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“I don’t want to date for years before getting married.”
Will hadn’t either, but now, he was glad that he and Daphne hadn’t gotten married before she’d realized she didn’t want to be with him, or he’d be dealing with a divorce instead of a breakup.
“Just give yourself a chance to get to know Emily before getting too serious about her. She can be a perfectly nice woman and still not be the right one for you.”
Will knew he probably wasn’t one to give relationship advice, given that he’d only had one serious girlfriend.
“My dad said he knew the moment he saw my mom that he was going to marry her,” Jackson said. “It was love at first sight.”
“My folks were kind of like that too, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only path to love and forever. And even if you’re certain right away, it might take the woman a little longer to reach that point.”
Jackson fell silent, and Will hoped he was giving his advice some thought. It might save him further heartache in the long run.
When he pulled up in front of Will’s apartment, Jackson said, “Thanks for coming along tonight. I do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. And for the record, I hope that things work out for you—whether it’s with Emily or someone else.”
“Me, too.”
“See you around,” Will said as he opened his door. “Let me know how things go.”
After saying goodbye, Will made his way into the building, then up to his apartment. He was tempted to text Janessa to see how her day went. He’d seen her at church that morning, but then he’d gone to his folks’ for lunch and spent part of the afternoon with them.
Unfortunately, it was already a bit late, and it might be weird for him to text her out of the blue. He’d just have to wait until the next evening when they had a meeting with the servers.
Though he’d looked forward to seeing Janessa in the past, he hadn’t connected it to how he was feeling about her. He’d always cared for her, so perhaps that was the reason he hadn’t realized that things had moved pastcareto something more.
As he prepared his things for the next day, Will wondered how long it might have taken him to figure out his feelings if he hadn’t agreed to go on that double date with Jackson. But now he needed to take his own advice and not rush into anything. It was entirely possible that Janessa had never viewed him as anything but her brother’s best friend.
So, while he wanted to tell her right away how he felt, Will thought maybe he needed to take some time to feel her out. To see if maybe there had been signs he might have missed.
One thing he wouldn’t do—at least not yet—was to ask Jay for advice. He didn’t think Jay would object to him having a relationship with Janessa, but he didn’t want to broach the subject with him just yet.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Will stepped into the large basement multi-purpose room at the church where they were supposed to be meeting and glanced around. He’d come a little early, anticipating that he’d need to get the round tables set up for the practice that evening. Surprisingly, there were already tables set up in the center of the room, but there was no sign of Janessa. He was used to arriving before Janessa, but it looked like she’d beat him there.
His heartbeat began to race a bit, and Will couldn’t keep the smile from his face at the thought of seeing her. All day—even in the middle of teaching the kids algebra—he’d been anticipating seeing her that evening.
He wasn’t going to rush anything with Janessa, but that also didn’t mean he was going to put off opportunities to spend time with her.
Of course, it seemed he’d already been seeking opportunities to be near her without realizing why. Sitting together at the Fall Dinner meetings and walking out together afterwards. The basketball games. Friday night pizza. Church. Once she’d gotten over being upset with him and Jay, they were together more than they’d ever been before, and he relished the joy that came with being around her.
“Hey, Mr. Kennedy.”
Will turned to see a couple of his students walking into the room. “Hello, ladies.”
“Where’s Janessa?” one of them asked.
“I’m not sure,” he told them as he glanced at the doorway again. “I just got here a couple of minutes ago.”
A few more people showed up as they were talking, but there was still no sign of Janessa. It wasn’t quite seven, though, so she could still make it on time.
He spoke to each of the people who arrived over the next few minutes, many of whom he’d seen at one point or another earlier in the day at school.
Everyone else had already arrived by the time Janessa came through the doorway. She looked like she was a little stressed, which concerned Will.
“Everything okay?” he asked, keeping his voice low as he joined her at the front of the room.
