Debbie Macomber - Twenty Wishes

To
June Scobee Rodgers
My dear friend
An inspiration
And a joy

It was six oclock on Valentines Day, an hour that should have marked the beginning of a celebrationthe way it had when she and Robert were married. When Robert was alive. But tonight, on the most romantic day of the year, thirty-eight-year-old Anne Marie Roche was alone. Turning over the closed sign on the door of Blossom Street Books, she glanced at the Valentines display with its cutout hearts and pink balloons and the collection of romance novels she didnt read anymore. Then she looked outside. Streetlights flickered on as evening settled over the Seattle neighborhood.

The truth was, Anne Marie hated her life. Well, okay, hate was putting it too strongly. After all, she was healthy, reasonably young and reasonably attractive, financially solvent, and she owned the most popular bookstore in the area. But she didnt have anyone to love, anyone who loved her. She was no longer part of something larger than herself. Every morning when she woke, she found the other side of the bed empty and she didnt think shed ever get accustomed to that desolate feeling.

Her husband had died nine months ago. So, technically, she was a widow, although she and Robert had been separated. But they saw each other regularly and were working on a reconciliation.

Then, suddenly, it was all over, all hope gone. Just when they were on the verge of reuniting, her husband had a massive heart attack. Hed collapsed at the office and died even before the paramedics could arrive.

Anne Maries mother had warned her about the risks of marrying an older man, but fifteen years wasnt that much older. Robert, charismatic and handsome, had been in his mid-forties when they met. Theyd been happy together, well matched in every way but one.

Anne Marie wanted a baby.

Robert hadnt.

Hed had a familytwo childrenwith his first wife, Pamela, and wasnt interested in starting a second one. When shed married him, Anne Marie had agreed to his stipulation. At the time it hadnt seemed important. She was madly in love with Robertand then two years ago it hit her. This longing, this need for a baby, grew more and more intense, and Roberts refusal became more adamant. His solution had been to buy her a dog shed named Baxter. Much as she loved her Yorkie, her feelings hadnt changed. Shed still wanted a baby.

The situation wasnt helped by Melissa, Roberts twenty-four-year-old daughter, who disliked Anne Marie and always had. Over the years Anne Marie had made many attempts to ease the tension between them, all of which failed. Fortunately she had a good relationship with Brandon, Roberts son, who was five years older than his sister.

When problems arose in Anne Marie and Roberts marriage, Melissa hadnt been able to disguise her glee. Her stepdaughter seemed absolutely delighted when Robert moved out the autumn before last, seven months before his death.

Anne Marie didnt know what shed done to warrant such passionate loathing, other than to fall in love with Melissas father. She supposed the girls ardent hope that her parents would one day remarry was responsible for her bitterness. Every child wanted his or her family intact. And Melissa was a young teen when Anne Marie married Roberta hard age made harder by the familys circumstances. Anne Marie didnt blame Roberts daughter, but his marriage to Pamela had been dead long before she entered the picture. Still, try as she might, Anne Marie had never been able to find common ground with Melissa. In fact, she hadnt heard from her since the funeral.

Anne Marie opened the shop door as Elise Beaumont approached. Elises husband, Maverick, had recently passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. In her mid-sixties, she was a retired librarian whod reconnected with her husband after nearly thirty years apart, only to lose him again after less than three. She was a slight, gray-haired woman whod become almost gaunt, but the sternness of her features was softened by the sadness in her eyes. A frequent patron of the bookstore, she and Anne Marie had become friends during the months of Mavericks decline. In many ways his death was a release, yet Anne Marie understood how difficult it was to let go of someone you loved.

I was hoping youd come, Anne Marie told her with a quick hug. Shed closed the store two hours early, giving Steve Handley, her usual Thursday-night assistant, a free evening for his own Valentine celebration.

Elise slipped off her coat and draped it over the back of an overstuffed chair. I didnt think I would and then I decided that being with the other widows was exactly what I needed tonight.

The widows.

Theyd met in a book group Anne Marie had organized at the store. After Robert died, shed suggested reading Lolly Winstons Good Grief, a novel about a young woman adjusting to widowhood. It was through the group that Anne Marie had met Lillie Higgins and Barbie Foster. Colette Blake had joined, too. Shed been a widow whod rented the apartment above A Good Yarn, Lydia Goetzs yarn store. Colette had married again the previous year.

Although the larger group had read and discussed other books, the widows had gravitated together and begun to meet on their own. Their sessions were often informal gatherings over coffee at the nearby French Caf or a glass of wine upstairs at Anne Maries.

Lillie and Barbie were a unique pair of widows, mother and daughter. Theyd lost their husbands in a private plane crash three years earlier. Anne Marie remembered reading about the Learjet incident in the paper; both pilots and their two passengers had been killed in a freak accident on landing in Seattle. Lillies husband and son-in-law were executives at a perfume company and often took business trips together.

Lillie Higgins was close to Elises age, but that was all they shared. Actually, it was difficult to tell exactly how old Lillie was. She looked barely fifty, but with a forty-year-old daughter, she had to be in her mid-sixties. Petite and delicate, she was one of those rare women who never seemed to age. Her wardrobe consisted of ultra-expensive knits and gold jewelry. Anne Marie had the impression that if Lillie wanted, she could purchase this bookstore ten times over.