Gabi frowned at the suggestion. “While Mom was alive? No way. Dad could barely spare enough attention for his wife and kids. He didn’t have time for another woman. Besides, Miriam must be close to seventy by now, so she’s at least ten years older than Dad.”
“But he did spend an awful lot of time at the office,” Emily countered.
“Okay, enough,” Gabi said impatiently. “Dad has his issues, but infidelity isn’t one of them. I’m as sure of that as I am that the sun will come up tomorrow. You seem to forget that rigid moral code of his.”
“Ah,” Samantha said, her expression turning worried. “You mean the one that’s going to find your situation intolerable?”
Gabi nodded. “That’s the one.”
Emily seemed to share Samantha’s concern. “Gabi, why are you forcing this now? Samantha said you weren’t willing to turn to Dad for help in finding a new job because you didn’t want him to know about the pregnancy. What changed?”
She explained about Jimmy Templeton. “I saw a chance to help.”
Emily’s eyes brightened. “And a way to impress Wade,” she concluded.
Gabi frowned at the suggestion. “This has absolutely nothing to do with Wade. He introduced me to the boy, that’s all.”
“And is he, by any chance, going to be bringing him by here to meet Dad?” Samantha inquired, her own smirk firmly in place.
Gabi uttered an expletive. “I need to call Wade, don’t I? I was so busy worrying about getting Dad over here, I completely forgot about arranging for Jimmy to be here.”
“Notice she’s going to call Wade, rather than call Jimmy directly,” Emily commented smugly.
“I notice,” Sam agreed.
“You two are so annoying,” Gabi muttered. “If you weren’t my sisters, I doubt I’d have a thing to do with you.”
“Sweetie, are you really sure you want to insult the two people who will be here to have your back when Dad shows up?” Emily inquired.
“Point taken,” Gabi said at once. “Do you think I should have Jimmy here when Dad walks in the door or later?”
“Definitely later,” Samantha said.
“But he might not say anything about me being pregnant with Jimmy and Wade here,” Gabi said hopefully.
“Or he’ll explode, and the prospects for Jimmy will get buried in the fallout,” Emily said. “I vote for later, too.”
Gabi could see what her sisters were saying. “I’m guessing Dad will get an early start and be here by ten. I’ll suggest Wade and Jimmy come for lunch around twelve-thirty,” she decided.
Emily nodded. “After delivering your news and my wedding bills, we should have Dad revived by then, for sure.”
Gabi frowned at her. “Not amusing.”
Samantha laughed. “But sadly, probably accurate.”
* * *
Wade listened with growing amazement as Gabi issued her invitation to lunch and explained the reasoning behind it.
“Are you serious? You think your dad could get Jimmy a scholarship?” he asked.
“The company offers a few every year. I’m familiar with the criteria. Granted, I don’t know everything about Jimmy’s situation, but he seems to me like the perfect candidate.”
“Is the decision up to your father?”
“No, but his opinion carries a lot of weight.”
“This is a huge risk,” Wade said, unable to conceal his concern.
“What do you mean?”
“If I understand you correctly, you haven’t really talked this over with your dad. You have no idea how he’s going to react. What if it goes badly, and we’ve gotten Jimmy’s hopes up?”
To her credit, Gabi didn’t automatically dismiss his concern. “Here’s how I see it. Right now, Jimmy has zero chance of achieving his dream. This scholarship could change that. Isn’t it worth it to at least try? In the end, if he isn’t chosen, he’ll be no worse off, but he stands to get everything he ever wanted, if he is.”
“Well, it’s definitely not up to me to decide,” Wade said. “I’ll run this by him, see what he wants to do. Like you said, it could be the opportunity of a lifetime. I knew you were coming up with some sort of scheme when you met him the other day. I could practically see the wheels turning in that brain of yours.”
“I didn’t want to say anything until I knew if I could at least get my father over here. He’s not always available.”
Wade heard the sad undercurrent in her voice and assumed she wasn’t just talking about a busy timetable. “I’ve heard he doesn’t have the best relationship with you and your sisters,” he admitted. “Boone’s mentioned it.”
Gabi sighed. “Boone’s exactly right. I’ve tried the hardest to change that, but even I have my limits. This is going to be an interesting visit for me, too.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t know about the baby,” she said.
“Holy cow!” Wade muttered, then asked, “Don’t you think that’s a lot to lay on him right before you ask him for a favor?”
Gabi was extraordinarily quiet for a very long time. Finally she admitted, “To be honest, I think this is kind of a test, to see if he’s ever going to step up as my dad.”
“That’s quite a test, especially for a man who hasn’t been that involved in your life up till now.”
“I’m thinking of it as indoctrination by fire. Emily’s going to drop the bills for her wedding in his lap, too.”
Wade was starting to view the whole lunch invitation as a disaster waiting to happen. He understood Gabi’s desperate need to clarify whether she could count on her dad, but he didn’t think Jimmy needed to be caught up in all the likely drama.
“Gabi, I get what you’re trying to do here, for Jimmy and for yourself. I’m just not sure you’ve taken into account how bad things could get. Do you really want to put a teenager you barely know in the middle of that? It could be asking a lot of him.”
She hesitated, then said, “I guess I never thought about what might happen if Dad reacts badly to all this stuff coming at him at once.”
“Don’t you think you’d better consider it?”
“I knew there was a reason I called you, rather
