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Grabbing her purse, Janessa climbed out of the car. There was a chill in the air and the trees around the church were already turning color. Fall had definitely arrived.
Once inside the church, she hung her jacket up in the coatroom, then headed down to the basement. There was already a flurry of activity in both the large main area where the tables would be set up, as well as in the kitchen.
Janessa greeted Evelyn, and then went over to the large open window that looked into the kitchen. Denise and Eva were both there, wearing big aprons over their clothes.
“Good afternoon, Janessa darling,” Eva said with a smile. “Ready for the big night?”
“I think so. How about you here in the kitchen?”
“Denise has everything very organized. We’ve all got our marching orders.”
“Organization is always a good thing.”
Janessa watched as Eva deftly peeled a carrot, even though her hands were arthritic. The woman didn’t let much slow her down. Not even the arthritis that was slowly taking over her aging body.
Hearing Evelyn giving instructions behind her, Janessa turned. She and a couple of ladies were unpacking tablecloths from some plastic tubs.
A few teens had arrived, and as Janessa headed in their direction, she saw Will walk through the door. Her steps faltered, and the nerves that had died down a bit flared up again.
His gaze swept the room, and when he saw her, a smile formed on his face, and he walked in her direction. Janessa braced herself for whatever might come out of his mouth.
“Hey,” he said as he neared her. But aside from a smile that held more affection than she’d seen from him before, he didn’t do anything to push his attentions on her. He didn’t hug her or even ask if she’d come up with an answer. “So, are you ready for the big night?”
“I am,” she said, then glanced around. “But we’ll have to see if everyone else is.”
“Who’s in charge of setting up the tables?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been here for very long.”
The teens approached them, and one of them said, “Are we supposed to be doing something?”
“I think we’re going to be setting up the tables,” Will said. “But let me check with Evelyn.”
Janessa watched him as he went to where Evelyn stood. They had a brief conversation, then Will nodded and headed back to them.
“Let’s go start pulling out the tables. Evelyn said she has a diagram of how she wants them set up.”
As they left the main part of the basement, more teens were coming down the stairs. They joined them as they went into the large storage area where the tables, chairs, and other things were kept.
Will had plenty of experience with setting up tables and chairs, so he began to direct the teens. They loaded up the special wheeled carts that the church had for moving the tables, then took them out into the main room.
For the next half hour, they worked at getting the tables set up to Evelyn’s satisfaction. Even though she’d had a diagram, she changed her mind a few times. Janessa was getting a little impatient with her, but Will, as usual, had endless patience.
Once the tables were arranged to Evelyn’s liking, the ladies began to put the tablecloths on them, while the teens carted out the chairs.
Through all of it, Will didn’t act any differently toward her than usual. Either he was confident that she would say yes, or it didn’t matter one way or another to him if she said no.
Obviously, the second one would work better for her. So why did she wish that it was the first? Why did she want him to be confident that she wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her?
Her conflicting emotions were driving her crazy. She’d never thought she’d be in this position, and yet… here she was.
Will was amazing with the teens, encouraging them when they started to get tired and bored with setting up the chairs. Janessa was grateful that he was there to take charge because she was pretty sure she would have snapped at at least one whiny teen.
“Do you have anything else for the teens to do?” Janessa asked Evelyn once all the tables and chairs were set up. “Or can we give them free time until closer to the dinner?”
Evelyn considered her question for a moment, then nodded. “Just make sure they’re back by five, dressed, and ready to go.”
“Did you have more stuff for Will and me to do?”
