Читать книгу Wind Chime Point - Sherryl Woods, Sherryl Woods - Страница 12

6

“So, why does Gabi want me to meet her father?” Jimmy asked Wade when they were on their way to Cora Jane’s. “It’s kinda weird. It’s not like I really know her.” He gave Wade an impish grin. “Unless she thought I was hotter than you and wants to date me. Maybe she needs his permission.”

Wade frowned at the teen’s impudence. “Not even a tiny bit amusing, kid.”

Jimmy’s grin merely spread. Eventually, though, he said, “But you do know what this is really about, don’t you? How come you won’t tell me?”

“Because this was Gabi’s idea. She should fill you in,” Wade explained patiently. “And you can stop speculating and pestering me now, because we’re here.”

He pulled into a driveway already crowded with cars, then was relieved to spot Boone getting out of the one just ahead of him.

“Hey, Wade,” Boone said, walking over to shake his hand. “Jimmy, how are you?”

“Fine, Mr. Dorsett.” He glanced at all the cars, then asked, “Is this a big party or something?”

Wade grinned. “Jimmy thinks he’s the only one who’s been left out of the loop on what this is all about.”

Boone patted the teen’s shoulder. “You’re not alone, pal. Nobody’s told me a thing, either. Emily called a half hour ago and asked me to show up. I came as soon as I’d dropped B.J. off at the soccer field.”

At Boone’s words, a sinking sensation settled in the pit of Wade’s stomach. “Soccer? The same team my nephew Bryce is on?”

“I think so, yes,” Boone replied. “Uh-oh, were you supposed to be there? B.J. gave me permission to skip this one. The kid will do anything for Emily. Plus, since we’re mostly in Los Angeles, it wouldn’t have been fair for him to get any playing time.”

Wade was only half listening as he took his cell phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial for his sister. “This is bad,” he told Boone as he waited for her to pick up. “I was expected there. You all better head on in. Tell Gabi I’ll be there as soon as I deal with this. I have some ruffled feathers to smooth out.”

“Where the devil are you?” Louise grumbled before he could say a word. “Chelsea, get down from there right this second. Peter, go grab your sister.”

Wade winced. “Are you at Bryce’s game?”

“Yes, and you’re not. Didn’t you promise me you’d be here to help me corral these kids? My husband conveniently had an emergency appendectomy to perform. Right now, I’d happily trade places with him.”

“I’m sure the patient would be delighted about that,” Wade said. “Then you could sue yourself for malpractice.”

“Bite me,” she said cheerfully. “How soon will you be here?”

“Sorry. I have to bail. And just as a reminder, I never promised to be there. You just take it for granted that I will be.”

Dead silence greeted the remark. Well, it was silent except for the sound of Jason wailing.

“You did not just say you’re bailing on me,” Louise said at last.

“I’m afraid so. Something came up.”

“Something more important than helping your sister and saving your nieces and nephews from certain catastrophe?”

Wade chuckled despite the hot water he knew he was in. “Now you’re just being dramatic. Those children aren’t in any danger with you. You just like having someone around who doesn’t judge you when you talk about them as if they’re little brats, which they’re not, by the way.”

Louise sighed heavily. “You’d better have a really, really good excuse.”

“A date,” he said, knowing he was opening up a can of worms, though it was the only excuse likely to satisfy his sister.

“Details,” she commanded, clearly intrigued.

“Not likely,” he responded. “Besides, you need to be keeping a close eye on those kids you claim are running amok. Talk to you later.”

“Yes, you will,” she said, a dire note in her voice. “Or I will hunt you down.”

“Duly noted,” he said. “Love you. See you soon.”

“If you abandon me again, I’m going to take away your uncle privileges,” she threatened. “My house tomorrow for Sunday dinner. We’re eating at one.”

“I’ll be there,” he promised, then sighed. He was fairly certain the pot roast would come with a healthy serving of uncomfortable questions.

