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That brought another laugh from Will. “Definitely. I look forward to it.”
They talked a bit more as they prepared the messages they were going to send to their families. As they joked about who would be the first to reply in each of their groups they sent the messages, then waited for the responses.
It wasn’t too late in the evening, so no one should have been in bed yet. When her phone’s text alert went, she laughed. “Would you believe that Wilder was the first to respond?”
“What did he say?”
“What on earth have I been missing out on?”
“Well, Reese was the first to reply to me and she said,I knew it was a double date.”
“Oh, that was from that night at the gym, right?”
“Yep. Though we were just starting to hang out together more then, and I don’t think either of us was thinking we’d end up dating.”
“Nope. Definitely not.”
Since they’d started dating, Janessa had braced herself for Will bringing up what had happened with Jay earlier that summer. Though he’d mentioned it in passing, he’d accepted her brief dismissive response. Apparently, she was going to be able to move past that time without having to engage in a deep discussion about it.
Perhaps they all just assumed that her anger had simply been a result of Jay shutting her out, and if so, she was fine with that.
They continued to share the responses as they came in. Will ran out of them sooner than Janessa did, since he only had four other people in his group chat. All the responses were positive, which Janessa found encouraging. If anyone had concerns, they wouldn’t have hesitated to voice them.
In addition to the message in their family chat, Jay had sent a message to Will directly. In both, he expressed that he was happy for them, and he couldn’t wait to see how their relationship unfolded. Of all the replies they’d received, Jay’s held the most weight with Janessa, and she thought perhaps that Will felt that way too.
It was hard to think about saying goodnight, but once the messages stopped flooding in, Janessa knew that she needed to end their phone chat. They might be riding the high of a new relationship, but they still had jobs and responsibilities that needed their attention. However, it was nice to know that they’d be seeing each other the next day, as that made saying goodnight just a little easier.
Before she had a chance to get ready for bed, her phone text alert went again. When she saw Kayleigh’s name on the notification, Janessa paused. Though her sister had sent a brief text to the group, the fact that Kayleigh had sent another text to her directly made Janessa wonder if she really wasn’t in favor of the relationship.
Of all her sisters, Janessa was closest to Charli, but she and Kayleigh had a special relationship too. It started back when she’d first come to live with the Halversons. Kayleigh had been ten, and she’d stepped into a motherly role, often helping Janessa with her hair, taking the time to learn how to care for natural Black hair.
So even though they didn’t spend a lot of time together as adults, Janessa knew that Kayleigh would only have her best interests at heart. She really did trust Kayleigh’s opinions, so she hoped that she wasn’t opposed to Janessa’s relationship with Will.
She tapped the screen to read the message.
Kayleigh:Just wanted to say that I’m really pleased to hear that you and Will are dating. You’re both such sweeties, and I hope you are very happy together.
Janessa breathed a sigh of relief as she replied to the text.Thank you. I didn’t want to say anything right away because I wasn’t sure Will understood the reality of dating me.
Kayleigh:Ah, but he knows you pretty well. He didn’t make an uninformed decision. We know that’s not how Will operates.
Kayleigh was right about that. Will wasn’t someone who jumped into things, so it was likely that he’d already thought it all through before approaching her for a date. Janessa had known that about Will, but for some reason, she’d assumed that this was some spur of the moment thing for him.
Yeah. We do. I really do hope that it works out. I’m going to try my best.
Kayleigh:It takes you both, and I think Will is going to do the work too. Just be sure to always talk. I know you have a tendency to not share everything you’re thinking/feeling.
Janessa knew Kayleigh was right about that, too. Kayleigh was a very observant person, probably the most observant of all the siblings. So if she said something about a person, Janessa was inclined to believe it.
Thank you for caring, sis. Love you.
Kayleigh:I’ll always care about what’s happening to you and all our sibs.
Janessa hoped Kayleigh knew that Janessa cared about her, too. A lot.
Once their conversation was over, Janessa finished getting ready for bed. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to fall asleep right away because she was still wired from the events of the evening. Since she’d been so focused on what might go wrong, she hadn’t realized how freeing it would be to let everyone know.
As long as she didn’t worry about what might still happen, things would be fine. She knew she needed to not focus on all the things that could go wrong, or she’d probably sabotage everything.
