Debbie Macomber - Blossom Street Bundle

“No way! You’re dying to tell me, I know you are. Spill it.”

“I’ve never been on a date with him, so there’s nothing to tell you.”

Jacqueline frowned. “Why not?”

“For one thing, he hasn’t asked and…and, well, I doubt he ever will, so there’s no point in discussing this any further.”

“He’s younger, isn’t he?”

“No! Wipe that silly grin off your face, Jacqueline Donovan. It’s not like that at all. He’s shy and I think he’d like to ask me out but he hasn’t.” She was saying more than she’d ever intended and desperately wished she’d never introduced the subject.

Jacqueline leaned back in her chair and a smile quivered at the edges of her mouth. “You should ask him out,” she insisted.

“What?”

“I mean it. In our generation, the men always did the asking, but times have changed. If you’re interested in this man—this stranger you refuse to tell your very best friend about—then all I can say is that you need to take the initiative.”

Lillie stared across the table at her, and Jacqueline stared right back. “I can’t!”

That went against every dictate of her upbringing. Ask Hector out on a date? It was a preposterous suggestion. An outrageous idea.

Jacqueline simply shook her head. “You can ask him, and you will. Or…or I’ll do it for you.”

At that Lillie giggled. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Why is that ridiculous? You’re a lovely woman, Lillie, and a beautiful person besides. You deserve happiness. Isn’t that what the Twenty Wishes are all about? Going after the things you want in life. Places to see, people to meet, experiences to live. Don’t hold back now. Go for it!”

Could Jacqueline be right?

Without some kind of pledge from her, Jacqueline was never going to shut up about this. “I’ll consider it.” That was the best she could do for now.

“Good.” Jacqueline nodded, obviously pleased.

Lillie relaxed, wondering how she could possibly approach Hector. Oh, for heaven’s sake, what did she know about such things? If David was alive, she could’ve asked him. He was the one with all the dating experience. That thought produced a hysterical giggle that she tried, unsuccessfully, to swallow.

Jacqueline regarded her closely. “What’s so funny?”

Embarrassed, Lillie shook her head. “You—saying I should contact my friend and ask him out.” She waved her hand. “I was just thinking—Never mind.”

“No, tell me,” Jacqueline insisted.

So she did, and soon they were both laughing.

The waiter brought their lunch and automatically refilled their glasses.

“You’re going to do it,” Jacqueline said firmly, leaving no room for argument. She reached for her fork.

“I—”

“Yes, you are,” Jacqueline returned. “You want to see this man, don’t you?”

Lillie gave a barely perceptible nod.

“If you need me standing by to encourage you, then that’s what I’ll do.”

Lillie felt a moment’s hope. No, it was impossible. Even if she did find the courage, she didn’t know what kind of outing to suggest. Perhaps a movie? Barbie seemed to be going to the movies a lot these days.

“You’re looking serious now,” Jacqueline said.

“He might refuse,” she blurted out. “I might’ve completely misread him.”

“So what?” Her friend shrugged as if this was an insignificant concern. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

“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.