Blossom Street Bundle

“She is.” Anne Marie wished Melissa would get to the point. “But I’m sure you aren’t here to discuss my child-care activities.”

“No,” her stepdaughter agreed, fidgeting nervously with her hands. “Did Brandon tell you Mom and I aren’t getting along?”

“He mentioned it.”

“Mom’s really upset with me.”

“Is there any particular reason?”

She responded with a shrug. “Several, actually. For one thing, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to graduate on time.”

“Melissa!” Anne Marie couldn’t help the gasp of shock. Robert had bragged about Melissa’s making the Dean’s list; Anne Marie doubted that the problem, whatever it was, had anything to do with her grades.

“I…I dropped out of school.”

Anne Marie’s mouth fell open. “But…why?” she asked incredulously.

Melissa didn’t answer.

Anne Marie saw that the younger woman’s eyes had filled with tears. Gazing down at her hands, Melissa murmured something Anne Marie couldn’t quite hear.

“I beg your pardon?”

Melissa raised her chin. She inhaled and then said more loudly, “I’m pregnant.”

Anne Marie sagged against the back of the chair. “Pregnant,” she repeated, doing her best to hide her stunned surprise. “Mom is furious with me.”

Anne Marie could well imagine. Pamela had big plans for her daughter. Melissa’s career path had been paved very nicely by her mother, who worked in upper management for an international chain of hotels based in London. According to Brandon, Pamela had secured a middle management position for Melissa as soon as she received her MBA. With the position came the opportunity to live in England.

“She wants me to get rid of it—that’s how she put it. To have an abortion.”

Anne Marie hardly knew what to say. She couldn’t believe Pamela wanted to “get rid of ” her first grandchild. Robert would’ve been horrified by that, she thought.

“The baby is your boyfriend’s? Michael’s?” Anne Marie asked as she tried to sort through her own emotions.

Melissa nodded.

“What does he want you to do?”

Melissa closed her eyes. “I…I haven’t told him yet.”

Leaning forward, Anne Marie clasped Melissa’s hand.

Sobbing, her stepdaughter held on tightly. “I broke up with him.”

In her fear and panic, Melissa suddenly seemed very young to Anne Marie. “Michael has a right to know,” she whispered gently.

Melissa sniffed piteously. “I realize that, and I will tell him. It’s just that… Everything’s so messed up, and I’m not sure what to do. I didn’t tell him because I was afraid he’d try to influence me one way or the other, and I didn’t want that.”

“So you broke off the relationship?”

Melissa bit her lip. “Stupid, wasn’t it?”

Uncertain how to respond, Anne Marie squeezed her hand.

“I’ve never missed my dad more than I do right now. I’m so confused, and my mother’s so angry with me.”

“What does she say?” Anne Marie asked.

“She e-mails me two and three times a day with what she calls advice, except it reads more like a court order. I made a mistake, according to Mom, but that mistake doesn’t need to screw up the rest of my life. She told me to make an appointment at one of those clinics and terminate the pregnancy before it’s too late. She said if I lose this chance to work in England, I’ll always regret it—that I’ll never get a chance like this again.”

Anne Marie had to struggle to keep from saying what she thought of that advice.

“She made it sound like I wouldn’t regret making a hasty decision about my baby. I don’t think I can do it, Anne Marie.” The tears made wet tracks down her pale cheeks.

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, still clutching Anne Marie’s hand. “The thing is, I talked to a lady at the Pregnancy Crisis Clinic, and there are a lot more options than I thought.”

“Don’t you think you should explore all your options before you make such an important decision?”

“That’s just it,” Melissa sobbed. “I only have a few more days while it’s still legal to have an abortion.”

“How far along are you?”

“Over three months.” She pulled her hand free and scrabbled in her purse for a tissue. “At first I didn’t believe I could possibly be pregnant. I mean, I’ve never had regular periods, anyway, and there wasn’t any reason to…to think I might be. Michael and I used protection and, well, apparently it wasn’t a hundred percent effective, because here I am.” She gestured weakly, then wiped her nose.

“You’ve been to a doctor?”

She looked away. “Not yet. But a technician at the pregnancy clinic did an ultrasound and I actually saw my baby move.”

“Have you talked to your friends? Or Brandon?”

Melissa shook her head. “No one knows, other than you and my mother. I just couldn’t face anyone else.”

“How can I help you?” Anne Marie asked, wondering why Melissa had turned to her. But the reasons for her stepdaughter’s change of heart didn’t matter, Anne Marie told herself. She would do whatever she could.

“I need…I need someone who can help me decide.”

Melissa had difficulty making decisions; that was clear, since she’d made a number of spectacularly bad ones. But perhaps some of them could be reversed.

“Okay,” Anne Marie began, taking a deep breath. “First, I don’t see that there’s any reason to drop out of school, especially this close to graduation.”

“I know. That was just as stupid as breaking up with Michael, wasn’t it?”

“Do what you can to get back on course for graduation. Your father would’ve wanted you to complete your education.”

Melissa nodded; she seemed to appreciate the advice. “Several of my professors have asked to talk to me, so I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”