Wildest Hearts

Annie smiled. “And give your brother some credit. He's doing this for you, Valerie. Family always comes first with Oliver.”

    Valerie gave her an odd look. “But he made terrible threats.”

    “That's all they were, empty threats. He would never tear the family apart,” Annie said gently.

    “The other night when I talked to him he made it clear he would do anything in his power to prevent me from marrying Carson.”

    Annie shrugged. “Oliver probably just needed a little time to think things over. To accept the fact that he was powerless to stop you. It wasn't easy for him. Oliver hates being powerless, you know.”

    “I realize that.” Valerie sighed. “And I know that the family is all-important to him. Everything he's done since Dad died was for us. He was more like a father than a brother. A real, old-fashioned patriarch.”

    “I understand.” Annie smiled. “The problem with patriarchs is that they have the defects of their virtues. The qualities that make them strong enough to hold a family together during hard times are the same qualities that can get in their way when it comes to dealing with people in a sensitive, understanding manner.”

    “My brother doesn't know the meaning of the wordssensitive andunderstanding . As far as he's concerned, things get done his way or they don't get done at all.”

    Annie stopped smiling. “Don't you think you're being a little hard on Oliver? He's not nearly as tough and uncompromising as you seem to think he is.”

    “You don't know him as well as the rest of us do.” Valerie eyed her with sudden, hopeful speculation. “But maybe you're right. Maybe you're having a positive effect on him. Maybe marriage is mellowing him.”

    Annie laughed, aware of a bubbling sense of optimism welling up within her. “Count on it.”

    The phone rang again on Monday. Annie was busy rearranging a display featuring a giraffe-shaped coat rack. She let Ella take the call.

    “Wildest Dreams.” Ella listened and then beckoned Annie toward the counter. “She's right here. Hold on a minute.” She clamped a palm over the receiver. “It's for you. The other Mrs. Rain.”

    Annie stifled a groan as she walked back to the counter and picked up the phone. “Hello, Sybil.”

    “I just talked to Valerie,” Sybil said without preamble. Her voice was laced with urgency. “She told me what happened Friday night.”

    “You're referring to Oliver and Paul Shore running into each other at the arts benefit, I assume?”

    “What's going on? Did Oliver really tell Shore he would meet with him?”

    “Yes, that's exactly what happened,” Annie confirmed proudly. “Oliver and Mr. Shore are going to mend the breach for Valerie and Carson's sake.”

    “Damn.”

    “I know. Valerie was equally stunned. You know something, it seems to me that none of you give Oliver enough credit for being a basically reasonable human being.”

    “Reasonable.” Sybil sounded dazed. “You're right. That's not a word that crops up a lot in conversations about Oliver. Annie, this is so sad. Poor Valerie. And poor Carson. He's really a nice young man. But I knew Oliver would never allow the two of them to get together.”

    Annie glared at the receiver. “What are you talking about? I just told you that Oliver is going to meet with Shore.”

    “If you think that Oliver is going to talk peace at that meeting, you're even more naive than I originally believed. Listen to me, Annie, if Oliver has agreed to meet with Paul Shore, it's because he's got ammunition to use against him.”

    “That's not true.” Annie was outraged. No one, apparently, had any faith in Oliver's underlying integrity.

    Sybil ignored the outburst. Her tone turned thoughtful. “My bet is that Oliver's got something on Shore, something he's held in reserve all these years, just in case he ever needed it. And now the time has come.”

    “That's ridiculous.”

    “He'll probably use whatever he's dug up to blackmail Shore into forcing poor Carson to break off the engagement.”

    “You're making my husband sound like Machiavelli,” Annie stormed.

    “Oliver could have given Machiavelli lessons.”

    “Damn it, Sybil, I refuse to believe Oliver is scheming to blackmail Paul Shore.”

    “Then you're a fool. I've known Oliver Rain a lot longer than you have. I know what he's capable of doing. I also know how much he hates Paul Shore. Oliver would never tolerate a marriage between Valerie and Carson. Even if