“Not often,” Will admitted. “I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”
“As long as you’re willing to talk when she asks, I would guess that she’ll ask about the things she needs to know when she wants to know them.”
Not comfortable to continue talking about Delia with the woman he was hoping to date, Will said, “So are you still okay with going out for dinner on Saturday?” Suddenly his brain made a connection. Saturday. The day Delia had died.His first date with Amy.
It was too late to back out now without having to give an explanation. And how did he tell Amy that he didn’t want to go out because he needed to remember the day his wife died? Somehow he just knew that wouldn’t be a good start to their relationship. He would just have to continue forward with the plans as they stood. It surprised him that he hadn’t made the connection earlier, but Saturday had become the day of Isabella’s party, not the anniversary of Delia’s death.
“As long as you don’t think it will cause any issues.” Amy’s voice drew him back to their conversation.
“Frankly, I’m more worried about issues with Josh than I am with Charlotte and Henry.”
Amy laughed. “Yep. Lance asked tonight if something was up.”
“Really? Why did he ask that?”
“Guess he sensed a little...tension between us when we got back. And when I wouldn’t confirm anything, he threatened to sic Josh on me.”
“Are you comfortable with the family knowing we’re going out?” Will hadn’t really thought too much about how their siblings might react.
“I don’t know. Part of me would like to keep it on the down low in case things don’t work out.”
“Wow. Nothing like starting off with a positive outlook on it.”
“You have to admit it would make things a little awkward,” Amy said.
“Well, if you want to try to keep it a secret, I suppose we could try, but I doubt we’d be too successful.”
“No, we wouldn’t be. Cami would know something was up immediately. Better to just put it out there.”
“Thank you,” Will said.
Another pause. “For what?”
“For giving me—us—a chance. I don’t think I’m wrong in feeling that you have some hesitations about going out with me.”
“Yes, I do,” Amy agreed.
“Aside from the family and your presence in Collingsworth being temporary, you haven’t really talked about any of your other reservations.”
“I can’t just yet. Maybe as we spend time together, those concerns will be resolved.”
Will knew in that moment that he would do whatever it took to put her mind at ease. He wanted her in his life. That was the bottom line. “Hopefully Saturday will be the first of many dinners.”
“Yes.” Though she’d agreed with him, she didn’t sound as positive about it as he was. “Well, I’d better go. Busy few days ahead.”
Though he would have liked to continue to talk, Will said, “Yep. See you tomorrow.”
After the call had ended, Will sat there flipping his phone over and over in his hand. In his mind, he could see the ready smile that lit up Amy’s face and made her sea- foam green eyes sparkle. How he wished that those eyes had sparkled with excitement at the prospect of going out with him. But he was going to take what he could get and hope that it would go up from there.
She wasn’t going to make this easy for him, but something told him that the end result would be worth all the extra effort it looked like he’d have to expend to keep her in his life.
~*~*~
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Amy woke tired the next morning. It had taken forever to fall asleep after her conversation with Will. The constant second-guessing of her decision to accept his invitation was wearying. She knew people would say she was overreacting or overthinking things, but none of them truly knew how deeply she’d been hurt by what had happened eight years ago.
It had been horribly hard to be in the same house as Will and Delia. Jessa had insisted the newlyweds stay at the manor when they’d arrived. Even at sixteen, Amy was aware of the physical intimacies between a married couple. It had crushed her to think of Will and Delia sharing that in a room just a few doors down from her. And his comment during their conversation about Delia’s death just about killing him served as a stark reminder of how much he had loved her.
