Debbie Macomber - Blossom Street Bundle

She avoided eye contact. “I wasn’t sure how. I’ve never called a man—well, other than a professional or a friend.”

“My daughter said if you agreed to see me after tonight, it would be a miracle. She crossed herself when I told her I invited you to go bowling.”

Lillie laughed. The cheerful clatter from the bowling alley made her curious and she noticed that everyone seemed to be having fun. “I have another confession to make.”

“Two confessions in a single night?”

“Two,” she said with a smile. “I’ve never been bowling.”

This didn’t appear to surprise him, either. “Would you like to learn?” he asked.

“Only if you’re going to be my teacher.”

From across the table he grinned at her and she was mesmerized. He’d captured her imagination and her senses with his unfailing courtesy, genuine charm and with his kindness.

When they finished their coffee, Hector procured them a lane, fitted her with rented shoes, and then proceeded to show Lillie how to bowl.

By the end of the evening, Lillie had to admit she hadn’t laughed this much in twenty years. It was gratifying—and completely unexpected—to discover that she had a certain knack for the sport. What they both found nothing short of hilarious was the fact that her ball rolled at the speed of an earthworm. She’d release it just the way Hector instructed, return to her seat and wait while the bowling ball slowly but surely trundled down the narrow lane. After what seemed like minutes, the ball would connect with the pins. They’d fall lazily over, one at a time, almost in slow motion, knocking into one another.

People stopped to watch when the ball finally made contact and the pins started to tumble. Once she managed to knock down nine pins, and the people in the next alley actually broke into applause.

Hector—who was obviously an accomplished bowler, as his succession of strikes made clear—claimed he’d never seen anything like it. Apparently, no one else had, either. The place was growing crowded, and Lillie was unaccustomed to all the attention, which embarrassed her. All she could do was laugh.

And when she laughed, Hector did, too.

In the last frame of their final game, Lillie achieved her first strike. It took nearly a minute for all the pins to fall and when the last one spun around and around and eventually toppled, she jumped up and down like a schoolgirl. Hector hugged her and then self-consciously stepped back.

After that, they turned in their bowling shoes and balls. She could hardly remember a time she’d enjoyed more. When they left the lanes, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for him to take her hand.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, dangling his suit jacket over his shoulder.

“Famished.”

“I am, too. Do you have a favorite restaurant?”

“Yes, I do,” she said and smiled over at him. “It’s right here.”

“Lillie, please allow me to take you to a real restaurant.”

“This one looks real.”

He hesitated. “My daughter suggested Gaucho’s. She said they have an extensive wine list and a pianist who plays classical music.”

“Are you planning to wine and dine me?”

“Yes, it’s what you deserve. I want only the best for you.”

It was such a sweet gesture, but she couldn’t let Hector spend that kind of money. Besides, she wasn’t dressed for anyplace formal. “I’d love some cheese enchiladas,” she told him.

Hector squeezed her fingers. “If you insist, but if my daughter asks, please tell her the choice was yours, not mine.”

“Rita?”

“Yes. Before I left this evening, she gave me a long list of things I should and shouldn’t do. When I dated my wife, it was nothing like this.” He stopped abruptly. “I don’t mean to imply…”

“I know,” she assured him. “I feel just as nervous as you.”

“Really?”

She laughed. “You mean you can’t tell?”

“No.” He seemed genuinely surprised. “I have a confession to make.”

“You?” Well, she’d already made two of her own.

“When I look at you,” he said in a low voice, “I forget to breathe.”

She wondered if he realized the effect his words had on her—or that she felt the very same way.

“Me, too,” she whispered. She might have said more but a booth became available and they slid inside.

They each ordered the enchiladas and lingered over coffee, chatting until after one in the morning. Only when Lillie couldn’t hold back a yawn did Hector suggest they call it a night.

He walked her to her car, which was one of the four or five still in the parking lot. The entire time Lillie prayed Hector would want to see her again. When he didn’t mention it, she was sure this would be their one and only date.

“I had a lovely evening,” she said, fumbling for her keys.

“So did I.”

“Thank you for everything.” She opened the car door and got in.

He nodded, stepping away as she started the engine.

Lillie’s heart was in her throat.

“Saturday,” he blurted out just as she was ready to drive away.

“Pardon?”

“Would you like to attend a lecture at the museum with me this Saturday?”

The relief was so overwhelming, she nearly broke into tears. “That would be wonderful, Hector.”

Wonderful didn’t begin to describe it.

Chapter 24

Wednesday afternoon, the sun was shining and the wind off Puget Sound was warm. This was a perfect spring day, and Anne Marie suddenly realized she felt…good. She’d almost forgotten what that was like. The comfort of the sun, the freshness of the breeze, the company of others—they all contributed to her sense of well-being. Most of all, though, she felt a contentment she hadn’t experienced since before her separation from Robert.

She’d just finished a knitting class with Elise Beaumont. Three other women had signed up, and the session had been fun, with plenty of banter as Elise reviewed their work.

While she was at the yarn store, Colette Dempsey came by with her infant daughter. At first Anne Marie had been afraid that seeing her friend with the baby would be painful; it wasn’t. Even though the world seemed to be full of surprise pregnancies and secret ones, too, she managed to distance herself from destructive emotions like envy.

She found she could genuinely delight in Colette’s joy. They talked for an hour, and the visit passed with barely a ripple of pain.

Anne Marie was saddened by the news that Colette and her husband, Christian, would be moving to California at the end of June for business reasons. Christian owned a successful importing firm and would be opening a second office in San Diego.

She recalled that only a year ago, Colette had been a widow like her, and that was something they’d had in common. But Colette had been hiding a pregnancy and she’d struggled with a painful dilemma that had been dramatically resolved.

Nothing dramatic had happened to Anne Marie in the last two months. Nothing had really changed, either; certainly not her circumstances, other than the fact that Ellen was living with her but that was only a temporary situation. The only difference was in Anne Marie’s attitude.

She still had to make an effort to maintain that attitude. Her Twenty Wishes had helped, because she now felt she had some control over her emotions. Doing something for someone else—Ellen—had, without a doubt, made the biggest difference.

To be honest, avoiding the question of Rebecca Gilroy had helped, too. One day soon, she’d ask who had fathered her son. But not until she felt ready to accept the answer.

After her knitting class, Anne Marie did a few errands and then collected Baxter so the two of them could meet Ellen’s school bus. The girl’s spirits had been low since she’d learned that her Grandma Dolores wouldn’t be home as quickly as they’d hoped.