The Color of Hope

CHAPTER TWELVE





Libby was ready for the reunion to be over. She loved her family and was glad everything had turned out so well, but she was also glad there were only a few hours remaining. Only a few hours, and she’d be back in Raleigh, away from Travis.

She knew he’d be at Grandma Geri’s house today. The Sanders family wouldn’t let Travis stay away if he wanted to—and according to Marcus, he’d tried. He’d gone home after church and said he’d relax there the rest of the day. But Libby’s dad, of all people, called him. She heard him herself.

“Didn’t you say you were playing in the volleyball tournament for Team Wood? . . . Well, where you at, son? We need you!”

Travis was at the house and ready to play in the blink of an eye.

Team Wood. Whatever.

A knock sounded on the bedroom door. Janelle poked her head in. “Can I come in?”

Libby propped herself up on an elbow. “It’s your room.”

Janelle closed the door and sat beside her on the bed. It was their familiar routine during family events, though it was weird that Grandma Geri’s room was now Janelle’s.

Janelle eyed her. “At first I was coming to drag you outside for the volleyball tournament—my team is out, by the way; you know Charley is killin’ out there—but now I’m here for another reason. What in the world is Omar doing here?”

Libby sat up. “He’s out there?”

As she said it, her phone dinged, and she grabbed it from the nightstand. A text from Omar: Just got here.

Libby got up to go meet him.

“Um, excuse me.” Janelle looked at her from the bed. “You didn’t answer my question. What’s Omar doing here? You were adamant about not wanting him to come. ‘He’s getting too serious’ and all that.”

Libby shrugged. “I changed my mind.”

“Don’t try it, Lib. This is me. You know I already know. I just want to hear you say it.”

“Say what?”

“You invited Omar to get your mind off of Travis.” She continued before Libby could comment. “And it’s not right. You shouldn’t play with Omar’s feelings like that.”

Libby waved away her concern. “I’m not playing with anybody’s feelings. Omar knows we’re just friends.” She paused. “But I have a question for you. Why didn’t you tell me about Travis and Trina?”

Janelle frowned slightly. “There was nothing to tell. Still isn’t, far as I can see.”

“Come on, Janelle, you heard them last night. They’ve been out together. You go to church with them, and she’s in your Soul Sisters group. You had no idea they were friends?”

“I knew they knew each other, of course,” Janelle said. “But no, I had no idea they’d been out or anything like that.” She eyed Libby. “And you care because . . . ?”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s the same thing Travis asked me.”

Janelle scooted to the edge of the bed. “We haven’t had a moment alone to talk about that. What happened between the two of you?”

Libby sat back down with a sigh. “Nothing really. Just me making a fool of myself again, in tears, halfway admitting I have feelings for him as he let me know we could never be together.”

Janelle looked stunned. “You were crying?”

“I just said that.”

“You care about Travis more than I thought.” She put a hand on Libby’s shoulder. “Libby, I’m sorry. I wish we’d never invited Trina last night. It ruined the weekend for you.”

“It was best,” Libby said. “I’m glad I know. Wasn’t like me anyway to start fantasizing about a relationship with him—as if it could ever go anywhere.” She shook her head. “He and Trina can pursue their happily-ever-after.”

Janelle looked at her.

“What?”

“You’re the reason you and Travis aren’t together.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Unless I’m totally clueless, Travis has feelings for you too. But you’re the one who drifted from the Lord, stopped going to church, started living however you wanted to.”

Libby stared at the floor.

“If you’d stop running from commitment—and I mean commitment to God—maybe you and Travis could begin to build something.”

Libby’s phone dinged again. She looked at it. Where are you?

“That’s Omar,” Libby said. “I have to go.”

She headed for the door as another knock sounded, and then Stephanie poked her head in.

“Hey, they’re calling for everyone to come out,” Stephanie said. “Tournament’s over, and they’re awarding trophies.”

“I thought you were handling that, Libby,” Janelle said.

“I told my dad I wasn’t up to it. He said he’d do it.”

The three of them went out the back door, along with others who’d been inside escaping the heat. During the volleyball tournament, barbecue ribs and chicken were cooking on the grill. The inviting aroma hit them the moment they stepped outside. Once the winners were awarded their trophies, they’d all feast.

The backyard was crowded, as it had been Friday night. Libby snaked her way through, looking for Omar, and ran into Travis instead.

He touched her arm as she passed. “You weren’t going to speak?”

She barely looked at him. “Didn’t see the point.”

“So all the progress we made becoming friends again, we’ll just take twenty steps back?”

“However many steps it takes,” Libby said.

“Oh, there you are.”

Libby cringed inside when she heard Omar’s voice. All these people, and she’s caught between these two?

She turned and smiled. “Hey, glad you could make it.”

Omar hugged her. “All I needed was an invitation.” He spoke in her ear. “You know I wanted to be with you all weekend.”

Libby took a step back. “You remember Travis, right?”

“Of course.” Omar extended his hand. “Good to see you again, Pastor.”

Travis shook it. “You as well.”

“Okay, everybody, listen up.” Wood waved his arms on the top step of the back porch so people could see him. “I don’t have a microphone, so I need silence.”

It took a good two minutes for the noise to quiet down, especially from the kids playing on the swing set.

“Libby came up with a great idea to start a volleyball tournament this year,” Wood said. “And yes, I’m bragging on my baby girl again, because I could tell even from the barbecue pit that everybody had big fun!”

A round of cheers went up.

“Competition was stiff,” Wood continued. “Seven teams signed up, and they came to play. But there can only be one victor—”

A group that included Marcus and Charley started cheering and pumping their fists.

Wood gave a hearty laugh. “They call themselves the Crush, and it’s obvious why.”

The Crush roared again.

