Catch snowflakes on my tongue and then make snow angels
18. Read all of Jane Austen
Lillie and Barbie had both said they wanted to fall in love again. Anne Marie wasn’t sure she did. Love had brought her more grief than joy. She’d loved Robert to the very depths of her soul, and his sudden death had devastated her.
Then to learn he’d had an affair with his personal assistant… The betrayal of it still felt like a crushing weight.
Anne Marie closed her eyes at the pain.
“Stop it,” she said aloud. “Stop it right now.”
She felt suddenly angry with herself. It was as if she’d set out to dismantle the positive attitude she’d so carefully created and destroy all the happiness she’d managed to find by thinking of everything that had gone wrong. No, she wouldn’t do it; she refused to let herself reexamine the pain of the last months.
Turning a page, she looked at the picture of the Eiffel Tower.
Someday she’d go.
Someday that wish, too, would be fulfilled.
Chapter 25
Anne Marie entered the small neighborhood park at the end of Blossom Street, where she walked Baxter every morning. Her stepdaughter sat on a bench waiting for her.
The weather had taken a turn for the worse since Wednesday, when she’d gone to the waterfront with Ellen and Baxter. This afternoon the sky was overcast and the scent of rain hung in the air.
Melissa had suggested they have lunch in the park. Anne Marie appreciated not having any reminder of their last restaurant meeting.
“Hi,” Melissa said as Anne Marie sat down beside her.
“Hi.” Strange—after years of avoidance, they were now seeking each other’s company. Anne Marie was curious about what Melissa had decided since they’d last talked.
“I’m having yogurt for lunch,” Melissa announced. “I don’t even like it, but Michael says it’s good for me and the baby.”
Anne Marie took out a tuna sandwich she’d slapped together that morning. “You told Michael, then.”
Melissa peeled off the foil top on the yogurt container and discarded it in her sack. “I went to see him right after you and I met, just like you said, and I’m glad I did.” She paused. “He was definitely shocked.”
“No more than you were.”
“True.” She grew quiet. “He didn’t believe me at first.”
This angered Anne Marie on her stepdaughter’s behalf. “Why not?”
“Remember I was the one who broke up with him, and I hurt him pretty badly. I should never have done that. I should’ve told Michael right away.”
“We all make mistakes,” Anne Marie said. She’d certainly made hers. Late at night she sometimes wondered if she’d been wrong to give Robert an ultimatum, if she should’ve tried to work things out in a different way.
“I could see he wanted to talk to me, but he was scared I’d hurt him again, so he kept looking away.” Melissa’s voice became more animated. “I kept asking him to look at me and he wouldn’t.”
It must have been terribly frustrating. “What did you do?”
Melissa appeared to be studying her yogurt, but Anne Marie could see she was smiling. “I kissed his neck.”
“His neck?”
“Michael’s a lot taller than I am and that’s as far as I could reach. I said I loved him and that I was sorry. I put my arms around him and told him the reason I broke up with him was because I was afraid.” She unwrapped the plastic spoon. “To tell you the truth I was even more scared then. My friend, the one who told me she’d seen Michael with someone else, had some other news, too, and I was sure I’d lost him for good.”
“What news?”
“She said she’d seen him in a jewelry store, looking at diamond rings.”
“For this other girl?”
“No, but I’m getting ahead of myself.”
“Okay, go back. Tell me what happened when you told Michael about the baby.”
Some of the happiness left Melissa’s eyes. “Like I said, he didn’t believe me. He thought I was making it up, which made me so mad I almost walked away. I’m glad I didn’t, though.”
“But why would he even think that?”
Melissa shrugged. “He didn’t trust me, and I can’t blame him.” She met Anne Marie’s eyes. “I said I’d never make anything like this up and to prove it I showed him the ultrasound I got from the pregnancy center.”
“I’ll bet that got his attention.”
Melissa laughed. “It sure did. He nearly fainted. All he could do was look at that little picture of our baby and walk around in circles. He was so pale I thought he was going to pass out. It took him a few minutes to get used to the idea, and then he asked me what I intended to do. I said that was why I’d come to see him. I felt this was a decision we should make together.”
Anne Marie nodded. She didn’t speak, not wanting to interrupt the flow of Melissa’s story.
“One thing I did, which I regret now, was to tell him that Mom wanted me to get rid of the baby. Michael got really, really upset. Basically I’d already decided that there are so many other options, an abortion would be my last resort.”
Although she didn’t remember Michael from the funeral, Anne Marie felt warmly disposed toward him, sure she’d approve of this obviously responsible young man.
“He said a baby needs a mother and a father,” Melissa went on, “and naturally I agreed because I believe that, too.” She dipped her spoon into the yogurt and put it in her mouth. “Do you want to know how bad my sense of timing is?” she said a moment later.
Anne Marie grinned at her wry tone. “I can’t wait to hear.”
“The night I broke up with Michael was the very same night he was going to propose to me. He had an engagement ring in his pocket and everything. The diamond he’d been buying when my friend saw him was for me. And the other girl was just a study partner.”
“Oh, Melissa.”
“We’ve been seeing each other practically every night. Oh, and I’m back in school.” She smiled confidently. “You can bet he’s doing all his studying with me now.”
“That’s great! But there’s something I need to know. Are you going to marry Michael?” She knew marriage was what Robert would’ve wanted for his daughter.
“Yes. Yes, I am. But I’m getting ahead
