up with to get your hands on Lyncroft Unlimited? That's a little outrageous, even for you.”
“Don't you think it's just barely conceivable that I've finally found the woman I want to make my wife?”
“No,” Sybil said flatly, “I don't. I have a hard time envisioning you with a wife.”
“I'm a man like any other.”
“Bullshit.” Under stress, Sybil tended to lapse back into the speech patterns of her youth. “You're not at all like most other men. You're weird and everyone knows it.”
“I'm not that weird. Not when it comes to some things.”
“Yes, you are. As far as I can tell, the only romantic liaisons you've ever gotten involved in are with the occasional botany instructor or fern collector during a field trip into some rain forest. Once you returned from the trip, all you cared about was the ferns you'd collected.”
“I'm thirty-seven years old. It's time I started a family of my own.”
“That's nonsense. You've got plenty of family.”
That statement was unarguable, Oliver admitted to himself. The one thing he was not short of was family. He'd been responsible for his two sisters, two half brothers, and Sybil for fifteen years.
The responsibility had been thrust upon him that hellish day he'd learned his father had gotten on a plane at SeaTac Airport and vanished along with most of the Rain assets and a fortune in other people's money.
Oliver had known in that first shocking moment of shame and anguish that his whole world had changed. A rapid inventory of his father's business affairs had disclosed the fact that there was virtually nothing left.
Edward Rain's friends and colleagues were the first ones in line to demand repayment on the loans they had made to him.
Faced with the prospect of five people depending on him, Oliver had done what had to be done. He'd given up his dreams of a career in botany and tackled the nearly overwhelming task of keeping the family together while he rebuilt his father's business empire.
He was content that he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do. He'd paid off every single one of his father's investors. The empire Oliver had then set about constructing had been larger and far more stable than the one Edward had inherited and destroyed.
Two years ago, Oliver had begun to liquidate his holdings. One by one he had sold off the various companies he had acquired. The sizable fortune he had received from the sales of his assets was now earning its keep in a variety of secure places. While he occasionally invested some venture capital in interesting start-up operations such as Lyncroft Unlimited, most of Oliver's money was in safe, dull investments that involved little or no risk.
Although large chunks of money could never be completely ignored, Oliver had succeeded in freeing himself up from the intense day-to-day supervision that had been required during the years in which he had built his empire.
Oliver took satisfaction in knowing that his brothers and sisters were well launched on their various paths in life. Heather had completed medical school. Valerie had graduated from college and was working as a curator at the private, very prestigious Eckert Museum.
The twins, Nathan and Richard, had just started their freshman year at the University of Washington. They both claimed they were going for their MBAs. Oliver privately hoped they would change their minds by the time they reached their senior year. He himself had always disliked the world of business. The fact that he had been successful in that world did not alter his opinion of it.
As for Sybil, she was occupied with her endless round of charity benefits and social engagements. Thanks to Oliver, she was part of the world to which she had always aspired to belong.
He had done his duty by his family, Oliver concluded. And he would continue to do so. The family came first. But it was time to pursue a few personal goals
“Don't you think it's just barely conceivable that I've finally found the woman I want to make my wife?”
“No,” Sybil said flatly, “I don't. I have a hard time envisioning you with a wife.”
“I'm a man like any other.”
“Bullshit.” Under stress, Sybil tended to lapse back into the speech patterns of her youth. “You're not at all like most other men. You're weird and everyone knows it.”
“I'm not that weird. Not when it comes to some things.”
“Yes, you are. As far as I can tell, the only romantic liaisons you've ever gotten involved in are with the occasional botany instructor or fern collector during a field trip into some rain forest. Once you returned from the trip, all you cared about was the ferns you'd collected.”
“I'm thirty-seven years old. It's time I started a family of my own.”
“That's nonsense. You've got plenty of family.”
That statement was unarguable, Oliver admitted to himself. The one thing he was not short of was family. He'd been responsible for his two sisters, two half brothers, and Sybil for fifteen years.
The responsibility had been thrust upon him that hellish day he'd learned his father had gotten on a plane at SeaTac Airport and vanished along with most of the Rain assets and a fortune in other people's money.
Oliver had known in that first shocking moment of shame and anguish that his whole world had changed. A rapid inventory of his father's business affairs had disclosed the fact that there was virtually nothing left.
Edward Rain's friends and colleagues were the first ones in line to demand repayment on the loans they had made to him.
Faced with the prospect of five people depending on him, Oliver had done what had to be done. He'd given up his dreams of a career in botany and tackled the nearly overwhelming task of keeping the family together while he rebuilt his father's business empire.
He was content that he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do. He'd paid off every single one of his father's investors. The empire Oliver had then set about constructing had been larger and far more stable than the one Edward had inherited and destroyed.
Two years ago, Oliver had begun to liquidate his holdings. One by one he had sold off the various companies he had acquired. The sizable fortune he had received from the sales of his assets was now earning its keep in a variety of secure places. While he occasionally invested some venture capital in interesting start-up operations such as Lyncroft Unlimited, most of Oliver's money was in safe, dull investments that involved little or no risk.
Although large chunks of money could never be completely ignored, Oliver had succeeded in freeing himself up from the intense day-to-day supervision that had been required during the years in which he had built his empire.
Oliver took satisfaction in knowing that his brothers and sisters were well launched on their various paths in life. Heather had completed medical school. Valerie had graduated from college and was working as a curator at the private, very prestigious Eckert Museum.
The twins, Nathan and Richard, had just started their freshman year at the University of Washington. They both claimed they were going for their MBAs. Oliver privately hoped they would change their minds by the time they reached their senior year. He himself had always disliked the world of business. The fact that he had been successful in that world did not alter his opinion of it.
As for Sybil, she was occupied with her endless round of charity benefits and social engagements. Thanks to Oliver, she was part of the world to which she had always aspired to belong.
He had done his duty by his family, Oliver concluded. And he would continue to do so. The family came first. But it was time to pursue a few personal goals
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