“I think we’re both too scared of what might happen. Sitting out here for the little bit that she did earlier was goodfor her, but she wouldn’t come out again now. I know we may seem extreme in our approach, but I honestly don’t know what another loss would do to her. To us.”
Will understood the pain in Lance’s voice. He knew that with each passing day their hopes rose for a successful delivery. He didn’t blame them at all for doing what they could to achieve that objective. There would be many Sunday afternoons that Jessa could enjoy outside with her family once the baby was born.
He saw Isabella slow her swing and slide off. As she joined Julia in the playhouse, Amy made her way back to where he sat with Lance. It was hard to not notice her long tanned legs and the curves of her figure as she moved gracefully toward them.
“Hey, Lance,” Amy said as she joined them, but she didn’t sit back down. “You out here for a bit?”
“Yep. Unless Jessa needs me.”
“If it’s okay I think I’m going to go in for a while.” She picked up her phone and her glass of juice. “Just text me if you need something.”
“Don’t worry about anything. We’ll be fine.”
“Thanks again for the ice cream, Will,” Amy said with a smile.
Though he wanted to watch her walk into the house, Will turned his gaze back to where the girls were playing. The last thing he needed was to do anything that might give Lance—or anyone else—the wrong idea where he and Amy were concerned. Of course, he needed to keep that in mind for himself as well. She clearly saw him as a friend—maybe even a brother—and nothing more, which was probably a good thing. He found her interesting and appreciated that she seemed at ease with him. But that was no reason to start looking at her as anything more than the friend of the family that she was.
~*~*~
CHAPTER SIX
Amy climbed the stairs to her room, her phone clutched in her hand. She hoped her departure hadn’t appeared to Will and Lance to be the frantic escape it had really been. She’d seen Will watching them while she’d pushed Isabella on the swing. A part of her had reacted to his attention even though she knew it was most likely centered on his daughter, not her. That long-buried fifteen-year-old part of her had sprung to life, yearning for the attention of the man she’d thought was lost to her. It had taken her by surprise, and Amy knew she couldn’t allow those thoughts and feelings to take hold.
“This isn’t funny, God,” she muttered under her breath as she sank down on her bed, grateful to be in the sanctuary of her room.
Eight years ago, Will’s attention was all she’d craved. That was definitely not what she wanted now. There were just too many screwed up dynamics in the situation. Not the least of which was that he was no more interested in her now than he’d been eight years earlier. Besides, Amy enjoyed how things were in her life now. She was content to wait for a nice, uncomplicated man to love her.
Or so she kept telling herself.
She stared at the screen of her phone before touching it to place a call to her best friend. Sammi hadn’t known her when she was a teenager, and Amy had never told her about what had happened back then. She was prepared to tell her now and to ask for advice and for her to pray.
As she waited for Sammi to answer, she walked to the window seat and sank down on its cushioned surface. She had a room along the front, so her view was of the tree-lined driveway. Which was just as well. She didn’t want to be looking down on the back yard where Will was with Isabella.
“Hello, Miss Amelia,” Sammi answered with a laugh.
“Hey, Samsam. You busy?”
“Nope. Just sitting in front of the A/C trying to keep cool. What’s up?”
Amy let out a long sigh and spilled the whole story. “Maybe I was naïve or just plain stupid, but I didn’t expect to feel this way about him again.”
“So you’re telling me that back when you were just fifteen, you felt God wanted you to marry Will?” Sammi asked.
“Yes. I can’t explain it. I know it sounds dumb and very teenage drama-ish, but it was such a strong feeling back then. So when he came back married, I was beyond crushed. For the next couple of years, I walked around feeling like I had an open wound on my heart. Again, I know, dramatic, but even now, if I let myself, I can still feel the pain, and it takes my breath away.”
“Then why in the world would you agree to go there to help out knowing you’d see him again?”
Amy twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “I don’t know. They needed help. Cami had told me he’d changed. And honestly? I thought I didn’t feel anything for him anymore.”
“And now? What’s happened?”
“He’s not the same person I felt so strongly about as a teenager. And it was fine—at first. We’d spent some time together with the family, and there was really nothing there. Then today, he’s here with his daughter, and I was pushing her on the swing. I happened to look up and saw him watching us—for all I know he was just watching her—but suddenly everything came rushing back.”
“Teenage Amy was back?”
“Yep. Just like that all the emotions and feelings were there. And suddenly I’m thinking things likeI wonder if he likes this color I’m wearing. Or,maybe I should’ve left my hair down.” Amy pressed her fingers against her forehead. “Where did it come from? I can’t be thinking like that anymore.”
“Why not?” Sammi asked. “He’s available. You’re available.”
