CHAPTER SEVEN #2
Will frowned at her suggestion, trying to figure out why he really didn’t like it.
“But then she’d probably spend most her time with the guy, and Isabella would be left out in the cold.
I really don’t think her moving here is the best idea.
I guess Isabella is just going to learn at a young age that even when you love someone desperately they can be taken from you. ”
“Ugh, Will.” Laurel scowled and smacked his arm. “Don’t put it that way. Fine, I’ll skip the matchmaking. Sometimes you can be so dense.”
Before Will could respond, Laurel stood up and left him staring after her, not sure what had just happened.
She made her way over to where Amy and Violet were sitting and joined them.
Will looked from Laurel to Amy, wondering if there might indeed be a way to keep her in Collingsworth.
He could afford to hire her in some capacity, but as what?
Plus, she did have a job waiting for her in Texas.
There was no doubt that no matter what he did to change things between him and Isabella over the next few weeks, she was still going to be devastated at Amy’s departure.
~*~*~
“So, Amy, would you ever consider moving here to Collingsworth?”
Laurel’s question took her off-guard. “Um. I haven’t really thought too much about it, to be honest.”
“But you have thought about it?”
“The summer is definitely more tolerable than Dallas, but I’m not sure it would make up for the cold winters you guys have up here. And I doubt teaching jobs are any easier to come by in Collingsworth than they are in Dallas.”
Laurel settled back in her chair. “What if you fell in love with someone here?”
It took all her might to not look in Will’s direction. Was that what she and Will had been talking about? “I guess it would depend on if the guy were really tied here or if he’d consider moving to Dallas. My family is there, after all.”
Laurel nodded. “But sometimes love will make you consider crazy things.”
“Tell me about it,” Amy muttered. “I don’t really foresee that being an issue though.”
“You don’t think we have any guys worth considering here?” Violet asked, getting in on the discussion.
“Well, no, it’s not that,” Amy said, a little confused by the direction of the conversation. “It’s just complicated.”
Laurel’s eyes widened. “Are you already involved with someone? I thought Cami said you weren’t dating anyone.”
They’d been discussing her love life with Cami? “I’m not. Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“Ah...that’s never fun,” Violet said.
Amy gave her a weak smile. “The heart works in mysterious ways. For now, I’m just praying about the situation.”
If these two women hadn’t been Will’s sisters, she might have been willing to divulge more, but she had no idea what they would think of the situation.
She had trusted Cami not to say anything in the past, but still hadn’t told her about the latest turn of events.
For now, Sammi was the only one she would confide in.
“If you need us to put in a good word with someone, just let us know,” Violet said with a grin. “We’d be happy to talk you up.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think that will be necessary,” Amy assured her. “I’m just in a holding pattern right now and that’s fine. I’m in no rush since I’m not really sure how I feel.”
Laurel stared at her. “You seem rather pragmatic about it. This is love we’re talking about, you know.”
Amy sighed. “Well, I’ve just been down this road before. Last time I ended up with a badly broken heart. I’m not hoping for anything really. And there are lots of other issues to be considered as well. So for now...just praying about it.”
“I guess that is the best thing to do,” Violet agreed. “Even though I’d really like to meet this guy and help you out.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Laurel said.
Ah, if they only knew. She smiled but didn’t say anything more. As it was, she’d probably said too much.
Amy wrapped the last of the leftover pizza in plastic wrap then opened the door of the fridge to find a spot for it.
“So when are we doing this pinata thing?”
She shoved the pizza onto a shelf and closed the fridge to find Will standing there, hands on his hips.
“Pinata?” Amy wasn’t sure why she’d asked him that since she knew what he was referring to. “Oh. Well, I guess whenever is convenient for you. I just have to get a few supplies. Do you get a newspaper?”
Will tilted his head. “A newspaper?”
“Yeah, we need newspaper to make the pinata. So if you have any, don’t throw them away.”
He looked a little skeptical but nodded. “How does Saturday afternoon sound?”
“Maybe Sunday would be better. I think we should do it here so we can do it outside. However, the wedding is here on Saturday so we probably shouldn’t be out in the yard getting all yucky when guests are wandering around.”
“That’s true,” Will agreed. “Sunday it is. So between now and then I will save up any papers I can get my hands on.”
“And you might want to bring a change of clothes if you’re coming over here right after church,” Amy said. “For you and Isabella.”
“Sounds like it’s going to be quite an adventure.”
“Oh, it will be. One you’ll likely never forget.” Amy grinned. “Or want to repeat.”
She tried to ignore the flutter of excitement in her stomach at the prospect of spending time with him.
Still uncertain about how to handle it, Amy had tried to pray about things.
But even then, she wasn’t sure what to pray for.
In the end what had worked best had been Whatever Your will is, God, but there was a large part of her that didn’t want His will to be her loving Will.
Maybe it was selfish, maybe it was na?ve, but like she’d told Sammi, she wanted to be loved with someone’s whole heart.
She didn’t want to have to share. Delia would always be Will’s first love, and Amy wasn’t sure she could ever accept that he could love her as much.
“Well, I’d better get to the chapel to help with the decorating,” Amy said, trying, as she did each day, to act normally around Will.
“I’ll come with you,” Will said as he followed her from the kitchen out the door to the back porch. “You never know when you might need a guy to climb a ladder.”
“I have a feeling that’s where you’ll find your daughter anyway,” Amy told him. “I think she and Julia went with Laurel and Violet when the guys left with the rest of the kids.”
She noticed that Will shortened his strides a bit for her as they crossed the yard to the chapel.
He was a few inches taller than her five foot seven height.
