If it weren’t so vital, Stefanie would never purposely hurt either family like this. They were so certain she was going to tell them a new little Wainwright was on the way.
“He’s not coming, Mother.”
Something in her tone sounded serious enough to erase their smiles. The festive air in the room evaporated.
She’d had all day to practice this speech, but there’d been no audience to listen to it. Now she was the focus of four pairs of eyes all regarding her with varying degrees of anxiety.
Forgive me, Gabe. What I’m about to do wasn’t part of your plan, but I love you too much to let you walk out of my life without a fight.
“As all of you know, seventeen months ago Gabe asked me out to dinner. When I came home, I was wearing his engagement ring. Five months later we were married. But I’ve never told any of you the details of that evening. Now it’s time to reveal them.”
“You sound so serious,” her mother wailed.
Stefanie swallowed hard, trying to tamp down the pain. “Please—just hear me out. All of you.”
Her father nodded. “We’re listening, sweetheart.”
“Thank you. After dinner was served, Gabe asked me a question. He said, ‘Is it true what Father says, that you hope to end up in the White House as First Lady one day?’”
She stared at Gabe’s father. “Your son’s question caught me off guard because I knew I’d never said such a thing to you or anyone else.”
The senator cleared his throat. “That was wishful thinking on the part of an old man who happens to love you very much, Stefanie,” he muttered.
His confession would have pleased her if it hadn’t done so much damage. “I had no idea. The thing is, I was so in love with Gabe, so overjoyed to be out with him, I teasingly blurted back, ‘Isn’t it every woman’s dream?’”
“Look, my dear—” the senator started to say, but she preempted him.
“Please allow me to continue. Gabe studied me thoughtfully, then said, ‘In that case I have a proposition for you.’ At that point I was confused because I thought he’d been leading up to a marriage proposal. But I couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“In a businesslike tone he confessed that he’d reached the place in his life where it was necessary to marry the right woman for a temporary period. His use of the word ‘temporary’ dashed my dreams.”
Their collective gasps resounded in the private dining room.
“While I sat there reeling in pain, he explained that this woman would have to be a high-profile person who, as his wife, could legitimately fill in for him in public from time to time while he was away undertaking certain activities he didn’t want anyone to know about.”
“What activities?” The senator had gotten his wild-eyed look.
“Let me finish.” She paused to catch her breath.
“G-Gabe said that, at a time when his father was making another bid for the senate and deserved to run a worry-free campaign, he knew marriage to me would fulfill his parents’ dream.”
“Surely they were his dreams, too!” his mother cried.
Stefanie loved her mother-in-law for that outburst, but she shook her head. “No. Then he spelled out the terms. He said that if I agreed to marry him, our marriage would last for one year, a-and be in name only. On March 28, it would be legally annulled.”
“That son of mine must have had some kind of breakdown!”
“Not Gabe,” she whispered sadly. “For my cooperation, I would receive a generous financial settlement that would make me independently wealthy in my own right, and I would walk away as pure as the day I had entered the marriage. Furthermore I would be free to marry a man whose whole desire was to take me to the White House with him.”
While they sat there in frozen shock, she decided she’d better go on while she still could.
“As you know, today is March 28. Gabe’s been living for it.” Her voice shook. “Early this morning he left the house to embark on his new life, whatever that is. He won’t be coming back.”
The senator glowered at her. “If this is his idea of a joke, we’re not amused.”
“Neither am I,” she whispered in agony.
Gabe’s father’s eyes showed confusion, a rare sight. “What do you mean, not coming back? He has a law firm to run! Among other things, I’m throwing some new projects his way that will be vital to his future political career!”
She shook her head. “You haven’t been listening to me. For the past few months he’s been turning over his cases to other colleagues in the firm so he could leave without problem. When the time is right, he’ll contact you, but I presume that won’t be for a while.”
“Nonsense!”
Stefanie ignored the senator’s angry exclamation.
“In order not to embarrass either family, he prepared his office and house staff by telling them that because we’ve been in the spotlight so much since our marriage, he and I are going on a trip around the world which could last six months.”
Again the four people in the room stared at her in stunned disbelief.
“He explained about the trip in letters he sent to you,” she continued. “You’ll receive them in the mail tomorrow.” She cleared her throat. “If I had carried out his plans to the letter, I would be in Paris right now enjoying the first stop of my long holiday. But as you can see, I chose not to go because—”
“Enough!” Now it was her father who shoved himself away from the table and jumped to his feet. As he threw down his napkin, it caused his wineglass to topple. “A marriage in name only—I’ve never heard such rubbish in all my life! How dare Gabe do this to you! How dare he!”
She’d never seen him so angry. “Dad—please sit down. I’m not through.”
“What’s wrong with our son?” Gabe’s mother sounded on the verge of hysteria as she cried to her husband, pulling on his arm.
Stefanie’s mother shook her head in despair. “I can’t believe this has happened. I simply can’t believe it! Stefanie—aside from his despicable actions, whatever possessed you to say yes to such a cold-blooded proposition? Heavens, darling, you could have married any man you wanted!”
A tight band constricted Stefanie’s breathing. “I didn’t want any man, Mom. I wanted Gabe. When I was an adolescent, I developed a painful crush that never went away. After ten years of loving him, I would have married him for any reason,” her voice throbbed.
“Fool that I am, I’d convinced myself that once we lived together, he would tear up that wretched contract and make our marriage real. But I learned that you can’t force someone to fall in love with you. Since we’d made a contract, I didn’t dare try to dissuade him from his plans.”
“What plans?” The senator’s rage was starting to escalate out of control.
“I have no idea,” she answered honestly. “He’ll have to be the one to reveal them—when he’s ready.”
A ruddy color stained his cheeks. “Where is my son?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m working on it.”
“You mean he’s really gone?” Gabe’s father still couldn’t comprehend it. For that matter, neither could Stefanie.
“Yes. But I—I hired a P.I. to follow him.”
“Thank God you had that much sense!” came the senator’s furious outburst.
Her