Wildest Hearts

they managed to elope, Oliver would find a way to destroy their happiness. He'd break up the marriage if it was the last thing he did. But knowing Oliver, he'll stop it before it even takes place.”

    “You're wrong.”

    “Think so? Wait and see. You've got a lot to learn about the man you married. Good-bye, Annie.” Sybil hung up the phone.

    Annie stood listening to the dial tone for half a minute.

    “Problem?” Ella asked.

    “No.” Annie tapped her toe. “At least I don't think so. But maybe I'd better not take any chances.”

    She dialed the number of Daniel's office, knowing his secretary would answer.

    “Lyncroft Unlimited.” Mrs. Jameson's voice was warm and businesslike, as usual.

    “It's me, Annie.”

    “Hello, Annie. Good to hear from you. I suppose you want to talk to Mr. Rain? Unfortunately, he just left.”

    “No,” Annie said quickly, “I don't want to talk to him.” She thought quickly. “I just need to know his schedule. I'm supposed to coordinate something around it. I understand Oliver and Paul Shore might be meeting in the near future?”

    “Oh, yes. Mr. Shore's secretary called first thing this morning. Mr. Rain and Mr. Shore are doing lunch today.”

    Annie was floored. “They are?”

    “As a matter of fact, Mr. Rain is on his way to Mr. Shore's club even as we speak.”

    Annie was overwhelmed by a horrible sense of foreboding. Realistically speaking, she had to admit there was a very faint possibility that Sybil might just be right. Annie didn't want to believe that Oliver was scheming to ruin Valerie's happiness, but she suddenly didn't want to take any chances, either. Oliver had only just begun to change his ways, after all.

    Better to be safe than sorry.

    “They're meeting today, you say?” Annie clutched the receiver tightly and glanced at her watch. “Do you know which club, by any chance?”

    “Certainly. Mr. Shore's secretary gave me the information.” Mrs. Jameson rattled off the name of the exclusive club. “It's right downtown.”

    “Thanks.” Annie hung up the phone.

    “Everything okay?” Ella asked.

    “Yes,” Annie said. “I'm sure it is. But I'd better make certain. I'll be back after lunch.”

    She grabbed her purse and tore out of the shop at a run. Paul Shore's club was only a few blocks away.

    It was unfortunate that it was raining.

14

    Oliver was unpleasantly aware of the uneasy, almost eerie feeling he experienced when he walked into the dining room of Paul Shore's club.

    His father had once belonged to this club. It was the first time Oliver had been inside it since Edward Rain's disappearance. Oliver did not belong to any private clubs. He was too much of a loner by nature. Even if he had chosen to join one, he reflected, it would most definitely not be this one. Paul Shore was, after all, a member.

    Little had changed in the club in the years since he had last been here, Oliver noted. With one obvious exception. Today there was a handful of women wearing expensive business suits sitting at a few of the tables. Apparently the old boy network had been invaded to some degree.

    But other than that, it was all much the same as it had been the day his father had brought him here to buy him a drink. The occasion had been Oliver's twenty-first birthday. He remembered it well. It was one of the very few times when he and his father had simply sat and talked to each other. The conversation had not been particularly memorable. Edward had asked Oliver how his studies were going. Oliver had waxed enthusiastic about his plans for graduate school. Nothing earthshaking. They had just talked for a while, father and son.

    Everything looked the same as it had on that day. The walls were still paneled in rich, dark oak. There was a muted sound of fine silver and china clinking in the background. An air of hushed importance hovered over the tables where the movers and shakers of Seattle met to talk about politics and the economy of the Pacific Rim.

    Memories of his twenty-first birthday made Oliver's stomach tighten when he walked past the table where he and his father had sat. He wondered fleetingly what he would have said to his father all those years ago if he could have foreseen the future. The words rose, hot and furious in his mind.

    You son of a bitch, you can't do this to us. You can't just walk off and leave us, you bastard. It's not right. What about the girls? They'll be devastated. Now that Mom's gone, you're all they've