* * *

Gabi couldn’t help herself. Since she’d left Jimmy answering her father’s gently probing questions, and her grandmother, sisters and Boone were handling lunch, she kept drifting toward the door to check on Wade. She didn’t want to eavesdrop on his conversation, but the somber expression on his face worried her.

“Problems?” she asked, stepping onto the porch when she saw that he’d disconnected his call and stuffed his phone into his pocket. He joined her, dropping a kiss on her cheek. The gesture was casual, brotherly even, but it sent a spark sizzling along her nerves. The reaction was so startling, she barely heard what he was saying.

“What?” she said, shaking off the disconcerting moment.

“My nephew has a soccer game,” he explained patiently. “I’m usually there. I forgot all about it until Boone mentioned something about dropping B.J. at the field.”

The butterflies already doing a dance in her stomach turned into rambunctious, fluttering birds. Big ones. “Oh, dear, do you need to go?”

He squeezed her hand. “Not a chance. Lou has already heaped a boatload of guilt on me. Tomorrow she’ll throw a few more zingers my way. Same old thing. I’m used to it. Getting to yank my chain is one of her favorite things. Besides, she’s starting to take my presence for granted. It’s a bad habit, more than likely for both of us.”

Gabi frowned. “Do you do this a lot? Bail on the kids, I mean?”

“Absolutely not,” he said, his indignation plain. “In fact, that’s my point. I’m over at that house almost every afternoon providing backup for her while she settles down after work and gets dinner on the table. Even the most dedicated uncle deserves an occasional break. My mistake today was not giving her a heads-up. Usually her husband’s at the games, but he’s a doctor and had an emergency call. Since she can’t yell at him, I got the brunt of today’s lecture.”

Gabi relented. “It’s nice, though, that she can count on you,” she said, wondering who she’d be able to count on if she did decide to keep her baby.

It was all well and good for her grandmother and sisters to promise backup, but Emily was in Los Angeles, Samantha in New York and her grandmother here in Sand Castle Bay. Obviously they wouldn’t be dropping by to babysit if she returned to her life in Raleigh and a new demanding job. A high-paying job, she reminded herself. She could afford a nanny or the best day care in town, if it came to that, she decided with a sigh of relief.

Wade regarded her curiously. “What was that for?”

“Just mentally solving a problem. Sorry.”

“Care to share?”

“No need. Just thinking, though, that Louise is lucky to have you around.”

“I’ll always be here for her,” Wade said. “I like her kids. I’ll be honest, though. When Jason came along, about a year after my baby would have been born, I had a little trouble at first. Louise already had four fantastic children, and I’d lost my one and only chance for a baby. It didn’t seem fair. It took me a while to accept that life isn’t always fair and that none of it was that baby’s fault, or Louise’s. I still feel bad that I steered clear for a while.”

Gabi liked that he had an actual flaw, one he could acknowledge. Up to now he’d seemed almost too good to be true; such a vast improvement over Paul, it made him a little too attractive.

“It sounds to me as if you were just being human,” she told him. “We all feel resentful from time to time. At least you saw that you were being unreasonable and made peace with them.”

Wade nodded toward the house. “Speaking of family dynamics, how’s it going in there?”

“Surprisingly well,” she admitted. “Dad didn’t keel over when he found out I’m pregnant. He actually offered to pay for Emily’s wedding, albeit the suggestion had come from Grandmother. And he was openminded about talking to Jimmy. I stayed with them for a few minutes, long enough to see that the second Jimmy realized what my dad does in the biomedical field, he had a million questions.”

Wade shook his head. “Does that kid astonish you every time he opens his mouth? He’s really something.”

“Dad’s clearly impressed. When I came to look for you, they were actually discussing some journal article Jimmy said he’d read online. There’s not a doubt in my mind that Dad will do everything in his power to see Jimmy gets one of those scholarships. In fact, I wish he’d shown half as much interest in my career.”

Wade frowned at that. “He didn’t?”

Gabi shook her head. “Not to belabor the point, but I did everything I could think of to impress him, to follow in his footsteps, not as a biomedical guru, but working in the industry. He was oblivious. He wouldn’t even help me get a job at his company after graduation, even though I was more than qualified.”

