Anne Marie could see that Mel was trying to help Ellen see all the possibilities that awaited her in her new home. She thanked him with a smile, and he clasped her hand beneath the table.
Half an hour later, when they couldn’t eat another bite, Mel asked for the bill. Carrying their leftovers, Anne Marie and Ellen walked to the parking garage for their car. Mel drove to the house on his own.
Anne Marie and Ellen got there before him and after parking in the driveway, Anne Marie unlocked the front door, conscious that this was the first of many times. The inside looked different now that it was empty of furniture. The Johnsons had left the house meticulously clean, the floors scrubbed and polished and the walls freshly painted and unmarked.
Mel showed up soon afterward. “What a lovely house,” he commented, stepping inside. He paused in the doorway to survey the hall and the living room.
“Come,” Ellen said, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the hallway. “My bedroom’s this way.”
“What about your mom’s?” he asked, looking back at Anne Marie over his shoulder.
She nearly burst out laughing.
“Mom’s across the hall from me,” Ellen told him.
“Directly across the hall,” Anne Marie said pointedly. Although they’d been dating for several months, their relationship hadn’t gotten physical—not beyond kissing, anyway—although Anne Marie sensed that Mel was interested in taking it further.
While Ellen showed him the bedrooms and the other areas of the house, she put the leftover Chinese food in the otherwise empty refrigerator. The official move was the next day—Saturday morning. The movers would take care of the furniture, while friends and family had volunteered to bring over the boxes. Anne Marie hoped to get Ellen settled before the end of the school year, which would give her a chance to make friends in her neighborhood this summer.
She heard Ellen and Mel clattering down the hallway, their footsteps echoing.
“Do you want to see the kitchen?” Ellen was asking
Mel.
“Of course. Will you cook me dinner one night?”
“I don’t cook that good without Mom helping me.”
“I bet she’d do it if you asked.”
“Do you like macaroni and cheese?” Ellen asked. “I can make that in the microwave. It comes in a box.”
“Ah …” Mel met Anne Marie’s look as he entered the kitchen.
“I think Mel would be thrilled with whatever you cooked,” she inserted smoothly, smothering a laugh when Mel rolled his eyes.
“I’ll eat anything you decide to serve me,” Mel agreed.
“Okay.” Ellen nodded seriously. “A boy in my class brought chocolate-covered ants to school last week.”
“Chocolate-covered ants?” Mel repeated.
“I didn’t eat any,” Ellen said, then explained, “There weren’t enough for everyone.”
“That’s a shame,” Mel said with obvious insincerity, although Ellen didn’t seem to notice.
Ellen was about to say something else when the doorbell chimed.
Anne Marie shrugged, answering Mel’s unspoken question. “I’m not expecting anyone,” she said. It seemed a bit early for the neighbors to be introducing themselves. However, this could be a visit from a political candidate, as an election was coming up soon.
Ellen beat her to the door and threw it open. Even before Anne Marie could see who’d come calling, her daughter announced, “It’s Dad!”
Anne Marie cast Mel an apologetic look. “Hello, Tim,” she said cordially, standing behind Ellen.
“Hello.” He smiled at his daughter. “How’s my girl?”
“Good.” Ellen beamed happily, always excited about seeing her father.
Tim gazed at Anne Marie, as if seeking confirmation that everything really was fine. His smile had a curious effect on her, which she did her best to ignore. She stood in the doorway, blocking his entry. “What can I do for you?” she asked politely, praying Mel would stay in the kitchen until Tim left.
His timing was bad. Mel already had a problem with Tim’s coming around as much as he did, and Anne Marie didn’t want him to think Tim stopped by whenever he felt like it. That wasn’t the case; he generally made arrangements well in advance. Thank goodness, because she tried to keep the two men apart as much as possible.
“I can only stay for a few minutes,” Tim said. “I came over to drop off a small housewarming gift.”
“Oh.” Anne Marie felt properly chastised—and a little embarrassed.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“Oh—of course.” She stepped aside to let him in as Ellen held the screen door, not hiding her delight.
Two
April 22
Mom says I’ll get used to my new house, but I won’t. I keep telling her I like it right here on Blossom Street. Lydia said I’d have a big room all to myself and a closet, and that I’ll make new friends. But I like my old friends. I don’t want new ones. Baxter doesn’t want to move, either. I told my dad I’d rather stay here and he said I might not like the new house now but I will later. He said I’d still have my friends on Blossom Street. Mom said that, too…. I’m not sure she really wants to move, either, because she’s been knitting a lot and she knits real slow when she’s worried about something. She doesn’t think I pay attention but I do.
Tim decided he shouldn’t have come to the house—not yet. Ellen had said Anne Marie was signing the final papers that day, so it was probably too soon. In their visit the previous weekend, he’d spent a lot of time reassuring his daughter that the move would be a good thing. He wondered how successful he’d been.
More than anything, Tim wanted to help Ellen make a comfortable transition to her new neighborhood. He’d picked up a plant for the yard, which he’d set on the porch. But the housewarming gift was just an excuse, and Anne Marie had seen through it right away.
Anne Marie.
He’d blown it with her, handled the situation between them poorly. His AA sponsor had repeatedly emphasized the importance of honesty, but Tim had been afraid that if he told Anne Marie he was engaged to Vanessa, she wouldn’t let him see Ellen. Because his daughter meant everything to him, Tim had been afraid to take that risk. He’d have had to be blind not to see that Anne Marie was falling for him but he hadn’t acknowledged it. Instead, he’d delayed telling her the truth, which was a passive—and dishonest—way of encouraging her.
Knowing her better now, Tim understood that Anne Marie would never have used the fact that he was involved with someone else as a pretext for keeping his daughter away from him. The irony was that his engagement hadn’t lasted very long once Ellen—and Anne Marie—became part of his life.
Tim could hardly bear to think of his troubled past, his wasted years. Thank God for his family’s support. It’d been an act of tough love for his parents to step back and allow him to self-destruct. As a parent himself, he knew that couldn’t have been easy. But when he’d finally hit bottom, his family had been there, waiting. His mother and father were the first ones to offer him guidance and practical help.
They’d gotten him into a rehab center and from that moment on he hadn’t looked back. He’d been sober ten years now. It was while he was trying to make restitution to the people he’d hurt that he learned he might have a child.
The discovery had shocked him, thrown him into a tailspin. That day was the closest he’d