your mom’s problem. Her lying is nothing to be proud of. You are fifteen, and you know that wasn’t the right thing to do. What you can concentrate on right now is how you want your future to be. You’ll always have me. Where you go, I go,” she said, pausing at the crack in her voice, because despite Aiden wanting Will, she would not step away quietly.
Will met her gaze, the vulnerability in his blue eyes making her heart ache even more, but it gave her hope. He was listening to her.
“I know it’s hard,” she went on. “But sometimes the hardest things lead to the biggest rewards. Aiden is committed to being a dad to you, and he’s so worried about you. This is hard for him, too. But if I didn’t think he was a good guy, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
Will didn’t say anything for a moment, then shoved his bowl away. “He’s worried about me?”
Janie’s heart skipped a beat. “He is. He even went out and bought junk food last night and tried to lure you out of your room with the smell. He’s trying to do the right thing. He doesn’t know how to be a dad, yet, but he wants to be. For you.”
Will’s chin wobbled, and Janie remembered all the times she’d seen that chin wobble. He’d run to her with all his problems, all his tears, and she’d hold him until he felt better. Those days were precious memories. The days had been so very long and the years so short. She couldn’t believe the young man sitting in front of her was the same little boy who used to crawl into bed with her during thunderstorms wearing Sesame Street pajamas. It felt like he’d just grown up overnight. She would always feel like his mother, even if she wasn’t.
Will cleared his throat. “He said that if he’d known I was alive he would have found me. That he never would have let fifteen years go by.”
Janie’s heart squeezed, and she touched Will’s hand. “Do you believe him?”
Will nodded. “Yeah.”
“Me, too. You know, we don’t have to decide everything right now. I mean it; no pressure. Aiden doesn’t want you to feel pressured, either. Why don’t we spend some time just getting to know him? He said he’d love to show us around Wishing River.”
Will sat back in his chair. “That sounds okay. I like being on a farm like this. The horses are cool. Am I taking next week off school, too, then?”
She drew her fingers down the sides of her mouth, thinking. “That might be a good idea. He offered us his home for as long as we want, so maybe you should, just for the first week. I think it’s important you get to know him without distractions.”
Will frowned. “Aunt Janie, you have to go back to school soon. They won’t hold your place at the college forever.”
Janie took a sip of coffee, trying to hide the fact that she was worried she’d never end up back at school sometimes. The bills were insurmountable. She knew that just having first and last month’s rent covered wouldn’t be enough to get ahead and pay off debt. But Will didn’t need to know that. And she believed that Aiden would come through and help pay for Will’s expenses. That would take a huge load off her.
Will was so sweet and mature and tried to look out for her, though, and she appreciated that. “I know, but don’t worry about me. I’ll get back there. This is your time, honey. Your time to get to know your dad.”
He stretched his legs out in front of him, the same way she’d seen Aiden do the other night, and she smiled at the sight. “I guess,” he said. “All right. I’ll go shower. And, uh, we’re going to do this tour-of-the-town thing today?”
“Yeah, I think it’s going to be a really good day,” she told him and herself. “Just hang in there and have a little faith.”
…
Aiden walked down Main Street with Janie and Will beside him. It had been one hell of a morning. He felt guilty for bailing on Janie last night, but after Will had stayed in his room, Aiden kept mentally replaying his call with Maxi, and he hadn’t trusted himself and the things he might say about her. He’d never been so angry before. Resentment had kept him up all night.
But he wasn’t going to blow