and grandchildren the same age. Nor, he claimed, did he want his children to be mistaken for his grandchildren.
But it was useless to review their arguments now. What she recalled most strongly was Robert’s anticipation of his children’s children. Unlike Pamela, he would’ve been thrilled with the news of this baby.
Apparently Pamela had yet to be won over. But Anne Marie had to assume it wouldn’t be long before the baby stole his or her grandmother’s heart.
“As soon as I talked to Michael, we decided to get engaged,” Melissa said. “Then I called my mother.” Melissa frowned. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation.”
“How did you tell her?”
“I tried to be positive. I told her I’d discussed the baby with Michael and right off, that upset her. Mom said the decision was mine and mine alone, and by dragging him into it I was only complicating what should be a simple decision.”
“Oh, dear…”
“You know,” she said slowly. “I’ve never seen this side of my mother before. She’s totally convinced I should take that job and move to England.”
“You still could, I guess.”
She nodded. “But I’m not sure I ever really wanted a job in London. Mom keeps telling me what a fabulous opportunity this is, the chance of a lifetime and all that. But it would mean leaving Michael and I don’t want that, baby or no baby.”
“Couldn’t he come with you?” With Pamela’s resources, it might be possible to get Michael employment, as well.
“No. He’s going to work in his father’s carpet business. He’ll eventually take over the company. It isn’t like he could just pack up and follow me to another country. He’d like to go to Europe one day, but Seattle is home.”
That made sense to Anne Marie.
“I don’t think I ever realized how much Mom had her heart set on me joining her in the corporate world.”
Anne Marie could understand Pamela’s disappointment. Her marriage to Robert had disintegrated when Pamela accepted a position that often took her out of the country. The arrangement had suited Pamela and, although Robert was involved in his own career, he loved his children and willingly looked after their needs. Pamela cared about her kids, too, of course, but she had her own vision of what was best for them. Whether they actually agreed with that vision seemed irrelevant to her.
“I’m sure your mother’s afraid you might be repeating her mistake—or what she sees as one,” Anne Marie said as gently as she could. She didn’t want to suggest the marriage had been a mistake, although in retrospect it probably was.
“She started yelling at me and said I’d regret this for the rest of my life.”
Pamela’s temper was legendary.
“I asked her if she regretted having Brandon and me and she said…” Melissa swallowed hard. “She said if she had to do it over again, she wouldn’t have had either one of us because we’ve done nothing but let her down.”
“She didn’t mean that! She couldn’t mean it.” Anne Marie was horrified by such a cruel remark, even if Pamela had lashed out, unthinking.
“I know,” Melissa said in a small voice. “Afterward she e-mailed me and apologized, but she still said she wanted no part of the wedding.”
The wedding. Melissa and Michael were going to have a wedding. Of course they were.
“Will you come to our wedding?” Melissa asked tentatively.
“Absolutely! I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
Melissa smiled, and Anne Marie saw tears in her eyes. “I still can’t believe this, you know,” she muttered.
“What your mother said?”
“No, me coming to you for advice. And support. A year ago, even three months ago, I would never have done that. I…I thought I hated you.”
“Let’s try to forget all that, okay?”
“I blamed you for the divorce, although I know it wasn’t your fault at all. Brandon and I had a long talk about you, and he’s helped me figure things out. Emotions can become habits,” she said haltingly as she wiped her eyes. “But habits can be changed.”
There was a silence, and Anne Marie found herself blinking back tears of her own. “Can I help with the wedding?” she finally asked, diverting the subject from herself and their painful past.
“You’d do that?”
“I offered, didn’t I?”
“Well, yes, but I never expected… I didn’t think you’d have time.”
“I’ll make time.” Anne Marie wanted to help Melissa. The possibility filled her with hope and a kind of exultation. For nearly thirteen years her relationship with her stepdaughter had been nothing less than turbulent. Then, for reasons she didn’t completely understand, it had begun to change.
“I wasn’t going to tell you, but…”
“Tell me what?” Melissa glanced at her suspiciously.
“I’m taking knitting classes and I bought yarn for a baby blanket.”
Melissa smiled tremulously. “You did that for me?”
“I’m going to be a stepgrandma, aren’t I?”
Melissa nodded, and tears coursed down her cheeks unrestrained. “I can’t believe how wonderful you’ve been to me.” Melissa reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Thank you, Anne Marie,” she whispered.
Anne Marie put aside her half-finished sandwich. “Ellen picked out the yarn,” she said, clearing her throat. “It’s a variegated one with yellow, pink, pale blue and lavender.” Anne Marie was eager to start. As soon as she’d finished the lap robe for Dolores, she’d knit the blanket for Melissa and Michael’s baby. Her stepgrandchild.
“I’ll treasure it. And please thank Ellen. I hope I can meet her soon.” Melissa used a napkin to mop her face as she spoke. Except for her reddened eyes, she looked as beautiful as ever.
“We’ll arrange something,” Anne Marie said. “Now, have you and Michael set a date?”
“July twelfth.”
It was almost the middle of April. That didn’t leave them much time, especially with Melissa and Michael both graduating from college in the next month.
“You’re reinstated in your classes, but what about the work you missed? Have you caught up?”
“Yes, Mom,” Melissa said with a laugh.
Anne Marie was beginning to feel like a parent, or rather Melissa was letting her feel like one. Melissa’s stepmom. Darn it, she loved how that felt.
Robert
