Summer on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #6)(57)

“And I have meetings.”

“Then Saturday it is,” she said.

“Saturday it is,” he echoed. “And it can’t come soon enough.”

Chapter 20

Anne Marie Roche

Ellen packed her overnight bag as if she intended to spend a month with her new grandmother instead of overnight.

“Should I take Thierry?” she asked Anne Marie, holding the stuffed teddy bear she’d purchased in France.

“I doubt he’ll f it in your suitcase,” Anne Marie told her, standing in the doorway of her daughter’s room. “I think you’ll be able to survive one night without him, don’t you?”

“Okay,” Ellen said, trying to zip up the small suitcase that bulged on both sides. Baxter slept on the bed, curled up tightly, snoozing away the Friday afternoon.

Anne Marie stepped inside the room. “Maybe I should help you close that.”

“I can do it,” Ellen insisted, and sure enough, she managed to pull the zipper all the way around, although it was a struggle. Turning, she smiled triumphantly at Anne Marie. “See?”

Anne Marie’s mother had agreed to keep Ellen overnight. This wasn’t the f irst night Ellen had spent with her Grandma Laura. Her mother’s wholehearted support of the adoption meant a lot to Anne Marie, especially since their relationship had been a diff icult one for some years.

“We’re going to watch movies and have popcorn and then tomorrow Grandma Laura’s taking me to the Pacif ic Science Center and she said I could ride on the monorail.”

“You’re going to have fun on Saturday.”

“What are you doing?” Ellen asked. Apparently the thought had only now entered her mind.

“Well…” Anne Marie had a full schedule, too. “To start with, I’m seeing Tim again.” She’d purposely made it sound like a date. Although they were meeting at a restaurant, this wasn’t a social engagement. Tim had gotten the test results back and had asked to talk to her privately. “Then I’m—”

“I like him,” Ellen said, interrupting her. “He’s funny.”

Anne Marie responded with a wobbly smile. “He is very nice,”

she agreed reluctantly. Intent on changing the subject, she quickly added, “Then on Saturday afternoon, when I’m f inished at the bookstore, I’m going out with a real estate agent to look at a couple of houses.”

Ellen’s face fell. “I don’t want to move. I like it here.”

Anne Marie was well aware of her daughter’s feelings, which was why she’d delayed leaving the neighborhood. Ellen loved their tiny apartment and the friends she’d made on Blossom Street. For most of her life, she’d been shuff led from foster home to foster home, and then to her Grandma Dolores’s. Understandably Ellen craved permanence and stability, and Anne Marie intended to provide that. Whenever they’d discussed moving from the apartment, Ellen had seemed apprehensive, so Anne Marie had waited. She was trying to handle this carefully to avoid undermining Ellen’s still-fragile sense of security. She’d hoped to f ind a house this summer and move in by the time school started. Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Once we’re in our new house we’ll never move again,” Anne Marie promised.

She could tell that Ellen didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“What else are you doing?” the girl asked.

“Saturday afternoon I’ll pick you up and we’ll go see Melissa, Michael and the baby. Brandon’s coming, too.”

Ellen broke into a smile and clapped her hands. “Oh, goody!”

In the course of the past year, Anne Marie’s relationship with her stepdaughter had gone from hostile, on Melissa’s part, to one of mutual affection and shared conf idences. Robert would be thrilled to know that the two women he’d loved were now close friends. His son, Brandon, had always been a supporter of Anne Marie’s and that hadn’t changed.

“You ready to head out?” Anne Marie asked.

Nodding, Ellen dragged the heavy bag off her bed. On the drive over to her mother’s house, Anne Marie reminded Ellen about her manners, although it wasn’t really necessary, since Ellen was a well-behaved child. Anne Marie stayed only long enough to get her settled. They hugged goodbye and then Ellen stood in the front window, Grandma Laura behind her, waving wildly.

Nerves twisted Anne Marie’s stomach as she got closer to her destination. She was meeting Tim Carlsen at a restaurant near his insurance agency—and as far from Blossom Street as possible. Forty minutes later, she parked on the street Tim had mentioned. She saw him pacing in front of the old-fashioned diner, waiting for her. Glancing at her watch, she noted that she was right on time, almost to the minute.

Tim’s eyes met hers as she crossed the street.

“Let’s go inside,” he said abruptly.

“Fine.” She didn’t know whether the DNA result was good news, or even what def ined good in this situation. All she could tell was that Tim seemed uneasy. That could mean he’d learned he was Ellen’s biological father—or that he wasn’t. They found a booth and slid inside, sitting opposite each other. The waitress brought over a coffeepot and Anne Marie righted her mug, as did Tim. He and the older woman exchanged fond greetings; he was obviously a regular and well-liked, which didn’t surprise Anne Marie.