Hope Springs (34 page)

She looked deep into his eyes. “It's a date, Mr. Miller.”

He lifted her off the ground in an embrace. “I don't think I've ever been this happy about a
date
.”

She continued gazing into his eyes as he lowered her slowly to the ground, his arms locked tight around her. Their faces touched, and she knew if she closed her eyes she'd be lost in his embrace. Lost in the feeling of a kiss she'd known only once . . . and had never forgotten.

So she kept her eyes open and took a small step back, grabbing his hand instead. She would save the kiss. For their first date.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Sunday, February 7

J
anelle, it's not a big deal if I stay at the house.”

“And it's not a big deal if you wear those jeans to church.”

Libby plopped on the sofa and clicked the remote to catch the Sunday news programs. Janelle walked to the television and turned it off.

“Janelle, please. Get in the car. Go to church. Leave me in peace.”

“But you're not listening to me,” Janelle said. She sat next to her. “You said you would go if you had brought the right clothes, and I'm telling you it doesn't matter. I think it's awesome you want to go. Don't let something like that stop you.”

“Want to go
is an exaggeration. I said I was
willing
to go, and only because Grandma is finally up to going and said she wanted all her granddaughters to go too. I thought it would be nice to give her that, but then I realized I didn't have any clothes.”

“People wear jeans all the time to my church in Maryland.”

Libby looked at her. “Huh. Funny you're wearing a skirt today. Oh”—she sat forward and flung open her hands—“because you're not in Maryland! You know no one wears jeans at New Jerusalem.”

“Want me to change and put on jeans?”

“Don't be silly.”

“Mommy,” Tiffany called. “Aunt Gladys said her and Grandma Geri are about to leave for church.”

“Come here, Tiffy,” Libby said. “Let me see what your momma put on you.”

Tiffany came skipping in.

“Don't you look cute . . . in your nice church dress and patent leather shoes.” Libby gave Janelle the eye.

“I'm ready,” Stephanie called. “What's the verdict, Libby?”

“Not going,” Libby yelled back.

“Even if I'm wearing jeans?”

“Let's see.”

Stephanie strolled into the family room, modeling her denim down the carpeted runway, then striking a pose. “You know I get excited when it comes to breaking protocol. Come on, girl.”

They heard the side door open and tiny feet running through the house, then they heard squeals.

“Tiffany, what's going on?” Janelle called.

Tiffany and Claire appeared in the family room.

“Claire's going to church with us!” Tiffany said.

They all looked at Claire. “Your mom and dad said it's okay?” Janelle asked.

“I asked and Dad said why not?”

The girls held hands, yelling, “Yaaay!” all the way out the door.

Libby raised her brow at the two of them and got up. “Oh, I'm
so
going to church today.”

Libby wished she had a video camera to record facial expressions as their carload strolled up the walkway and into the church building. It was bordering on comical. The second glances and stares almost made them seem like celebrities. She wondered which was drawing more attention, Steph's and her denim against the backdrop of suits and dresses, or Tiffany and Claire holding hands and swinging them as if they had not a care in the world.

“Hey, there's Dee!” Tiffany saw her friend coming through the glass door.

Janelle gave her a look. “Shh . . . inside voice, Tiff.”

Kory and Dee walked in, and the girls did their best at low-volume squeals. Kory walked straight to Janelle and hugged her. Libby loved that he didn't play coy. Janelle was obviously special to him, and he made a point of showing it.

As they waited for an usher to seat them, Libby saw that Travis had gone out front to talk to people coming into church. The women in particular seemed quite enamored with him. There was no doubt he looked especially handsome in a suit.

Someone opened the door wide, and Libby caught Travis's eye from just inside. She turned away slightly. She hadn't expected to see him before the service. And afterward she'd be able to slip out. She moved up with her group, waiting for the usher to return.

“Good Sunday morning.”

Great
.

“Good morning, Travis.” Janelle and Stephanie said it simultaneously.

Kory shook his hand. “Hey, good morning, Pastor Trav.”

“Daniel, my man.” Travis gave the little boy a super firm handshake that made him laugh, hugged Tiffany, then stopped. “And Claire? Does your dad know where you are?”

Claire giggled. “Yes.”

Libby looked at him. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, yourself.” He smiled at her. “You know you didn't have to dress up.”

“You're funny.”

He held her gaze. “Good to see you here.”

An usher led their group up the center aisle. Libby saw her grandmother and Aunt Gladys in front. They filed into a pew almost two-thirds of the way back and chatted until the band started playing. Five people came out to lead praise and worship, which was new. Libby remembered only a choir before.

