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Janessa didn’t really feel that she was either, but she could do it if she had someone with her who enjoyed speaking in front of a crowd. That was definitely not the case with Will. Hopefully Evelyn would take that into account when planning out who was going to host the program.
“How did that gene skip you?” Charli asked. “Your mom and dad are both very comfortable with public speaking.”
Will grimaced, his gaze dropping to his plate. “I havenoidea. Even Reese and Isaac don’t mind being up in front of people. I’m definite an anomaly in our family.”
“Nothing wrong with not being comfortable with public speaking,” Misha said. “Not everyone is. I can do it in a pinch, but my mom hates having the spotlight on her.”
“That’s how I feel,” Will said. “So I’m happy to work behind the scenes for the dinner, but if they want a Kennedy at the mic, they’re better off asking anyone else in my family but me.”
“You do okay in front of your students,” Janessa pointed out.
“That’s true,” Will said. “But that’s also different. Or at least it feels different.”
“So, what ideas do you have so far?” Charli asked.
Will looked at Janessa, his brows lifted, as if expecting her to have an idea to share. When she didn’t volunteer anything, he said, “Well, I think that some sort of special music would be a given.”
“Definitely,” Charli said with a nod. “Maybe you should ask Adela Wilson.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Janessa agreed. “She has a lovely voice.”
“Do I know her?” Misha asked.
“You might not have met her at church, but you’ve probably seen her at the coffee shop.” Janessa pulled out her phone to make a note. “She owns and operates it, along with her son, Ben. How about worship music?”
“I’m not sure about that,” Will said. “Because the dinner is open to the community, right? It might make attendees feel uncomfortable if they don’t know the songs. Sorry. Didn’t mean to shoot down your suggestion.”
“No. It’s fine,” she assured him. “You’re right about that.”
As she watched uncertainty cross Will’s face, Janessa wondered what was going on in his mind. Will had never had a forceful personality, but he’d also never been a pushover—except when it came to his mom. But recently, he’d come across as less confident than usual. Had his breakup done that to him? Undermined his confidence?
The idea that that could have happened annoyed Janessa. However, she’d seen something similar with Jay when Casey had dumped him over and over. Jay had eventually regained his confidence, and hopefully, that would be the case for Will as well.
“Can I sing, Will?” Layla asked.
Will glanced at Janessa. “Maybe?”
“What would you sing?” Janessa asked her niece.
“Hmmm.” Layla appeared to give her question serious consideration. “I don’t know, but I could find a song, I think.”
“We can talk about that later, sweetie,” Charli said.
Layla nodded. “Maybe Peyton could sing too.”
That got an immediate shake of the head from the little boy. “No. I don’t want to sing.”
“Or Colby and Aaron would sing with me,” Layla said, mentioning a couple of her friends from school, who also went to their church.
Charli reached over and patted her arm. “We’ll discuss it later, but just understand that it might not work out. I don’t want you to be disappointed it if isn’t possible.”
“Okay,” Layla said, then focused on eating her pizza.
“So far, all you two have is special music,” Jay said. “You need a few more ideas, I think.”
“You could be helping a bit more,” Janessa told him.
“Could you have someone give a testimony?” Misha suggested.