“Why would he do that?” Wade asked.

“He said it would be awkward, that it would be perceived as nepotism.”

“I’ll bet that hurt.”

“It did,” she admitted. “Now, though, I get it. What if he’d been the one who had to fire me because I got pregnant? Can you imagine?”

“Do you think he would have?”

“Not a doubt in my mind,” she said instantly, then hesitated. “Though he didn’t react the way I’d expected him to when I told him I’d lost my job. He almost seemed to be on my side.”

“Sounds as if the dad gene kicked in,” Wade said.

Gabi smiled. “That was exactly it. It sure wasn’t what I’d expected, given our history.”

“So, what’s next?” Wade asked.

“Lunch should be ready any minute,” she told him.

He smiled. “I meant for you. How’s that plan of yours coming along?”

Gabi sighed. “It’s not. To be frank, I haven’t got the first clue about my next step.”

“I had a feeling that’s what you were going to say,” Wade said.

“Why?”

“Because all this focus on Jimmy was clearly a way to avoid dealing with your own situation.”

Gabi was about to argue the point, but then realized she couldn’t. Not really. “You’re probably right. I did see a chance to help someone who really deserves it. It was a situation I actually thought I might be able to control, while my own?” She shrugged. “Not so much.”

“And control really matters to you?”

“Of my life? Sure. What about you? Don’t you like to know where you’re headed, what you need to do to get there?”

“Not really. I tend to take things a day at a time, especially the past couple of years. I got hit upside the head with a lesson in what really matters. I also learned the hard way how little control we really have over those things.”

Perplexed, she studied him, wondering how he could possibly live with the uncertainty. “But what drives you?”

Wade laughed. “I suppose I’m not driven, not the way you mean. I don’t have huge ambitions. What I do have are things I love to do and a lifestyle that allows me to do them.”

It was a laid-back concept that was totally alien to her. “I don’t understand.”

“Because you’ve always had a plan,” he teased, then added quickly, “And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“But you say it as if it is,” she accused. “Structure’s important to me. The past couple of weeks since I left my job, the lack of structure and focus has almost driven me crazy. I don’t know what to do with myself, so I do nothing.”

“Maybe that’s what you need to be doing right now,” he said.

“Nothing?”

“Exactly. Sometimes the best way to hear what’s going on deep inside yourself is to be very quiet and still.”

“You must not do nothing the way I do,” she said in frustration. “I have about a million voices yelling at me to get busy, and not a one of them so far telling me what it is I should be doing. I need to sort through all that noise and make that plan. I should be updating my résumé, making lists of companies where I could inquire about jobs, start networking again.”

“If you know all that, why aren’t you doing it?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I guess I’m not ready. Or I’m afraid they’ll all have the same reaction to me being pregnant.”

“Or maybe it’s not what you really want anymore,” Wade suggested quietly.

Gabi frowned, genuinely shocked by the suggestion. “What?”

He grinned. “A scary thought after all that careful planning for so many years, huh?”

“Of course it’s what I want,” she insisted, though there was no mistaking the defensive note that had crept into her voice. She recognized that as a clear sign she wasn’t as sure of herself as she wanted to be.

“Then why haven’t you printed out the résumés or made those calls?”

“I’ve been...”

“Busy? That’s not what you said.”

She scowled at him. “Who needs a shrink when you’re around?”

He laughed. “Just throwing out a few things for you to consider. I don’t know you that well. Maybe I’ve gotten it all wrong.”

“You have,” she said flatly. “In fact, first thing tomorrow, I’m going to come up with a new plan.” She nodded in satisfaction. “There, you see. I have a manageable goal and a timetable.”

“Good for you. I’ll look forward to hearing all about it. Now we probably need to go inside and see how things are going between Jimmy and your dad.”

“Sure. Right,” she said, her tone disgruntled.

Wade stopped her just before they went inside. “No reason to be upset, okay? You will figure this out.”

“Of course I will,” she said with a confidence she was far from feeling. She would figure it out, because this baby was coming and she had no other choice.