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“I’m sure she does,” Will assured him. “The way she looks at you tells me that she loves you a lot.”
He wasn’t as sure that Daphne had ever looked at him like that. Maybe one day he’d experience another relationship, one that would last a lifetime.
“We’d better get out there before Janessa talks Misha into taking her home,” Will said as he got to his feet.
Jay put his street clothes into a locker, then the two of them left the changing room. Misha and Janessa were already on the mats, stretching their legs out in front of them.
“Oh bummer,” Janessa said when they joined them. “I almost had Misha convinced to take me home.”
Misha laughed. “You did not.”
“Will said you were going to try to talk Misha into doing that,” Jay said.
“It’s kind of scary how well everyone seems to know me.”
“It’s not that hard,” Jay told her. “You make all your thoughts and feelings pretty clear. It wouldn’t be a hard leap to assume that you’d be trying to figure out a way to get out of this.”
Will settled down on the mat beside Janessa, stretching his legs out and leaning forward to touch his toes. The burn in his muscles felt so good. They stretched until Jay decided they should head over to the treadmills.
“Oh, looks like I need to sit this out,” Janessa said. “There are only three machines available.”
“No worries.” Jay slung his arm around her shoulders. “I’m going to get on an elliptical.”
“Oh, you don’t need to that. I’m perfectly willing to make the sacrifice.”
“I think I’d like to try an elliptical this time around, too,” Misha said.
“Sounds good.” Jay took her hand, and the two headed to where the elliptical machines were located a short distance from the treadmills.
“Do you need help?” Will said when it was just him and Janessa.
Janessa sighed. “Probably.”
It was no hardship for Will to help her, and soon she was set up and walking at a steady pace.
“You’re doing great,” Will said as he climbed on the treadmill next to her.
“You’re so sweet. My own personal cheerleader.” She gave him a beaming smile, her brown eyes sparkling with humor. “Your students must love you.”
Normally, Will would have assumed she was being sarcastic, but there was something sincere in her expression. It gave him pause, because he wasn’t sure why her sincerity meant so much to him.
He shrugged. “I guess they like me well enough. Some more than others, depending on how well they understand the subject.”
“I had Mr. Davis for math, and he was never my favorite teacher,” Janessa said. “But maybe you would have been.”
“Mr. Davis didn’t like any of us kids, and I don’t think any of us liked him very much.”
“Who did you like?”
They continued talking about their time in high school as they walked. Will had been a couple of years ahead of Janessa, but they’d had a lot of the same teachers.
Janessa’s take on the teachers, classes, and fellow students had Will laughing, which slowed his pace considerably. But he didn’t care. He hadn’t laughed a whole lot since his breakup, but most of the times he did, it was because of something Janessa said.
A verse came to mind as he smiled at something Janessa shared about the gym teacher she’d had in her senior year.A merry heart does good like a medicine.It was a verse his mom had frequently quoted, starting back when he was a little kid, usually after she’d laughed at one of his jokes. She’d thank him for making her heart merry.
He hadn’t really thought much about it. Sure, it was fun to laugh and make other people happy, but it hadn’t been until recently that he’d really experienced for himself how healing a merry heart could be. The laughter and smiles he’d experienced because of Janessa had definitely brought him some healing.
Did he bring any value to her life?
