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. That s way too early, she protested anxiously.Is the baby all right? Is Gina all right?Her burst of caring seemed to give her father a strong measure of satisfaction.For the first time tonight hespoke to her in a reasonably calm tone. Gina is fine.The baby is a little small but he is perfectly healthy. He& a boy this time. She relaxed into a smile. Mario must be pleased. Yes.Three daughters are enough. Her father glowered pointedly at her. Especially when they do notbehave as they should. Sorry I was away, Papa& Merlina was with my family, meeting my mother and grandfather, Jake declared, stepping in to give herabsence respectability, having already lifted her up from being a fallen woman.She heaved a sigh at how adept he was at making their relationship sound official.In fact, he was everybit as good as his grandfather at deception.Unfortunately that was not a happy thought.Deception couldachieve a short-term effect, but what would happen when this engagement fell through?On the family front, she d probably get sympathy, with Jake cast as a villain for taking her virtue, whichshe d supposedly given up in good faith.But what might her brothers do to the abscondinghusband-to-be? Jake had no idea what he d just set in motion.Maybe she should spill the real truth, savehim from the consequences of his well-meant lies.On the other hand, if there was a possibility&Hope was a terrible thing.It held her tongue.Her father addressed Jake. Mario is bringing his wife and baby home tomorrow.We will be holding afamily barbecue in the evening.I am inviting you to attend with Merlina.Throwing him to the wolves.Panic drove her to attempt a rescue. Papa, I ve already explained about work. He s the boss, isn t he? The call is his, her father insisted aggressively. You have met his family.Heshould meet yours.Italian pride!There was no way to fight it.Jake s respectable scenario was reaping what it had sown. We ll be there, he said.She turned on him in exasperation for jumping straight into the hole she d been trying to dig him out of. It s in Griffith, Jake.That s a six hour drive from Sydney. You can both catch a plane like I did for you, Merlina, her father persisted.She swung back to him, frightened of the dilemma he was posing. It wasn t for me.It was becauseMamma nagged you into it. So? We do these things for our women, do we not? He tossed this at Jake, testing how deep thedevotion was to his daughter. Yes, we do, Jake cheerfully agreed. We ll catch a plane to Griffith tomorrow afternoon.She could have choked him.He was escalating something that shouldn t be escalated.Not unless it was real and she didn t think itwas.Jake was so far into game-playing, he was losing his judgement on where the line was crossed.Itwas wrong to deceive her family.Wrong, wrong, wrong! Especially up close and personal with the wholelot of them! Good! Merlina can call her mother and let her know the time of the flight and I ll have one of her brothers meet you at Griffith airport, her father offered, nailing down the arrangement.One of her brothers! They d all be eyeing Jake over the outsider fiancé, a city man who wasn t evenItalian. That s very kind.Thank you, Jake said, pouring on the charm. Well, I ll leave you two alone then, her father granted gruffly, not liking the idea at all. I did not thinkyou were home, Merlina.You did not answer the telephone.I have arranged to stay with my brother,Georgio, at Glebe. I ll call a taxi for you, Merlina said, intensely relieved that her father was prepared to leave her and Jaketogether instead of taking up residence to enforce his moral standards.She d slid out of Jake s hug andwas heading for the telephone in the kitchen when Jake dropped another bombshell, halting her in hertracks. My car is out the front, Mr Rossi.If you ll give me a few minutes his clothes were still on the floor! I ll drive you to Glebe myself
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