it.â
âItâs a little more than that, Momma.â Estelle smiled over at her. âTodd said she was just added as a speaker with some womenâs conferenceâwhatâs the name of it?âsomething about purpose.â
âWorth & Purpose?â Janelle got up to get some water for herself. âI went a few years ago when they came to D.C. Beccaâs speaking with them? Thatâs awesome.â
âWhatâs Worth & Purpose?â Libby asked.
âItâs a national Christian womenâs conference,â Janelle said. âOne of the biggest. Iâm sure there are tons of women whoâd love the opportunity to speak on that platform. Becca must be pumped.â Janelle sipped some of her water and placed her glass in the sink. âIâm going to talk to Todd before it gets too hectic.â
Suddenly she was glad sheâd come. The entire road trip sheâd been focused on her own loss, and only now gave real consideration to Toddâs. Hard to believe both of his parents were gone. His dad was her momâs age . . .
And the surprising news that Stephanie was coming . . . A few years younger than she and Libby, Stephanie had always been something of an enigma, hanging in the shadows of her sister. But that was when she was a teenager. It had been years since Janelle had seen her.
Yes, now that she was here, Hope Springs seemed the only place she should be.
CHAPTER THREE
B ecca Dillon took a window seat near the front of the plane, tossed her tote bag into the middle, and reached inside for her iPad.
âYouâre awesome, Patti. Canât believe how quickly youâve done all this for me.â She held her phone in the crook of her neck as she powered up the iPad, bottle-blond hair falling in front of her face.
âIâm glad I caught you before the plane took off,â Patti said. âI couldnât wait for you to see.â
âI hope I have time while everyoneâs boarding.â Becca opened her e-mail and waited for the messages to download. âSo you think the pictures turned out well?â
âFabulous. Youâre a natural, girl. Even the test shots to get the lighting right turned out well.â
âHere it is,â Becca said, hunkering down. âWow, this is a lot. Hope I have time to click through all these attachments.â
She glanced up, glad the aisle was still crowded with passengers.
âOoh, look at the sky on this first one,â she said. âYou picked the perfect location.â She and Patti had spent two hours at the Missouri Botanical Gardens yesterday. âI look kinda goofy on that one, though.â
âOh, you do not. You were about to ask a question as I snapped. Looks cute and inquisitive to me.â
Becca opened the next. âAh, the one on the boulder where Iâm smiling and looking to the side? I like that.â
âThatâs my favorite,â Patti said. âThat wind-in-the-hair shows your personality, looks like youâre having fun.â
A woman took the aisle seat in her row. Becca lowered her volume. âWhat about this serious-looking one? I like it, but . . .â She stared at it. âNot sure what it says.â
âSays, âIâm a Bible teacher, a serious one.ââ Patti said it in a serious voice.
Becca laughed.
âThis is a full flight to Raleigh-Durham,â the flight attendant announced. âPlease take the first available seat so we can push back and get on our way.â
Becca moved her bag from the middle and put it under the seat in front of her. âHow will I narrow this down?â She kept clicking through. âYouâve managed to make me look half decent in more than a few of these.â She smiled. âYou really are good.â
In the blink of an eye, it seemed, Beccaâs life had kicked into another gear. In a matter of weeks sheâd be taking the stage with Worth & Purpose,