The congregation stood, and Travis moved up the side aisle to the front row. Libby wished Janelle was sitting near her—Stephanie, the girls, and Daniel were in between—because she wanted to ask about these little changes. Seemed like Pastor Richards used to have a processional down the middle aisle to start the service and he sat on the platform.

Since she didn't know the words to the first song, and there was no big screen, Libby's eyes drifted around the sanctuary. The makeup of the people had changed too. When she used to come on visits to Hope Springs, she'd said that everyone was her grandmother's age—an exaggeration, but only a slight one. She never would've thought New Jerusalem could draw an influx of people her age and younger. She wondered what they'd do if they outgrew this place. It was already crowded, and people were still arriving.

A family with young kids came in, and behind them, a woman. Everything about her was striking—clothes, hair, poise. Libby saw an usher approach her, but she only whispered something and remained where she was. Libby guessed she was trying to find her family—until she realized who the woman was and which family she was trying to find.

“Excuse me.” Libby moved quickly past Stephanie and the kids to get to Janelle. She spoke into her ear. “You will not guess who just walked in.”

Janelle shifted her head slightly to see, then shifted back. Her eyes said it all. She whispered to Kory, whose head snapped back. He looked forward again, his mind clearly figuring what to do. He whispered something to Janelle, left the pew, and walked to the back. A minute later he and Shelley had left the building.

Kory's heart was beating fast, and he couldn't fathom why. He knew Shelley was coming to Carolina for the court hearing tomorrow, and he knew she wanted to see Dee. But showing up unannounced like this made him think she was up to something. The last thing he wanted was for Shelley's antics to interfere with him and Janelle.

He walked outside, well away from the front entrance, before confronting her. “What are you doing here, Shelley?”

Her hair blew in the breeze. “I thought you'd be pleased that I came to church.”

“How did you know what church I attended?”

“You haven't changed the password on your bank account. I saw the canceled checks.”

How could he have overlooked that? He hated the thought of her in his business. He knew what he'd be doing when he got home.

“Instead of snooping, you could've just
asked
. Would've been nice to know when and where you were planning to pick up Dee.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I do want to see Dee, but my main motivation was seeing you.”

“Me.” She was definitely up to something. “Why?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“We're talking right now.”

She held her arms through her coat. “Kory, can we go somewhere? It's cold out here.”

“Shelley, I'm not in the mood for games. Tell me right here what you need to talk to me about.”

She hesitated. “I want to talk to you about postponing the court hearing.”

He stared at her, trying to keep his head about him. “We can talk in my car.”

He'd parked on a different street around the corner. Leading the way, he went to the driver's side, opened it, and unlocked the other door so she could get in. He started the engine, turned on the heat, and looked straight ahead.

“You won't even look at me, Kory?”

“Why do you want to postpone the hearing?”

Shelley sighed. “Martin and I are no longer together.”

He looked at her. “What does that have to do with the hearing?”

“Kory, I feel like you're being so cold toward me.”

He stared at her, awaiting an answer.

She looked down at the handbag in her lap. “He decided to go back to his wife. And he chose to wait until a week before the hearing when I had completely planned our trip to the justice of the peace and a celebration afterward, and after everyone in litigation had been made aware.” She blew out a breath. “I was humiliated. Stayed out of the office all week, and I don't know if I'm going back.”

“I'm sorry, Shelley,” he said. “I must be slow. I got nowhere in that story any illumination as to what it has to do with our divorce hearing.”

Shelley looked out the passenger window, then back down at her bag. “It was like everything you've ever said came back to haunt me. You told me the things I was chasing after would leave me empty, and it was true. You told me I'd find out that Jesus is who I really need.” She looked up at him. “And now I know how true that is too.”

“All of a sudden you've seen the light.” He nodded. “Okay. That's wonderful.”

“Kory, I have. I . . . I see how wrong I was. What I did to you . . . to our family . . . I've never apologized, but I'm sorry.”

Am I in the Twilight Zone?

“Shelley, God has already brought me to the place where I can forgive you. I accept your apology.” He paused. “And really I wish you well on your newfound spiritual journey. That's an awesome thing.”

“Well.” She took more than a few seconds to continue. “I had hoped we could share the journey . . . That's why I wanted to postpone the hearing, so we could talk about maybe reconciling.”

His incredulity was so great he almost laughed. “You . . . want to talk about reconciling? You can't be serious.”

“I knew you would respond that way, especially after what I did to you and the way I've behaved since. But, Kory, I know you understand that people can change. I've
changed
. I'm not the person I was before.” She touched his arm when he looked away. “I know you loved me at one time. I know you believe in reconciliation, because you tried to reconcile after I left. I'm asking you now to give us another chance.”