Absolutely, Positively

pointing out that if there was a competition going on between Brandon and me, he won it.”

    Olivia flushed. “This isn't about me, it's about stupid masculine pride. Machismo. Balls. Whatever you men call it. It's a potentially destructive urge on Brandon's part. He wants to prove to himself that he's got the same kind of guts you have. He's always secretly admired you for the way you turned your back on the Stratton money. Now he's determined to see if he can make it outside the family, too.”

    “So? Let him give it a whirl. Where's the harm?”

    Olivia's eyes narrowed in outraged fury. “The harm is that his grandfather will punish him for following in your footsteps. We both know it. Parker will cut Brandon out of the will. Danielle is on the edge of a nervous breakdown because of this. She sacrificed a great deal for Brandon's sake, and now it's about to go up in smoke.”

    “I didn't know people still had nervous breakdowns,” Harry mused. “I thought you psychologists had more modern terms for that condition.”

    Olivia's face was tight and bleak. “This is not a joke, Harry.”

    “And this is not my problem.”

    “It most certainly is. You caused it by being a role model for Brandon.”

    “I didn't set out to be anyone's role model,” he said very softly.

    Olivia flinched. “Please, Harry, don't speak to me in that tone of voice. You know it upsets me.”

    Harry drew a deep breath. “I thought I was being remarkably civil under the circumstances.”

    “When you're in one of your moods, every word you utter sounds as though it had been dug out of a glacier.”

    Harry clasped his hands behind his back. “Just what do you expect me to do, Olivia?”

    “Talk to Brandon. Make him see that leaving Stratton Properties is not a wise move.”

    “He's not likely to listen to me if he's in the middle of trying to prove something.”

    “The least you can do is try to talk him out of this. Harry, you've got to do something before he goes too far with his plans. Parker will never forgive him if he walks away from Stratton Properties the way you did. Danielle will be crushed. And Brandon will ultimately be sorry he made a mistake of this magnitude.”

    So that was the ex-fiancée.

    Molly sat down at the kitchen table with a plate of spinach ravioli laced with Parmesan, fresh basil leaves, and olive oil. She forked up two of the ravioli and considered the stack of new grant proposals in front of her.

    Surely she could find one out of this lot that would pass muster with Harry.

    Olivia was certainly pretty. No, that was putting it mildly. She was lovely.

    Molly munched ravioli and wondered what had gone wrong between Harry and Olivia.

    Hours of boredom broken by moments of stark terror.

    Olivia had not appeared terrified of Harry this evening. She had looked like a woman who had a claim on his time and attention. Molly wondered what had drawn the two together in the first place. Olivia certainly didn't look to be Harry's type. Of course, Molly reflected, her own opinion on that subject was definitely biased.

    She took another bite of ravioli and turned a page. It was pointless to speculate. The bottom line was that in the end Olivia had married Harry's cousin, Brandon Stratton Hughes.

    It was certainly interesting that Olivia had come to Harry for help with whatever family problem had caused her so much concern, though.

    Molly pushed the haunting thoughts aside. She forced herself to concentrate on the summary page of the grant proposal that lay open on the table in front of her.

    The old house hunkered down for the night with a sigh and a few creaks and groans. A distant hum from the floor above indicated that a cleaning robot was going about its duties.

    After a while Molly took a break to put her dishes onto the conveyer belt that would whisk them through the patented Abberwick Dishwasher. When the machine was finished, the dishes would all be automatically stacked and stored.

    Molly was concentrating on a proposal for an emission-free engine design when the cleaned dishes emerged from the machine. She did not look up as the rubber-coated mechanical arms stacked the plate neatly in the adjacent cupboard.

    “Are you seriously involved with Molly Abberwick?” Olivia asked as she picked up her purse.

    Harry turned away from the window. “Yes.”

    “You're sleeping with her?”

    “That's none of your business,” Harry said.

    Olivia had the grace to look embarrassed.