eyes if she ever heard Walt make a statement that absolute. Claire had been a good wife, had stuck loyally by her man even when they were poor. Now that Walt was abandoning her, she was hurt and humiliated. Her self-esteem had plummeted and, as a result, she was doing some stupid things. But April knew Claire didn’t want the divorce, although there were times she said she could never go back to him after such a betrayal.
“Mom’s a wonderful person,” April said.
“She’s acting like an idiot.”
April didn’t challenge that statement for fear of the accusations that might come out of her own mouth. “What about counseling?” she asked for the millionth time. Her mother was willing, but Walt had so far resisted. If there was something wrong with him, he obviously didn’t want to hear about it.
“Most counselors don’t know any more than I do.”
April sighed. “So, are you going to contact Gunner Stevens and try to repair the deal?”
“I haven’t decided,” he said, some of the anger and irritation draining out of his voice. “Maybe I’ll wait until after the company trip. It’s coming up fast and I still have a lot to do. Which reminds me. Keith said he couldn’t find you at the party last night.”
“Oh, really?” She laced her words with surprise, playing the innocent even though she’d dodged their plant manager at every turn. Her father had indicated that Keith might have a present for her, and she definitely hadn’t wanted to be put in the unpleasant position of refusing a gift. “I wonder how we managed to miss each other.”
“So do I.”
Judging by his tone, she wasn’t fooling anyone.
“You know, you’re not getting any younger, April,” he said. “If you want a family, you need to do something about it.”
Oh, boy. Here it was. Advice from her overbearing, workaholic father who struggled with anger management, had strained relationships with almost everyone he knew, and was currently divorcing the one person who wanted him for more than his money. “Dad, I’m afraid we’ll have to talk later.”
“I’m telling you that you don’t want to spend the rest of your life alone.”
“Because I have so much reason to believe in the institution of marriage?”
“Divorce can happen to anyone. But I wouldn’t have missed having you for anything.”
That took her aback. Just when she started blaming her father, he’d say something sweet, something that reminded her how much she loved him. But where did that leave her poor mother?
“I know, Daddy,” she said. “I want a family. It’s just that…” How did she explain to her father, who thought his little girl was the catch of the century, that she wasn’t very good at attracting male attention? By jumping several grades in school, graduating from high school at fifteen and moving right on to college, she’d never fit in with her peers. And because she’d never fit in, she had difficulty relating in social situations. It was much easier to immerse herself in work twenty-four hours a day than fight her natural reluctance to meet people.
“It’s just that what?” he prompted.
“I’ll start getting out more,” she promised, knowing she should.
“Keith’s a good guy, April.”
“I’m not interested in Keith, Dad.”
“If you’d spend some time with him, I think you might change your mind. You’ll see. You’ll have the chance to get to know him better on the company trip.”
“Dad, about Cabo…” April took a deep breath, scrambling to come up with an acceptable excuse to miss going to Mexico in the second week of January. “I’ve got to work” was no longer good enough. Her father knew she received three weeks of paid vacation a year and used barely one of them. “I don’t know if I can get away,” she said, falling back on the same old line because there simply wasn’t anything in her life to stop her from going.
“I gave you plenty of notice about this, April. I e-mailed you the itinerary three months ago.”
“Are you bringing Regina?”
“No.”
“Still…”
“Still what?”
“Our situation has changed, Dad. You know that. Now I have Mom living with me, and I can’t leave her alone. She might decide to redecorate my house.” April was sure he’d assume she was joking, but she was at least half-serious. She’d moved all her furniture back and didn’t want to come home to another surprise like the last one.
“April…”
Her father’s tone and subsequent silence caught her attention more quickly than if he’d shouted.
“What?”
“I’ve been having some pains in my chest.”
She shoved herself into a