“I do. Just hope it all comes together.”
“I know Jessa would love to help you out. If you have some stuff that she can do, I know she’d appreciate thedistraction.”
“I was thinking about that as we worked on the piñatas today. I think I have a few different things she and Julia could help me with. And Laurel and Violet said they’d help more too. A girls’ day- in might be in order.”
“You looking forward to Cami and Josh arriving?”
“Yes. Very much so. How about you?”
“Yeah, I’ve missed Josh a lot. You know how it is. He isn’t just my cousin. I sure wish they could have settled here, but I know that their music ministry is important.” They sat in silence for a few minutes before Lance spoke again. “So I know it was kind of a joke thing this afternoon, but was there any truth to you avoiding Will because of something he did?”
Amy glanced over at him. “No, he didn’t do anything.”
“So maybe the other theory might be worth considering?” Lance asked.
“Other theory? I never heard the other theory.”
“When Will insisted he hadn’t done anything, he mentioned that he treated you just like he did his sisters.”
Amy nodded. “That’s true.”
“That’s when Rose suggested maybe that was the problem.”
When she turned to look at him again, Amy found Lance watching her. “I don’t have a problem with how Will treats me.”
Lance lifted a dark brow. “Are you sure? Rose thought maybe the reason you were avoiding him was because you didn’t want to be treated like a sister.”
“Are you asking me if I want Will to view me as potential girlfriend material instead of a sister?”
Both of Lance’s eyebrows rose at that remark. “I forget that you’re not one to beat around the bush too much, are you?”
Amy shrugged. “Sometimes getting right to the point is the best thing.”
“And if Iwasasking that?”
“I had a crush on Will when I first met him almost ten years ago. I’m older now and wise enough to know that there’s no chance of anything between us.” When Lance looked like he was going to question her further, Amy held up a hand. “Just trust me on this. I have my reasons for how I feel. And since I don’t think Will is interested in me that way, it’s all a moot point anyway.”
“Okay. I just don’t want your mom mad at me for sending you home with a broken heart.”
Amy smiled. “Don’t worry about that. I think my mom would be more upset if you hooked me up with someone here, and I didn’t go back to Dallas.”
Lance laughed. “True.”
Their conversation moved away from Will to the week ahead. They had two last sets of guests booked for the week ahead, but because of the family coming in they’d closed the bed & breakfast to any more guests for the following three weeks. Amy was looking forward to a break from guests and to just being able to focus on the family arriving and the party.
Over the next few days, Amy continued to gather what she needed for the party. Slowly but surely the items on her list were getting ticked off. The photographer Jessa had suggested had been available to take pictures at the party. She’d found a caterer who had been willing to work with her on the special food she wanted. The things she’d ordered online were arriving.
All the party preparations had been a nice distraction from constantly thinking about what her future held. Sammi had called her the previous Sunday night, and they’d had a long chat about everything. That had helped Amy as well.Her friend was always such an encourager and had promised to pray for her. Sometimes, Amy wondered if prayer was the only thing she could do. Everything else she had tried seemed to yield no positive results. She had made several phone calls to schools in Dallas, but no one had any openings. Although she’d left her name and asked to be contacted if something opened up, she had her doubts that anything would. Amy just wasn’t sure what else to do and it was getting a bit depressing, so she focused on the party stuff as much as possible.
After the last guests left Sunday morning, Amy breathed a sigh of relief. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed meeting the guests who’d come to visit. It had been fun getting to know them and finding out where they were from and why they were in Collingsworth, but now she could focus exclusively on the party and the family who would be arriving at the end of the week.
As usual, everyone gathered at the manor after church for lunch. Knowing the story of their family, Amy was glad to see the closeness that had developed between the siblings. She did wonder about Lily though. Given that Lily had experienced the worry the others had had about Cami when she'd left Collingsworth, Amy was surprised that she would turn around and do basically the same thing. She knew from conversations with Jessa that they heard from her periodically. Enough to know that she was busy travelling around the world.
She wondered if Lily’s departure had had anything to do with their mother’s death. It was about two years ago that Elizabeth Collingsworth had passed away. Amy remembered when Josh had called with the news that Elizabeth’s health was failing and asked them to pray. In the end, it had apparently been God’s will to take her instead of heal her. She knew from talking to Cami it had been a difficult time for everyone.
“Ready to eat?” Lanceasked, drawing Amy back to the present. Once everyone had gathered together, Lance said grace.
“Is Jessa not coming down?” Violet asked Amy after the prayer was done.
