Wildest Hearts

trouble communicating?”

    Annie tried to think of a delicate way of explaining the situation. “My husband is a very assertive, take-charge sort of man. Very much in control. Of everything, if you see what I mean.”

    “I think so,” Arthur said slowly.

    Annie smiled, grateful for his understanding. “I want to be the one to take charge. I want to show him what it's like to be the one who's not in control.”

    “I think I have just what you're looking for,” Arthur said. He led the way down an aisle labeled Exotica.

    He stopped in front of a row of ancient volumes and plucked out one.

    Annie studied the title engraved on the old leather binding:Three Nights Among the Amazons . “Don't you have anything newer than this?”

    “Yes, but nothing better for your purposes.”

    “Okay, I'll give it a try.” Annie looked up. “How much do I owe you?”

    Arthur smiled. “Consider it a wedding gift.”

    “How nice of you.”

    “Don't be ridiculous, Annie. I owe you more than I can ever repay. If it hadn't been for you, I would never have married Elizabeth.”

    The warm gratitude in Arthur's gaze embarrassed Annie. “How's the baby?” she asked quickly to change the subject.

    Arthur grinned proudly. “Getting bigger every day. You won't recognize him when you see him.”

    “Have Elizabeth bring him by for a visit.”

    “I'll do that.”

    Annie smiled. “I've got an elephant I think might interest him.”

    “I don't know why I thought it would help if I came out here to the beach cottage for a while,” Joanna said.

    “It's all right. I understand.” Annie kept her eyes on the winding road. A light winter rain obscured the view of the beach. The turnoff to Aunt Madeline's old cottage was only a short distance ahead.

    “When I phoned to tell you I was going to drive out here, I didn't mean to make you feel you had to come with me,” Joanna said.

    “I don't mind. An overnight stay on the beach will do us both good.” Actually, Annie had not particularly wanted to drive out to the coast on the spur of the moment this afternoon. It was a two-hour trip, and she had a lot to do at Wildest Dreams.

    But Joanna had sounded so depressed and anxious when she had called, Annie had known she couldn't allow her to make the trip alone.

    “It's the stress,” Joanna confided. “It's getting to me, Annie.” She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue she had been using for the past hour. “Sometimes I get so frightened. I seem to be crying more and more often lately.”

    “I know what you mean.” Annie saw the turnoff ahead and slowed her candy-red compact. “If I let myself think about Daniel too much, I get scared to death, too. So I try to focus on other things.”

    “It was nice of you to offer to come with me.”

    “No big deal. Oliver's out of town tonight. Ella can take care of Wildest Dreams for the rest of the afternoon. We'll spend the night and drive back in the morning. I'll be at the shop shortly after it opens tommorrow. No problem.”

    “I haven't been out here with Daniel for months.” Joanna surveyed the weathered cottage as it came into view. “He came out here alone a couple of times just before our engagement party, but I didn't come with him. He was in what I call his full work mode.”

    “Daniel has always had a habit of coming out here to stay by himself whenever he's working on a particularly difficult problem.”

    Annie parked the car in the drive and sat looking at the little house through the soft rain. For a moment she was still, her mind flooded with memories. “After our parents were killed in the car crash, Aunt Madeline brought us here to live. Daniel and I both love this place.”

    “I know. Daniel told me how much it means to both of you. I know how much you two cared about your aunt.”

    Annie smiled wistfully. “Aunt Madeline was a little eccentric, but she loved us. She never made us feel like a burden.”

    “How was she eccentric?”

    “She was an artist,” Annie explained. “A fairly good one. Her stuff sold quite well. But her art was her first passion, and she spent a lot of time working at it. Daniel and I learned to entertain ourselves, which was probably not a bad lesson.”

    Tears streamed down Joanna's cheeks. “God, Annie, what are we going to do?”

    “What we've been doing all along. We wait.” Annie knew it would not take much for her to break down and cry, too. She steadied herself and opened the car door.

    An hour