“Winner of the first annual Sanders Family Reunion Volleyball Tournament is . . . the Crush! Come on up and get your trophies!”

Marcus, Charley, and five more players ran up, fists pumping, and collected the trophies Libby had bought from a supply store.

“Now, wait a minute,” Wood said. “We’re not done. I need Marcus and Charley to stay here. And I want my sister Gladys to come up.”

People started buzzing, wondering what was up.

“A lot of you may not know,” Wood said, “but we had our own little competition among Grandma Geri’s kids. Each of us had a team, and we’ve been giving out points all weekend based on participation in events and so on. And frankly, you know me . . . I wanted to win.”

Family members laughed and shouted back at him.

Wood continued, “For the record, I’m very proud of my team. Libby and Travis racked up most of our points this weekend.” He scanned the crowd. “I don’t know where they are, but a big shout-out to Team Wood!”

Travis and Libby waved at him. Neither shouted back. She could feel Omar staring at her.

“But I have to congratulate Team Gladys, because the basketball game yesterday and the volleyball tournament today put them at the top. Marcus and Charley, you are two serious athletes.” He turned to the crowd. “Let’s give a big round of applause to these athletic dynamos.”

Marcus and Charley high-fived one another as applause went up. Gladys hugged them both.

Wood raised his hands to quiet everyone. “But wait . . . wait . . . there’s one problem. Team Gladys has the most points at the moment. And even though there’s nothing left to do but eat—no points for that—there is something that might knock them out of the number one spot. I think everyone will agree that we have to award big points for this.” He paused for effect, grinning. “Kory, come on up!”

Libby snapped her head around, looking for Kory. What in the world . . .

Kory emerged from the crowd with a grin of his own, joining Wood on the top step.

When the chatter died down, Kory began. “I was eighteen years old when I came to my first Sanders family reunion. It was there that I met Janelle.”

Everyone looked to see where Janelle stood in the crowd.

“I don’t know how it was possible, but by the end of that weekend, after endless conversation and getting to know the spirit within, I had fallen in love with that girl.”

Janelle was dabbing tears.

“We lost touch,” Kory said, “and I thought Janelle would forever be a distant memory. But our paths have crossed again. And my love for her has only grown deeper and wider.” He stopped to gather himself. “Estelle and Russell, can you come up here?” He smiled. “I’ve already had a long talk with them about this.” He looked to the front row. “My daughter, Dee, and Janelle’s son and daughter, Daniel and Tiffany, come on up—I talked to them too.”

Laughter rose, but it was soft laughter.

When they had all gathered on the porch, Kory walked down the steps and into the crowd. He led Janelle by hand to the porch landing. Then he held out his hand, and Janelle’s father passed him a small box. Kory went down on a knee.

Janelle was in tears, and Libby realized she was too. She couldn’t hear the words clearly, but she had no doubt what Kory had said as Janelle blurted, “Yes,” and he took her into his arms.

The family celebrated with applause, cheers, and tears. Slowly, the crowd broke, many making their way to congratulate Janelle and Kory.

“You okay?” Travis said.

Libby swiped the tears. “Fine.”

Omar took her hand. “Walk with me a minute.”

When they found space to themselves, Omar stopped and turned to her. “Looks like I’ve missed a lot this weekend.”

Libby looked at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I thought you didn’t want me here because you’d be busy with reunion festivities.” His eyes bore into hers. “But that wasn’t it at all. You’ve been busy with Travis.”

“Where’d you get that from?”

“Team Wood? You asked Travis to be on your team and not me? I thought I was the one you’ve been seeing.”

“Okay, really, Omar? You’re questioning me?” Why does this happen every time? “Travis has been coming to these reunions since he was a boy. My family knows and loves him. He helped with the planning, so I simply asked if he wanted to be on the team.”

“Your family knows and loves him. That includes you, right?”

Libby sighed. “Omar, I’m not doing this. I’m not in the mood. I didn’t invite you so you could grill me.”

“Why did you invite me, Libby? Looked like there was some tension between you and Travis. Something happened, so you called your runner-up, Omar?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“I think it was exactly like that.” He looked at her, shaking his head. “You know what? You told me you didn’t want a commitment, and I was fine with that. I didn’t plan to get my feelings involved, but I did. I actually cut other women back to spend time with you. And to be honest, with all the time we spend together, I thought you’d come around. But I won’t let you play me like this.”

Emotion welled up again. Was he about to walk away? Libby could hear her Raleigh friends telling her she was crazy not to commit to Omar, that he was handsome, made good money, and treated her well . . . and if she didn’t want him, she needed to get out of the way so somebody else could have him. But she didn’t want to get out of the way. She liked having him in her life, even if only a part of it.

A light entered Omar’s eyes. “I just realized what you said . . . that Travis has been coming here for years. You two have a history, don’t you?”

“A long-time-ago history. We dated in college.”

“Okay.” Omar laughed a little, but there was no humor in it. “All this time I knew you weren’t ready for ‘commitment,’ which I always took to mean you weren’t ready for marriage. But I thought I was still special to you. I thought I was the main guy in your life. But that’s Travis’s spot.”

“No, Omar, it’s not Travis’s spot.” Exasperation filled her voice. “Can we just . . . move on and forget all this?”

He stared into her eyes. “No. We can’t. I’m headed back to Raleigh.”

Her heart sank. “Aren’t you going to eat? We have ribs and chicken and—”

He held up his hand, taking a step back. “I’m good. Take care, Libby.”

“I’ll see you later this week?”

He shook his head, turned, and walked toward his car.

Libby couldn’t breathe. Should she go after him? Reassure him? She sighed. Reassure him of what? Her noncommittal stance?

Suddenly, in the midst of a gathering of over a hundred people, she felt desperately alone.