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Now, however, Jay ate most of his suppers with Misha, and even when he didn’t, he still had Peyton with him. Did Will have the option to eat with someone? Probably his mom would let him come to supper every night, but Janessa wasn’t sure that Will would want that.
Janessa wondered if he’d managed to convince his mom to stop making him gingerbread cookies. If he had snickerdoodles to spare, she wouldn’t turn them down should he offer her some. She’d made cookies before, but never snickerdoodles. Maybe she should try her hand at making some and see what Will thought of them.
“This is yummy, Mom,” Layla said. “Can I have some for lunch tomorrow?”
“Sure. I’ll put some in a thermos for you.”
“I wish I could take some for Peyton. He always has just a sandwich.”
Charli laughed. “I’m pretty sure that’s because that’s what he wants. Jay says he likes bread and cheese every day for his lunch.”
Layla wrinkled her nose. “I like the bread, but not with cheese.”
“We all like different things,” Charli reminded her.
That launched a report by Layla of the different things her friends and classmates liked that she didn’t and vice versa.
Like most evenings, when they finished eating, Janessa and Aria cleared the table and cleaned up the kitchen so Charli could focus on Layla.
“We’re going, Charli,” Janessa said as she knocked on the open door of the entrance to the two bedrooms that Charli and Layla used.
“Okay. See you later.”
“We can take my car,” Janessa told Aria as they walked out of the house.
It was a quick drive to the store, then they spent the next hour wandering through it. Though she didn’t have a list, Janessa still picked up several things.
With fall upon them, there were lots of autumn themed items available in the store. She chose a couple of seasonal candles to burn in her room. Once they were finished in the dry goods section, they wandered through the food area. Along with a couple of other things, Janessa picked up some pumpkin spice flavored creamer, even though she wasn’t a huge pumpkin spice fan.
She didn’t count down the days until all the pumpkin spice stuff arrived like some people did, but she didn’t mind the flavor periodically throughout the season. Her preference was actually the teas that came out during that time of year, so she detoured to the aisle where they were to see what they had.
“I think I’m going to pick up some hot chocolate,” Aria said as they stood together looking at the hot beverage options. “Now that the days are getting colder, I think I’ll enjoy it more.”
They chose a few more things, then made their way to the checkout. It didn’t take long to ring everything through.
“Are you okay with Jay and Will now?” Aria asked as they walked across the parking lot to where Janessa had parked.
Well, that wasn’t a subject she wanted to delve too deeply into. As far as she was concerned, everything was just fine with them. “Yep.”
“You were able to talk it out?”
Janessa didn’t want to lie, and if she did, all it would take was a similar question presented to Will or Jay to bring a lie to light. “I didn’t need a long conversation about it, once I understood what was going on.”
“Well, I’m glad that things have worked out.”
Janessa was too, though the fear that had filled her when Jay had suddenly pulled away still had a firm grip on her. She wasn’t about to share that with anyone, however. Not even her best friend.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Will piled a couple of pieces of pizza on his plate, then carried it to an empty seat at the table, which just happened to be next to Janessa, with Peyton on his other side. It was a full house that night at Charli and Janessa’s. Kayleigh was there, as well as Wade and Jackson. Gareth and Aria had decided to hang out with them, and Jay and Misha were also there with both the kids.
There was lots of conversation going on around the table, but Will didn’t feel pressured to join in on any of it. He listened as Wade talked about his latest job, then Jackson chimed in with his most recent dating escapade. Kayleigh shared about some issues she was having at the hotel where she worked. It was all more exciting than the week he’d had teaching math to moody teenagers.
The kids quickly finished their pizza, then left to watch a movie in another room. It sounded like Jay and Charli had agreed to let them have a sleepover that night, so they were both excited.
“What are your plans for tomorrow, Will?” Jay asked, shifting over to sit in the chair next to him that Peyton had vacated.
“Probably laundry and other housework. I’ve kind of let it slide.”
