Summer on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #6)(72)

“Not in the least. Other people can handle it. I can’t.”

Still, she felt guilty drinking in his presence. “I don’t mind doing without wine,” she said.

He held up his hand. “Please don’t. Sobriety is up to me and me alone.”

His attitude impressed her, and she sipped her wine, almost able to enjoy it.

When the waiter returned, they placed their dinner orders. Tim asked for the eggplant parmigiano and Anne Marie the clam spaghetti. The waiter left and Anne Marie smoothed her napkin repeatedly in her nervousness, waiting for Tim to speak. So far, she’d dominated the conversation.

“I’m hoping now that we’ve had a chance to get to know each other, you’ll be comfortable with me,” he said.

“I already feel that way.” Anne Marie took a piece of bread and tore off a bite. “I can hardly believe how much.” She dipped the bread in the small dish of olive oil in the center of the table, not looking at him as she spoke. “You’ve convinced me that you won’t try to take Ellen away from me.”

“I’d never do that. The two of you belong together. Dolores got that right. She knew you’d love and care for Ellen better than Candy—or anyone else, for that matter.”

She f lushed, feeling a surge of joy. The fact that he, of all people, had acknowledged this brought her not only gratitude but peace. “Thank you,” she murmured.

They enjoyed their meal immensely, talking about a wide range of subjects from baseball to politics and everything in between. Over spumoni and coffee, Tim grew quiet again. “If it’s okay with you, Anne Marie, I’d like to tell my parents about Ellen.”

It would be self ish to withhold a grandparent’s love from her daughter, so Anne Marie agreed. “That would be f ine.”

His hand cradled the coffee cup, and he nodded solemnly.

“Thank you.”

“You told me Ellen’s their only granddaughter.”

“She is, and my mother’s been dying to have a girl to spoil. My younger sister has two boys.”

“She sounds just like my mother.”

Tim stared down at his coffee. “Would you also be willing to let Ellen spend time with me alone?”

Anne Marie hadn’t expected this subject to come up quite so soon, yet it was a reasonable request. “Are you asking about visitation?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Still, she hesitated. “How often were you thinking?”

He shrugged. “I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me. I don’t mean to pressure you, Anne Marie. If you’d rather wait, I understand.”

“But you wanted to plant the thought in my mind.”

“Yes, that’s a good way of putting it.”

“You’re asking if you can tell Ellen that you’re her father.”

This was the great unasked question, the one that underlay all the others.

“I would like to do that. Even before I got the test results I felt that Ellen was my child.”

Now it was Anne Marie’s turn to stare into her coffee. Her ice cream had started to melt, and she pushed it aside. Her f irst inclination, self ish though it might be, was to deny him. She glanced up and found him watching her intently, his eyes relaying a message of hope and expectancy.

“I want to be with Ellen when you tell her.”

“Of course.”

“We’ll begin the visitations slowly. And you can’t tell her until I feel she’s ready.”

“Like I said, you’re the one setting the rules.”

He was so agreeable, and that helped soothe her worries.

“Would it be all right if I took her one night next week? My parents’ wedding anniversary is coming up and I’d like Ellen to meet them before the big party.”

Before she could f ind an excuse to refuse him, Anne Marie nodded. “But they can’t let her know who they are. What they are to her, I mean.”

“I accept that.” His gaze held hers. “Thank you.”

This request probably explained why he’d asked her to dinner on her own, which was more than a little disappointing.

“I’m glad we got that settled,” she said briskly.

“Actually,” Tim said, “there’s something else.”

“Oh?”

He lowered his eyes. “I’m afraid I might have misled you in the past few weeks.”

“Misled me? How?”

“I apologize. That was never my intention.”

Anne Marie was even more confused. “What are you talking about?”

He inhaled deeply. “I guess the best way to tell you is just to tell you. I’m involved with someone else.”

Anne Marie sat unmoving as the shock rippled through her.

“You’re…involved.”

“Vanessa and I—”

“Her name’s Vanessa?”

“Yes, and I have to tell you this whole situation has been very difficult for her.”

Anne Marie bit off a sarcastic comment. She needed all the self-control she possessed not to reveal how shocked she was by his announcement.

“I didn’t want you to—”

Anne Marie struggled to remain calm. “Don’t you think you might’ve said something sooner?”