle knows everything about everything when it comes to the Sanders family.”
“Not me,” Janelle said. “Libby’s the one, because she lived down here.”
“Oh,” Trina said. “Libby probably told you we saw her in Raleigh two Saturdays ago.”
This time Stephanie had to glance quickly at Janelle. “Where’d you see Libby?” she asked.
“At Mama Jay’s.”
“I keep hearing about that place,” Stephanie said. “How’d you like it, Trina?”
“It lived up to the hype. I had the catfish, which was so good, and I tasted some of Travis’s jerk chicken—it was hot but really good.”
A quick knock sounded, and Travis walked in. “How’s everybody to—whoa!”
Sam was galloping through again, bellowing, “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!”—her horse a little wobbly as she almost ran Travis over.
“Sorry,” Sam yelled, galloping on.
Travis watched them disappear into the next room. “Who was that young lady?”
“She was one of my students in study hall,” Stephanie said.
“And she came to Soul Sisters,” Trina added. “Really sweet girl.”
Trina’s phone rang, and she checked it. “Work. I’ve got to get this.” She got up, looking at Travis. “Meet you outside?”
“Okay,” he said.
“See you guys tomorrow night.” Trina waved bye as she answered her cell and walked out.
Janelle and Stephanie stared at Travis.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing,” Janelle sang.
“Spill it.”
“I just find it interesting,” Janelle said, “that I’ve been working with you for several days now, and you never mentioned running into Libby at Mama Jay’s.”
“There was no need. I knew she’d tell you.”
Janelle looked up at him. “Actually, she didn’t. I haven’t talked to her.”
“At all?”
“Nope,” Janelle said. “She hasn’t returned my calls. What about you? Have you talked to her?”
“No. She texted me once I left Mama Jay’s and let me have it for bringing my ‘girlfriend’ to her favorite restaurant.”
“I imagine she was hurt, Travis,” Janelle said. “Of all the restaurants you could’ve chosen . . . I think she gets carryout from there every weekend.”
“I felt bad,” he said. “I wanted to call her when I got home, but it would’ve only made things worse.” He sighed. “I’m resolved that I need to give Libby her space. She can do her thing in her world, and I’ll do mine.”
Janelle’s gaze drifted toward the door. “You know it’s not easy for me.”
Travis only looked at her and waited.
“Trina’s my Soul Sister and a great person, and there are so many reasons to be glad the two of you are connecting.” She paused. “But I so want Libby to see the light—I’ve prayed for that—because I think both of you, deep in your hearts, feel deeply for one another.”
“Keep praying for Libby, Janelle.” Travis backed toward the door. “I’m committed to doing the same. But I can’t dream about what she might hopefully be one day.” He opened it. “I have to live my life in the now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Friday, August 20
The door buzzer startled Libby from her work early Friday evening. She wasn’t expecting anyone and was inclined to ignore it—probably the boy from several units over selling something again—but then she heard, “Libby, you in there? Open up.”
Omar. He’d gone a week and a half without calling. Then Wednesday he’d left a voice mail, and again this morning, plus a handful of texts.
He knocked hard this time. “Libby, if you’re in there, open the door. I’m worried about you.”
She sighed, rising from the dining room table. In her duplex-style apartment, she had only two other neighbors close enough to hear, but they paid attention to everything. If she didn’t answer, they’d start calling and stopping by to make sure she was okay.
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