Absolutely, Positively

to get a fairly good turnout. Josh had been no problem, of course. He had agreed to come without hesitation. But she was secretly relieved to see Leon, who was still on crutches, and Raleigh and Evangeline with him.

    Evangeline, as statuesque and commanding in a skirted suit as she had been in her colorful fortune-teller's grab, swept through the room full of Strattons. Then she glowered at Molly.

    “You didn't say anything about them being here.”

    “There's a lot I haven't had a chance to explain yet, Evangeline.” Molly indicated the chairs on the right-hand side of the table. “But everything will soon become clear. Please sit down.”

    Parker looked as if he were about to explode. He made for the door. “I'll be damned if I'll sit across the table from that lot of thieving Trevelyans.”

    Leon's face twisted with fury. He lifted one crutch and swung it across the doorway, effectively barring Parker's escape. “You're not going anywhere, you old son-of-a-bitch. If us thieving Trevelyans have to sit through this, so do you goddamned prissy, high-toned Strattons.”

    “Prissy?” Parker beetled his brows at Leon. “Just who are you calling prissy, you bastard?”

    “Enough.” Molly banged a spoon against the glass in front of her. “You will all sit down right now. I don't particularly care whether or not you eat the lunch I have ordered and paid for, but you will sit and you will listen to me. Or else none of you will ever have ready access to Harry again.”

    The roomful of Strattons and Trevelyans turned on her, momentarily united in their fury.

    “I fail to see why you think that you hold some sort of club over the rest of us,” Danielle said. “Harry is a Stratton. He's a blood relative. You can't keep us from contacting him whenever we wish.”

    “Oh, yes, I can,” Molly retorted. “I proved as much yesterday when I disconnected his private line. That was nothing, I assure you. The possibilities are virtually limitless when it comes to cutting you off from Harry. Now sit down. All of you.”

    They sat. Grudgingly, reluctantly, refusing to make eye contact with the people who sat across from them, both groups sat down at the table.

    Molly alone remained standing. She surveyed the irate faces turned toward her. Only Josh looked at her with a trace of amused anticipation in his expression. She took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

    “Get on with it,” Leon muttered.

    “Very well.” Molly tightened her grip on the back of her chair. “I shall come straight to the point. I have two demands. If they are both met, I shall allow contact with Harry to resume. I cannot promise you that I will not occasionally limit that contact if I feel it has become abusive, but I will not make it impossible for you to reach Harry as I did during the past twenty-four hours.”

    Parker scowled. “What makes you think that access to Harry is so damned important to any of us?”

    “The fact that you're all here makes me think that.” Molly released her hold on the chair and began to walk slowly around the long table. “Harry is important to both the Strattons and the Trevelyans. Vitally important. You have all found ways to use him, have you not?”

    Olivia eyed her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

    Molly clasped her hands behind her back. “Let us return to those forgotten days of yesteryear when Harry first arrived here in Seattle. That would have been about seven years ago, I believe. He had lost his parents less than a year before that. He had no brothers or sisters. He was not married. In effect, he was alone in the world. He came here in search of his blood kin.”

    “Wrong,” Gilford said. “He came here because he got a grant to do research in the history of science at the UW.”

Molly glanced at him. “The type of grant which Harry received did not stipulate where he should do his research. He had a choice of several prestigious universities. He came here because he had roots here. The Stratton side of his family has lived in Seattle for three generations. The Trevelyans have made Washington their home base for years.”

    Olivia drummed her polished fingers on the table. “Harry once told me that he stayed on here after he completed his grant work because he liked Seattle. He said that he had developed a good network of academic contacts in the local colleges and universities. He said it was a good place for him to establish himself professionally.”

    “He could have