She guessed he was right at six feet and given his long stride, his extra inches were all leg.
Up until she’d turned eighteen, she’d favored her dad’s build as well as height.
She was taller than both her mother and Bethany, but somehow along the time with becoming an adult, her more angular body had begun to soften into curves she hadn’t anticipated.
Will opened the door of the chapel once they reached the wide porch. He held it for her as she stepped into the foyer area. The lights were all on, and voices drifted from the sanctuary.
“How exactly did she want these set up?” Violet asked as Amy walked into the area where they were working. She glanced over and smiled. “Hey, you two. Welcome to confusion central.”
“What are you wondering about, Violet?” Amy asked, looking at the greenery she held.
“How did she want this and those candles set up?”
Amy moved to look into the boxes sitting on the front pews. “The bride put a photo album in here that had pictures of how everything was to be arranged. She showed it to me this afternoon.”
Violet set down the greenery and began to look in the boxes as well. “Aha! Here we go.”
Things progressed much more smoothly once they had the pictures to work from.
The little girls were put to work placing candles into glass jars which Amy then put on the wide window sills along with some greenery.
Violet had Will up on a ladder replacing a few of the white lights that had burnt out.
Amy neared where Will was working just as he climbed off the ladder.
“So Amy, do you sing?” he asked.
“Well sure. Don’t you?” She smiled at him before turning to put the next display together.
“Funny. Not exactly what I meant. I just wondered if you have a talent for singing like your brother.”
“Certainly not to his level, but yes, I do sing. I’m on the worship team at church and also sing special numbers when asked.”
“You never wanted to do it professionally?”
Amy shook her head. “Nope. I enjoy music very much, but have never wanted to do it the way Josh and Cami do. I had other ideas for my future.”
“So you’ve always wanted to be a teacher?” Will moved the ladder to the next section of lights, but didn’t climb it right away.
“No, actually, for about a year when I was fifteen I wanted to be the Doctor’s next companion.”
She glanced at him to see his reaction. Will lifted an eyebrow. “You’re a Doctor Who fan?”
Amy grinned, pleased that he’d understood her reference. “I was a bit more fanatical when I was younger. I figured that with my name, I was a shoo-in, but then realized there would only ever be one Amy for the Doctor, and it wasn’t me.”
“Amelia Pond,” Will said with a nod. “But you’d need a Rory.”
“Oh, I had my Rory all planned out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.” Amy put the last display in place then turned to watch Will climb the ladder. “Are you a Doctor Who fan, too?”
Will reached to grab a strand of lights. “Like you, I was a bigger fan when I was younger, but I still like to catch the odd show on television.”
“A couple of years ago I saved up money like mad in order to make a trip to London. My best friend came with me, and we had a blast doing a tour of places that were of significance to Doctor Who. She’s not quite the fan I am, but she was a good sport.”
“Sounds like fun. I never thought about going on a tour like that. Most my traveling had to do with missions work. I haven’t travelled just for sightseeing purposes in a long time.”
“I usually try to save up enough money through the school year to do some travelling during the summer. This year, for some reason, I never managed to get my plans together, and it turned out that was a good thing. I was at loose ends when Cami called to ask if I’d come up here.”
“Funny how things work out like that sometimes,” Will said as he stepped off the ladder and closed it.
“What’s next?” Amy asked Violet, who was working with Laurel on a display for the unity candle.
“Those bows need to be attached to the end of each pew, and it looks like she wants to have that rope strung between each row along the aisle.”
“Good idea,” Amy said with a nod. “Best way to keep people from spilling into the aisle to take pictures and blocking the view of the professional photographer.”
Violet nodded. “We actually recommend it to people, although at some weddings it seems to be less of an issue than others. The younger the guests are, the more likely it is to run into this with everyone wanting to snap shots on their phones.”
“I’ll definitely be doing that at my wedding,” Amy said as she picked up the rope.
“Planning already?” Laurel asked with an arched brow.
“Doesn’t every girl?” Amy replied. “Well, I know Cami said she didn’t, but I’ve been planning mine since I was a little girl. Every wedding I attend gives me more ideas.”
“I was like that,” Laurel admitted. “But in the end, Matt and I had a very simple wedding with just a handful of people. And you know what? It was perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“I figure I’d better have my ducks in a row because if Mister Perfect shows up and asks me to marry him, I’m not gonna give him time to reconsider.”
Violet snickered. “Good plan.”
“I’m already an old maid by my family’s standards. My mom married my dad when she was nineteen, and Beth and Steve married when she was twenty.”
“You can’t be that old,” Laurel remarked. “Certainly not near spinster status just yet.”
“I’ll be twenty-five on my next birthday,” Amy said. “But honestly, I think my mom would be happy if I never married and just lived with them forever. I was her surprise baby, and she’s been reluctant to let me try out my wings too much.”
“Is she worried about you being here?” Violet asked.
“Not for safety reasons of course, but I think she’s praying I don’t meet a guy here and decide to stay.
” Though Will wasn’t contributing to the conversation, Amy got the feeling he was listening.
She told herself it was just natural since there was no other conversation going on…
but she couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his head once again.
“Those apron strings are hard to cut,” Laurel said as she laid out the last of the ribbon on the candle table. “Rose is getting close. I hope she sticks around for a while though.”
“Where is she tonight?” Violet asked.
Amy moved to the first pew and began to thread the rope through the hooks on the ends.
“She’s out on a date,” Laurel said and then sighed. “She’s growing up too fast.”
Wow, even an eighteen- year- old had a busier social life than she did, Amy mused. As she reached the last pew, she turned to see how evenly the loops were spaced and bumped into Will.