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“Thanks. Have a good night.” Evelyn gave them a smile, then hurried off toward the kitchen as if to not give them a chance to change their minds and say no.
“I guess we did our job a little too well, huh?” Janessa said with a huff and a shake of her head.
“My dad would say that’s a good thing.”
“Yeah. My dad too.”
Will glanced around the room. It looked like pretty much everything was back to normal, even in the kitchen. The cooks had put in a lot of work too, so Will was sure they were probably exhausted and happy that it was all over.
“I guess our work here is done,” Janessa said.
Will wished that it wasn’t because he wanted to continue to spend time with her. “And we’ll be back here in about twelve hours.”
“Yep.” She looked toward the kitchen. “Do you think we need to check with Evelyn before we leave?”
“I think we’re fine to go. She told us to have a good night.”
“Then let’s go before anyone else stops us.”
As they walked up the steps from the basement, Janessa talked about the family birthday party that was planned for the next weekend. With a family as large as the Halversons, it was inevitable that several would celebrate their birthday in the same month. When that occurred, they just had one big party for all of the celebrants.
They stopped in the coatroom to retrieve their jackets, then made their way through the foyer toward the door. The evening air that greeted them was frosty, a sign that fall had definitely arrived, and winter wasn’t too far behind. Depending on the forecast, they could possibly see the first snow in two or three weeks.
As they approached Janessa’s car, her steps slowed, then she turned to face him. “About what you asked…”
Will’s stomach knotted, certain that she was going to turn him down. He’d kind of figured she would. To his knowledge, she’d never agreed to date anyone before, so there was no reason for her to change that up for him. It wasn’t like he was anything special. He was a simple math teacher… and that was about it.
He was tempted to cross his arms as they both slowed to a stop, but he didn’t want to look defensive. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets and gave her his full attention, braced for whatever she had to say.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Janessa wasn’t sure that she actually knew what she was doing. After deciding she should tell Will no to the date, she was now on the verge of agreeing. She was asking for trouble—she was almost positive about that—but there was a tiny part of her that thought that maybe everything would be fine.
Would God really take a third person from her? Would He allow something to happen to her and Will if they had kids one day?
She knew she was assuming things would lead to marriage for them if she agreed to go out with him, but shehadto think that way. Knowing that a relationship could lead to marriage and kids had held her back from dating all these years. So how could she not think about it when considering taking this step with Will?
Surely God knew that losing someone else would break her. Janessa wanted to believe that God wouldn’t do that to her, which was why she found herself seriously thinking of taking this chance.
Will looked like he was anticipating the worst. She’d wondered if he’d really care that much if she turned him down. But even though the area where they stood was only lit by a nearby streetlamp, she could tell that he was anxious about her response.
That realization helped to squash the rest of her doubts. He did care. He really did want to be with her. Even though he’d seen her at her worst—which hadn’t been that long ago—he still wanted to be with her. That was probably what amazed her the most about the whole situation.
“I probably shouldn’t have said anything,” Will said. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t,” Janessa told him. “You took me off-guard, that’s all. Surprised me. I didn’t know how to respond, to be honest. I never imagined that you might feel that way about me.”
“I didn’t realize I felt this way either.” Will rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve always enjoyed spending time with you. Even more so lately. I just didn’t know how much I’d enjoyed it until my eyes were opened during that evening with Jackson and the ladies.”
Janessa inhaled deeply, then said, “If the offer still stands…”
“It does,” Will said quickly.
“Then yes.”
A smile bloomed on Will’s face. “Really? You’re not just joking with me?”
“I would never joke about something like this,” Janessa assured him. “This is pretty serious for me to even consider, if you want to know the truth. I haven’t really done much dating.”
