AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I mean, the fear makes sense, but the fact that she didn’t distance herself from all of us doesn’t. If she was worried about losing people she loved, why would she letanyone—let alone you—get that close to her?”
“I don’t know. We’ve just had a couple of conversations that touched on her worry for your parents and Wilder as they travel to places that could be dangerous.”
“They don’t go anywhere truly dangerous though,” Jay said.
“Remember when that hurricane went through where your parents were, and you had no contact with them for awhile?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Jay’s brow furrowed. “We were all pretty worried during that time.”
“I think that was difficult for her. It gave her a taste of what it would be like if something happened to them.”
Jay sighed as he scrubbed his hands over his face. “I wish she’d talk to me. Honestly, I wish she’d talk toanyone.”
Will wished that too, because he was sure that she was hurting tremendously. He wanted the person she talked to to be him, but if it wasn’t, like Jay, he’d just be happy if it was someone.
“I’m going to talk to her again tonight with this in mind. She may have broken up with you, but it hasn’t made her happy. Not in the way that Daphne seemed to react following your breakup with her.”
Will was also feeling differently about the breakup with Janessa than he had with Daphne. By the time Daphne had broken up with him, he’d been ready for it. The breakup had hurt him a lot, of course, but the pain he was feeling after Janessa had broken things off went so much deeper. So very much deeper.
Compounding his pain was knowing that Janessa was suffering, too. That hadn’t factored into his breakup with Daphne, but knowing Janessa was hurting caused him even more pain.
If only he’d known that the kiss they’d had at the car before the drive home was going to be their last, he would have kissed her more. If he’d known that the hug they’d shared was the last time he’d hold her in his arms, he would have held her longer.
Tears stung his eyes, and Will turned to look out the window again, blinking rapidly. He tried to reserve his tears for the privacy of his room, and that wasn’t going to change right then.
“Unfortunately, I think the one person who could get through to her is you,” Jay said.
Will glanced back at his friend. “I’m not sure that’s true.”
“It’s just so hard to understand what’s going through her mind.”
“Fear can make our thoughts unreasonable. I mean, you proved that to a degree this summer. You were afraid of what people would think about you after discovering you had a son, even though you knew, logically, that your family would never turn their backs on you.”
“True,” Jay agreed. “My fears about that definitely took over my common sense.”
“And impacted your relationship with Misha.”
Will wanted to hope that his and Janessa’s relationship might be repaired at some point, but things were a bit different with their situation. Once Jay revealed Peyton’s presence, Misha’s reassurance that she still wanted a relationship with him had helped to get them back on track.
Unfortunately, there was no reassurance that Will could offer Janessa. He wished that he could tell her that nothing would ever happen to him, but that wasn’t something he could do. And he wouldn’t offer her reassurances that had no weight behind them.
The only way they’d get back together again was if Janessa was able to let go of her fears and trust God with their relationship, cherishing the time they had together, whether it be long or short. Will was willing to wait and see if she came to that point, but right then, his hope for that happening was low.
He wasn’t going to rush to get over the heartache from this breakup. When they’d first gotten together, he’d been confident it was God’s will. He didn’t think that had changed, but Janessa had to embrace that same confidence. Though he had enough confidence for both of them, that wasn’t how it worked in a relationship.
“Are you doing okay here?” Jay asked. “Living back at home?”
“I don’t really have much choice. I can’t handle things by myself at the apartment yet.” Will rubbed the cast on his arm with his other hand. “Once I get this off, I could probably move back home.”
“How long until that happens?”
“Another three weeks for the arm, most likely, but probably longer for the leg.” His leg had been broken in a couple of places, but judging from the state of the car after the accident, things could have been so much worse for both him and Janessa. “How’s Janessa doing physically today?”
“Her bumps and bruises are pretty much healed, but she hasn’t gone back to work yet. Charli told me that she hardly leaves her room and spends a lot of time sleeping.”
Will’s heart hurt when he heard that. He took a deep breath, trying to loosen the tightness around his chest caused by the flood of emotion.
“Mom and Dad are worried,” Jay said. “We all are.”
