Twenty Wishes (Blossom Street #5)(24)

“Which is?”

“You promise not to laugh or try to talk me out of it?”

“Of course.” There was the matter of those red cowboy boots, for one thing.

“I’m going to get a tattoo.”

What? Elise? Anne Marie nearly swallowed her tongue. “Have you decided where?”

“There’s a tattoo parlor near the waterfront and—”

“No, I meant where on you. Your shoulder or—”

“Oh, I’m not sure yet. Maverick had one. On his right arm.” The older woman looked flustered. “But that’s enough about me. Tell me what’s troubling you.”

Anne Marie would rather avoid the subject altogether; at the same time she was grateful for the chance to talk about it with someone she knew and trusted. She sighed. “I had dinner with my stepdaughter Friday night.”

“I take it the evening wasn’t pleasant.”

“No…Melissa had recently gone to Robert’s office and discovered that his personal assistant had a baby.”

Elise straightened her shoulders. “A baby…” she repeated. “Is it Robert’s?”

Anne Marie shrugged. “I’d say it’s highly probable.”

Elise’s eyes narrowed. “But you’re not sure?”

“No.”

“You’re going to find out, aren’t you?”

“I…I don’t feel it’s my place to say or do anything.”

“Yes, it is!” Elise said adamantly. “Who better than you? Robert was your husband.”

“But…”

“And so far the identity of the father is pure conjecture.”

“Well, yes, to a certain extent. Apparently while Robert and I were separated, Melissa discovered her father and Rebecca in a, uh, compromising position. Nine months later, Rebecca turns up with a baby. What else am I to think?”

Elise pursed her lips. “It does seem suspicious. The only way to know for sure is to ask her.”

Anne Marie saw the wisdom of confronting Rebecca, but she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t convinced she’d ever have the courage to speak to her. “Brandon and Melissa are the ones who need to know.”

“You, my dear, were Robert’s wife. Yes, I’m aware that you’d separated. He behaved badly, and I’m positive that if he was here, he’d tell you how much he regrets everything that happened.”

“He didn’t want another family…. Perhaps he just didn’t want children with me.”

“Don’t say that,” Elise said sharply. “Don’t think it, either. If Robert was alive he’d be aghast at this news.”

“You never knew him.”

“But I know you,” she came right back. “From what you’ve told me, Robert loved you.”

“I thought he did.” All of a sudden Anne Marie couldn’t help wondering. She’d lost Robert to a heart attack and now the vision of the man she’d so desperately loved had been destroyed. Along with it, all her dreams of the future, the hopes and promises she’d hung on to during their separation, had fizzled out to nothing.

“Don’t leap to any conclusions until you talk to Rebecca yourself,” Elise warned her. “No one has more of a right to the truth than you.”

Elise made it sound so simple, so straight forward and uncomplicated.

The server brought the steaming soup, and Anne Marie inhaled the gingery scent. For the first time in days she felt like eating. Elise reached across the table and clasped her forearm.

“Promise me you’ll contact Rebecca and ask her. Do it for yourself,” Elise said.

“I can’t….”

“You can and you will,” the other woman insisted. “Don’t you remember what Scripture says? ‘The truth shall set you free,’ and until you know the truth you’ll be held captive by your fears and doubts.”

Anne Marie merely nodded as she tasted her soup. Delicious. They’d used coconut milk, she guessed, allowing herself to be momentarily distracted.

“Find out,” Elise urged again as she picked up her spoon. “Don’t accept all this conjecture and half-baked information. Melissa might have misjudged the situation entirely.”

“I…don’t think so.” Naturally Anne Marie wanted to believe that Robert would never cheat on her. And yet she had to be realistic, too.

“But you don’t know and you won’t until you speak to this woman.”

Anne Marie was forced to agree.

“You’ll do it, then?”

Reluctantly she nodded. Not now, though, not when the pain was still so fresh and her heart was aching.

“You won’t disappoint me, will you?” Elise held her gaze for a long moment.

“No,” Anne Marie promised. “I’ll get in touch with Rebecca and I’ll ask her.”

Then and only then did Elise smile. “Remember—the truth shall set you free.”

Chapter 7

The minute Anne Marie entered the school grounds at Woodrow Wilson with Baxter on his leash, she was surrounded by children, apparently out for a late recess or an early lunch. Baxter looked up at her expectantly and, fearing the small dog might be overwhelmed, she lifted him into her arms.