Free Just Beginning by Theresa Rizzo Page B

against her father’s concern and her mother’s doubts.
    Dad stared at them ten long seconds before smiling broadly. “It seems the feeling’s reciprocated.” Her father held out his hand. “But I’d have a hard time with ‘Dad’, call me Mike. Welcome to the family.”
    Her mother’s lips tightened to a thin line as she stared hard at her husband, sending him a silent, disapproving message.
    “Let it go, Mary.” He smiled at Jenny. “Look how happy she is.”
    Mom stared at them one long, considering minute. Concern flickered across her face. “It’s just so sudden. I’m worried you haven’t had enough time to really get to know each other. Marriage is hard and you have to have a solid foundation to weather the challenges all married couples face—the irritating habits, career stress, disagreements over raising children.” She glanced at Michael. “Unplanned pregnancies, money problems... Speaking of money, does Gabe know about your debt, Jennifer?”
    With a sinking stomach, Jenny couldn’t prevent a peek at her father. How’d she find out? Dad promised not to tell Mom about the loan. Jenny couldn’t bear disappointing her mother again, but when Dad offered the short-term loan, she hadn’t been able to turn it down either. Attempting to salvage Jenny’s pride, Dad suggested they keep it between the two of them.
    Her father frowned at her mother. “What’re you talking about, Mary?”
    “I’m talking about your little loan and how Jenny can’t pay her bills.” She frowned, hurt and betrayal stamped all over her stubborn Irish face.
    Damn . Jenny shook her head. This was exactly what she hadn’t wanted. She should have told Mom about the loan. Now not only was Mom disappointed that Jenny’d failed again, but she felt excluded and hurt, thinking they were hiding things from her—which they were.
    “So Jenny had a little cash flow problem this month. It’s no big deal.”
    “And the month before that, and the four months before that?” Her mother raised her eyebrows.
    It’d been a long time since Jenny’d been at the center of a parental argument, and the guilt and the sick feeling in her stomach didn’t feel any better now than it had then. Worse, Gabe and Michael were witnessing it, and she didn’t know how to stop it.
    Jenny bent her head, unable to look at Gabe. She wished for a magic mirror to step into another world—any other world would make more sense than this and be far less embarrassing. She was afraid to even think of what Gabe was making of all this.
    “I know about Jenny’s financial situation, and we’ll be taking care of it right away,” Gabe said. “So there’s no problem.”
    Jenny turned astonished eyes to Gabe, who squeezed her shoulder a little harder than reassurance warranted. When she began to protest, the pressure on her shoulder increased until she closed her lips.
    “See, Mary.” Her father beamed. “Everything’s taken care of.”
    Indecision replaced the hurt in her mother’s eyes. Jenny silently prayed Mom would take the opportunity to let the past rest, but her optimism died when her mother turned steady eyes to her. Her freckles stood out in her pale face with the weight of her decision. “I hope you’ll be very happy together.”
    Jenny deflated; not exactly the endorsement she’d been hoping for, but she’d take it.
    Her father put an encouraging arm around her. “I’ve got a bottle of Moet & Chandon chilling for a special occasion, and I think this definitely qualifies.”
    Jenny summoned a smile and returned her father’s hug.
    Dad poured champagne for the adults and ginger ale for Michael. He proposed a simple, eloquent toast and they clicked glasses, yet her mother didn’t smile once. She brought the crystal flute to her lips but barely sipped the sparkling wine.
    Turning to her fiancé, Jenny smiled and finished her champagne in two quick swallows. “Thanks for the champagne, but we’ve really gotta run. Gabe’s got to get