Blossom Street Bundle

“But…”

“Would you stop,” Jacqueline said.

Lillie had yet to try a single bite of her salad. “You’re right, you’re right.” She picked up her fork, then laid it down again. “The problem is, we don’t have a single thing in common.”

“Except for the fact that you’re attracted to him and I assume he is to you.”

“Jacqueline, I am attracted to him. I really am. I go to sleep thinking about him. I yearn for him…” Her face flushed with embarrassment.

“Have you analyzed what’s so attractive about him?”

She knew the answer immediately. “Oh, yes—he’s kind and gentle and honorable. He loves his children and I’m positive he was a faithful husband.” Just talking about Hector was enough to bring tears of longing to her eyes.

“You want him?” Jacqueline whispered the question.

“Not the way you’re thinking.” This wasn’t merely physical desire, although he was a good-looking man and late at night she’d fantasized about his mouth, his hands.… What she felt was, above all, emotional—that need for true kinship, that recognition of another’s soul. She tried to explain her feelings to her friend.

“This must be one helluva man,” Jacqueline commented.

“He is.”

“Then don’t wait, Lillie,” Jacqueline said earnestly. “I wasted too many years of my life before Reese and I…”

She let the rest fade, but Lillie knew what she meant. Jacqueline’s marriage had been like her own. She and Reese had lived as strangers for years. Jacqueline had reason to believe her husband had a mistress, and as a result she’d moved into a spare bedroom. They’d remained stiffly polite, ignoring each other as much as possible in the privacy of their home, acting like a loving couple outside it. No one had suspected. No one knew the truth about them.

Except Lillie.

She’d been able to identify the signs because she’d lived the same scenario.

Then, shortly before David’s accident, something changed between Jacqueline and Reese. Almost overnight they set aside their differences and became lovers again. They’d even traveled to Greece on a second honeymoon. The love was back in their marriage and in their lives.

Lillie never learned exactly what had brought about the change, although she suspected that Tammie Lee, the Donovans’ daughter-in-law, had something to do with it. When Paul had first brought home his young bride from Louisiana, Jacqueline had been horrified. Tammie Lee, with her southern drawl, wasn’t the daughter-in-law she’d wanted.

Personally, Lillie had instantly liked the young woman. She was sweet and genuine and good-humored, even if she did talk about recipes for pickled pigs’ feet and boiled peanuts.

It’d taken Jacqueline months to accept the idea of her only son married to Tammie Lee and then gradually, the relationship between the two women had undergone a shift. Not long after that, the relationship between Jacqueline and her husband had improved, too. She and Reese had clearly achieved some sort of reconciliation.

For a while Lillie had been jealous. She wanted the same happiness Jacqueline had rediscovered in her marriage. She’d hoped for that kind of turnaround in her own—but it never happened.

And yet, it wasn’t too late for a change in her life. It wasn’t too late to fulfill a wish…

She’d do it.

She’d defy her upbringing and find a way to ask Hector Silva on a date.

Chapter 17

Monday morning Anne Marie was finishing up the sale of a hardcover novel for one of her favorite customers, Larry Barber, a retired accountant, when Lillie and Barbie entered Blossom Street Books. Mother and daughter had never looked better. In fact, Anne Marie caught herself staring. A transformation had taken place in both women and while it might not be apparent to anyone else, Anne Marie noticed. Trying to discern what was different about them, she decided it was a new sense of life. They seemed to shimmer with it.

They talked animatedly to each other while Anne Marie completed the sale.

As Larry signed the charge slip, Anne Marie smiled a warm welcome at her friends. He wasn’t in any hurry to leave. Since his wife had died, he was lonely and came to the store for conversation with Anne Marie as much as he did for reading material. When business was slow, Anne Marie didn’t mind. She knew what it was to be alone and to crave companionship. This morning, however, she was impatient to be with Lillie and Barbie.

Larry must have realized the other women wanted to talk to her and, reaching for his purchase, thanked Anne Marie and headed out the door.

The minute he left, Barbie shimmied up to the counter. “I found a belly dancing class,” she announced and threw her arms in the air as if she was about to give a demonstration.

“Belly dancing?” Anne Marie repeated. “You talked about that during our Valentine’s get-together.”

“It’s on my wish list,” Barbie informed her. “I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.”

Lillie rolled her eyes playfully. “My daughter sometimes shocks even me.”

Barbie waved off her mother’s comment. “Oh, honestly, Mother, I’ve wanted to learn how to belly dance for ages.”

“You never said anything to me.”

“I know—I thought about it a lot, but it seemed so…oh, I don’t know, silly, I guess. Then, when I read about a class at the Fitness Center, I decided to learn how to do this. I’m not putting it off any longer.”

“That’s great,” Anne Marie said. She had an announcement of her own. “I signed up for a knitting class.” On Saturday, Lydia had told her that the long-delayed beginners’ class would start the following Wednesday at twelve-thirty.

“Is Elise teaching the class?” Lillie asked.

Anne Marie nodded. Elise had told her that working at the yarn store had been one of her wishes.

These lists of Twenty Wishes were influencing all their lives—and those of others, too. For instance, Elise’s wish had been a solution to Lydia’s problem of teaching too many classes. It seemed that every time Anne Marie went into A Good Yarn, Margaret was complaining that Lydia shouldn’t be taking on as much as she did. Now Elise would fill in as sales help when necessary and teach three classes. In addition to the beginners’ class, she’d be teaching a session on knitting with beads and another on felted purses.

For the moment, Anne Marie was content with the beginners’ class. Once she learned the basics, she’d venture out into more complicated techniques and projects.

Already she could see that knitting was something she’d enjoy. At noon she’d go and choose her yarn for the first class, two days from now. Timing would be tight, since Anne Marie was still joining Ellen for lunch on Wednesdays, even though the girl was living with her.

“I was thinking I’d have everyone over for dinner,” Lillie murmured, breaking into Anne Marie’s thoughts.

She must have responded with a blank look because Lillie immediately said, “For our meeting? To discuss our wishes.”

“Oh, right.”

“Is Thursday still okay?”

“Yes…” Anne Marie returned with some hesitation. “But remember Ellen will be with me.”

“That’s fine,” Lillie said.

“You’re sure?” Anne Marie could probably find someone to watch Ellen if she had to.

“Of course she can come,” Lillie was quick to tell her. “We’d love to have Ellen.”

Anne Marie grinned, remembering how intently Ellen had worked at compiling her own list. “Did I mention Ellen’s got Twenty Wishes, too?”