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When the teenage cashier recognized Will, he was kind of glad that they’d agreed to pay separately. If he’d paid for both their meals, another rumor might have started that they were there on a date. Of course, the teen wouldn’t know that a fast-food restaurant would be the last place he’d ever take a woman on a date.
After they had their food, they went to a booth next to the window and slid in opposite each other. He’d gotten a double cheeseburger, large fries, and a vanilla milkshake. Janessa had ordered chicken strips, fries, and a soda.
“Guess we should be glad Jay’s not here,” Will said once they’d said a prayer for their food. “We’d be getting a lecture about our choice of food.”
“I don’t know how he deals with Denise’s food.” She dunked one of the chicken strips into a dipping sauce. “She doesn’t focus on super healthy food the way Jay does.”
“That’s true. I sure enjoy all the food she cooks, but none of it has included salads or the bland broiled fish that Jay eats.”
“I would guess that he probably eats ultra healthy as much as he can, then enjoys Denise’s food when he has it.”
“I like my mom’s food, but Denise has introduced me to different flavors that I’ve really enjoyed.”
“Same,” Janessa said as she lifted her drink. “It’s made me wonder what type of food my mom—my birth mom—used to make for us.”
“You don’t remember?”
Janessa’s brow furrowed as she shook her head. “I was only seven when she died. My memories of that time have faded over the years. Jay might remember more.”
Jay and Janessa had never talked much about their mom. At least not to him. He’d asked Jay about his parents when they were little, but Jay had just said he didn’t want to talk about them. He’d been a very stoic young boy.
As an adult, Will had come to realize that young Jay probably hadn’t known how to deal with his grief, especially since talking about his mom probably hurt a lot. Even now, he wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of their biological parents.
“You know, if you… uh… ever want to talk about your parents, I’d love to hear about them.”
Janessa glanced at him before focusing on her food. “Has Jay talked to you about them?”
“Not really, no.”
“Yeah. That’s not too surprising. He and I haven’t discussed much about them over the years. Dan and Cathy would try to talk to us about them—my mom especially, since they knew her better than my dad—but it was hard when we missed her so much.”
“Did you go to counselling at all?”
Janessa wrinkled her nose. “Not after my dad died, but Dan and Cathy had us seeing someone once we came to live with them.”
“You didn’t like it?”
“No, I did not. This strange older woman kept trying to get me to talk about something I really didn’t want to talk about. Finally, I just refused to go.”
“Just like that?”
“Have you met me?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. “I can be a little stubborn.”
Will chuckled. “I have noticed that.”
“Dan and Cathy tried again a little while later, but I just wasn’t interested. Of course, now as an adult, I understand what the counselor was trying to do. But back then, all I knew was that she wanted me to talk about stuff that hurt, and I wasn’t interested in that.”
“Grieving seems to be a very personal thing. No two people’s grief journeys are the same.”
“Yeah. I’ve heard that.”
Will hoped that the conversation wasn’t upsetting Janessa. She didn’t seem bothered by it, but then Janessa had always been good at hiding her feelings. The possible exception had been when Jay was dating Casey. Janessa had never hidden how much she’d disliked the woman.
“How do you think tonight’s going to go?” he asked.
“I’m going to be optimistic and say great.”
Will grinned. “Optimism is good. I think it will go well too. As long as we can keep them from goofing off.”
