CHAPTER ONE
Wednesday, December 23

Stephanie Sanders London sulked with all the fervor she could muster as she and Lindell rode the escalator up to security in St. Louis’s Lambert International Airport. She stared vaguely at the moving stairway, lips pursed, sighing displeasure with rhythmic regularity.

Lindell looked over at her. “Steph, I thought it was settled.” He had the nerve to look amused. “We said we were done talking about it.”

Her eyes floated to the rafters. “You didn’t hear me say a word.”

“Oh, cool. Glad I was mistaken.”

“I’m just sayin’, though, Lindell”—she hit his shoulder—“and stop laughing because I wasn’t saying a word before but I am now.” She adjusted the purse on her shoulder. “I don’t see why you’re acting like we have to go. I’m the one who came up with the idea for this trip, so I should have the right to change my—”

She paused just off the escalator, gaping at the security line that snaked up and down the cordoned rows, spilling into the general walkway, past the Starbucks, ending with an older woman who’d set her bag on the ground and folded her arms.

“That’s it. It’s a sign. I’m out.”

She turned on her heel toward the down escalator, and Lindell pulled her back.

“Where are you going?”

“H-o-m-e.”

Lindell looped his hand through her arm and walked her forward as he wheeled their luggage. “It’s two days before Christmas,” he said. “We knew the lines would be long. That’s why we left early.”

Stephanie trudged beside him, shaking her head. “What on earth possessed me to suggest traveling for Christmas?”

“To spend time with your family.”

“I can spend time with my family here, like I do every Christmas.”

They joined the back of the line, behind two families who had gotten behind the older woman.

“Exactly. But Pastor Lyles preached that sermon about doing something different this Christmas, taking the focus off of ourselves. And what did you say?” He leaned over, his ear tuned.

“At the time I said it might be nice to visit my Grandma Geri, since Daddy said she wasn’t feeling too well and I haven’t been down there in a long while.”

Lindell nodded. “And it was a great idea!”

“Yeah, well, the sermon wore off.” She shuffled forward with the others. “I don’t want to do anything different for Christmas. There’ll be a lot of people staying at her house, and I don’t even know them that well—”

“It’s family, Steph.”

“I stopped going to the reunions and all that after high school because a weekend getaway in Hope Springs, North Carolina, wasn’t exactly my idea of a happening time. Nor is Christmas in Hope Springs.” She sighed. “I mean, Daddy’s not even going, and it’s his mother.”

“Steph, come on . . . your folks were just there in the summer, and they’re going back soon. You know they can’t miss Chase’s first Christmas.” He donned a wry smile. “Guess they want to see Cyd and Cedric too.”

Stephanie allowed a chuckle. “You’ve got that right. Chase is the main attraction.” Stephanie’s older sister, Cyd, had had a baby in the spring, the first grandchild. “Little spoiled self. And I won’t get to see him open the presents I bought him.”

“I’m looking forward to getting to know this side of your family. At our wedding I barely got the right names attached to the right faces.”

“Shoot, me too. How about this?” She looked hopefully at her husband. “We could rebook the trip for spring, after you get back from Haiti. And I can get Cyd and Cedric to come and bring the baby.” She should’ve thought of that at first. Cyd knew this side of the family much better than she.

Lindell shook his head. “It’ll be crazy at work when I get back.” Lindell was a doctor and was headed to Haiti for a month on a medical mission trip. He kissed her nose. “We’re going. Today. It’ll be awesome.”

The line inched along, Stephanie retreating into her thoughts. That was another thing, this mission trip. She was happy for Lindell. He’d been excited about it the moment it surfaced and had asked if she’d like to help in an orphanage while he worked with the mobile clinic. But it just wasn’t her, so she declined. As the trip got closer, though, and his team had more and more meetings to prepare, she wondered why it wasn’t her.

Well. She knew why. She wasn’t the servant type. What she really wondered was whether that could ever change. And she surprised herself by sending up a prayer for it to change. And to know whether her life had some kind of purpose . . . besides shopping. Which she loved. But still.

Stephanie sighed, thinking how excited she’d gotten about Pastor Lyles’s Christmas message. Seemed to tie in with her prayers. Visiting Grandma Geri sure sounded like a servanty thing to do. But now the whole thing seemed weird. What would they even talk about? Thank God other family would be—

Stephanie heard her ringtone and dug out her phone.

“Checking up on me?” Stephanie said.

Her dad chuckled. “Now why would I need to do that?”

“Oh, you might’ve wondered what was going on after that message I left this morning.”

“You mean the one asking me to call Lindell and assure him that my family would understand if you changed your travel plans?”

Stephanie sneaked a peek at her husband. She lowered her voice a little. “Wouldn’t have hurt to call him, you know.”

“I did call him.”

“Then why am I at the airport?”

“I told him you were his responsibility now, and I’m happy to let him handle you all on his own.”

She could hear the grin in her dad’s voice and couldn’t help but smile herself. “Oh yeah? Then why are you calling?”

“I forgot to tell you there’s a big funeral in Hope Springs this afternoon. And I really need you to go.”

“Aw, Daddy, now I’m supposed to go to a funeral? You know I don’t like funerals. They’re so . . . creepy.”

“They’re nobody’s favorite thing, Steph, but Jim Dillon was like family. You remember Jim, lived next door to Grandma Geri?”

“The pastor? You grew up with him, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I was older. He was tight with my younger brother, Wood.” Bruce sighed. “Total shock. Momma found him slumped over the kitchen table from a heart attack. I looked into making a quick trip, but last-minute flights were either booked or too expensive. So I’m hoping you’ll represent.”

Stephanie groaned.

Her dad added, “But I do feel bad I forgot to tell you, because I know you didn’t pack for a funeral.”

“Oh, that’s not an issue. I always pack some of everything.”

Lindell nodded big, pretending to labor in pulling their luggage forward. Stephanie pinched him.

“All right, Daddy, I’ll go.” She sighed. Was this another servanty thing? Shoot, after this trip, she’d be servant certified.

“Thanks, sweetheart. And by the way, did you decide to stay at Momma’s or a hotel?”

She’d been leaning toward a hotel a few miles away in Rocky Mount, but her dad had encouraged her to stay at her grandmother’s.

“Not sure yet,” she said. “I’ve got until six o’clock this evening to cancel the hotel reservation.”

“A lot of bonding happens late at night at the house, you know,” her father said.

Stephanie quirked a brow. “Is that supposed to be an argument in favor or against?”

“Don’t be surprised when you have a great time, Steph,” her dad said. “Give everyone our love.”

Lindell was looking at the itinerary.

“What time do we arrive?” Stephanie asked, dropping her phone back into her purse.

“Eleven fifty.” He tucked the paper away as they moved forward, showing their IDs and boarding passes to the security guard. They headed to the shortest X-ray line.

“So we get the rental car in Raleigh and drive straight to your grandmother’s?” Lindell asked. “How far is it?”

“Uh . . . I meant to print out directions.” Stephanie reached for a bin for the liquids she’d stored in a baggie. “Something like forty minutes, I think. We’ll get a map when we get there.”

“Cool. Hope Springs, here we come!”

She pumped her arms in a rah-rah motion. “Awesome!”

Lindell grinned. “See, you’re getting the spirit.”

She cut her eyes at him as she placed her purse on the security belt.