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"I'm only trying to say," explained Terry, "that the house is hard to miss."

"What do you want me to do?" asked John. "Board over her bedroom window?"

"Jake IS a Christian," reminded Izumi.

"Yes," said John, "but look at him! He's not fit to support our Abby! I don't care if she does think he's cute! Who's going to pay the bills when he can't get a job because of his prison record? Our Abby-- that's who!"

"Yes," joked Terry, "and of course, they'll be knee-deep in children by then."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded John.

"Come on, John," reasoned Terry, "you know perfectly well that if there's no children to support, they're probably not going to be any worse off than they are right now!"

"Don't tell me," asked John, "that you're for this marriage?"

"I don't know," struggled Terry. "In a way, a part of me is happy for Jake. When he's not at work, he follows Abby around, everywhere."

Abby slept through the debate in the living room, even though, if she had been awake, she could have heard most of it from her room without much difficulty. However, it hadn't been for lack of interest; she understood that this was just their initial reaction. Tomorrow, she would get a better sense of their position.

It wasn't a great surprise to Abby, when she awoke the next morning, to learn that Dr. Jacoby and Sheriff Peterson, Jake's parole officer, had been invited to the house that Friday afternoon. John had called the marina, and requested Mr. Winkler to let Jake stay home from work that day, because of a "family emergency."

Abby learned of all this when she came to the breakfast table. Neither John nor Izumi, (or Terry, for that matter), would talk any further about Jake, until the others had arrived. She sat down and ate her breakfast, fully aware that though the others weren't staring directly at her, they were in spirit.

"You'd better call Jake, and tell him that Mr. Winkler has given him the day off," advised John, sipping his coffee.

"But, haven't you told him what's going on?" asked Abby, in surprise.

"No, we haven't," said John.

Abby stared at his face for a second, trying to read her father's expression. Was this a good or bad sign? It wasn't often that John and Izumi could stump their daughter, but this was one time when even Abby couldn't figure them out. To avoid her scrutiny, Terry rapidly ate his breakfast and ducked into the office, down the hall.

"Is it all right if I go over and talk to Jake, before they get here?" asked Abby. "I know I could call him, but he's probably pretty nervous right now."

John looked to Izumi, who nodded her head in assent.

"All right," sighed John.

Abby went to her room and put on her fishing gear. After grabbing a spare fly rod, she headed out the front door, while John shook his head in amazement.

"Look at that!" he sighed to Izumi. "She going fishing!"

Abby strolled across the way and opened the outside screen of the enclosed porch. After setting down the fishing rods, she knocked on the front door.

"It's me, Jake," she called.

The door opened and he stepped aside to let her in. Coughing, she hurried to open a window, for the room was filled with tobacco smoke.

"How can you stand it?" she choked, as the haze slowly began to dissolve.

Jake nervously watched her from across the room.

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