Wishmakers
This book is a work of historical fiction. In order to give a sense of the times, some names or real people or places have been included in the book. However, the events depicted in this book are imaginary, and the names of nonhistorical persons or events are the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance of such nonhistorical persons or events to actual ones is purely coincidental.
If you purchase this book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher. In such case neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.
Compilation copyright ′ 2006 by Dorothy Garlock
Hidden Dreams
copyright ′ 1983 by Johanna Phillips
She Wanted Red Velvet
copyright ′ 1986 by Dorothy Phillips
Excerpt from
On Tall Pine Lake
copyright ′ 2006 by Dorothy Garlock
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Photo illustration by Stanislaw Fernandes
Photo of dandelion by Angelo Cavalli / Getty Images
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First eBook Edition: August 2006
ISBN: 978-0-446-54968-4
Contents
BOOK TWO: SHE WANTED RED VELVET
Dear Reader,
When I began my writing career twenty-five years ago, I wrote genre romances under several pseudonyms: Dorothy Phillips, Dorothy Glenn, and Johanna Phillips. These novels told variations of the classic story of a man and a woman who meet, fall in love, and marry after overcoming obstacles in their relationship.
The books are being reissued at the request of you, the reader. They have been out of print for fifteen years.
When I first started writing, my husband and I went on many road trips. During one of them we traveled through the lumber area of Montana where I got the idea for
Hidden Dreams.
We stayed in a small, quaint motel—a far cry from the novel's setting, which is the rugged and often dangerous world of a logging camp. The second novel in this book is
She Wanted Red Velvet,
and it came to life in my mind as my husband and I continued our journey.
I enjoyed writing the shorter romances, and I hope they're as entertaining to you as my more recent stories.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Garlock
After the Parade
Almost Eden
Annie Lash
Dream River
Dreamkeepers
The Edge of Town
Forever Victoria
A Gentle Giving
Glorious Dawn
High on a Hill
Homeplace Hope's Highway
Larkspur
The Listening Sky
Lonesome River
Love and Cherish
Midnight Blue
More than Memory
Mother Road
Nightrose
A Place Called Rainwater
Restless Wind
Ribbon in the Sky
River of Tomorrow
River Rising
The Searching Hearts
Sins of Summer
Song of the Road
Sweetwater
Tenderness
This Loving Land
Train from Marietta
Wayward Wind
Wild Sweet Wilderness
Wind of Promise
With Heart
With Hope
With Song
Yesteryear
H
IDDEN
D
REAMS
To Marcia Volk and Betty Secory
for their constant friendship
W
EARING A PLAIN
black dress, dark stockings, and high-heeled pumps, Margaret Anthony stood at the door and bid good-bye to each of the somber guests as they filed past.
“Thank you for coming, Senator…It was a comfort to have you here, Mr. Westmoreland…Good-bye, Mrs. Engleman…No, I won't forget to send something to the bazaar…Thank you…Dad would have been pleased you were able to come, Professor Downing.”
“Good-bye, my dear,” one society matron gushed. “My, my, you've been such a brave girl through all of this. I know you'll miss your papa. Do let us know if there's anything we can do. This is an awfully big house for one small girl, but then of course the servants have been here for years…” The woman speaking glanced down her long nose at the quiet figure dressed in dark green silk standing well back in the shadows of the stairway, then sniffed and made her departure.
Margaret closed the door and leaned wearily against it. Her eyes sought those of the woman by the stairs.
“It's over, Rachel.” Her tone clearly implied it had been an ordeal.
“Yes, it's over,” Rachel Riley quietly replied. The older woman's face was pale and her expression conveyed warmth and concern for the girl who everyone had said looked so young and fragile and tired.
Margaret, however, was neither as young as she looked, nor as fragile. Her looks belied the toughness within, a legacy from her father. There was steel in her, and Rachel had often reminded her of it. Without that inner strength—and the older woman's support—Margaret wouldn't have been able to survive the loneliness of being the only child of an industrialist who had lived with the constant fear that his daughter might be kidnapped or harmed because of his great wealth.
Margaret took the pins out of her dark hair and let it fall over her shoulders like an ebony stream, then breathed deeply and unbuttoned the collar of her dress.
“I'm glad they're gone. I'm not sure Daddy would have wanted them here, although he
was
a stickler for doing the respectable thing.” Her gaze shifted around the marble-floored entryway. “Funerals are so ghoulish. That's what I was thinking while everyone was milling around, talking about Daddy in hushed tones. It's all so deceitful!” she continued bitterly. “Why didn't they make an effort to see him while he was living?” She slipped out of the pumps and, with one shoe dangling from each hand, she padded across the room.
“You and I were the only two people here who truly loved him, Rachel. Some of them didn't even like him, some feared him, and most were jealous of him because he had all the material things they wanted. Most of them came because it was the thing to do—and because they wanted to be seen by the others who came because it was the thing to do.” She gazed at Rachel's drawn expression. “This has been especially hard for you, hasn't it?”
“Only because I knew it was difficult for you, dear. I said my good-bye to Edward weeks ago.”
“Oh, how I wanted to kick that snooty Mrs. Engleman, sniffling so prettily over Daddy. She hadn't seen him for five years! I was almost tempted to giggle when she choked back a sob as she passed the casket. I know if he could have, Daddy would have sat up and said
boo!
”
Rachel's lips turned up at the corners slightly. She was half a head taller than Margaret, and age had lined her face, but she was still slim and graceful, Margaret noted fondly as the two women climbed the circular stairway together. Both of them looked at the closed door at the top of the stairs and then walked to the end of the hall and into a small sitting room.
Margaret picked up the house phone. “Edna, would you send us up some coffee, please?”
“Is everybody done gone, Miss Margaret?”
“All except Mr. Whittier. He's still in the study. If he rings, tell him Rachel and I are resting.”
“Yes, Miss Margaret. I'm bringin' you some food, too, and don't you be arguin' about it. That bunch what was here ate up six trays of them little sandwiches you had brought in,
and
the cakes and coffee. I think they come to
eat
—”
“You'll probably get all kinds of offers now, Edna,” Margaret gently interrupted. “Everyone will want Edward Anthony's cook. We'll lose you to—”
“Why, I never! You hush up, now! Ain't nobody goin' to get me out of this here house as long's there's an Anthony in it,” she sputtered. “I'll be comin' up there myself. Why, I never heard the like!”
Margaret smiled at the dogged loyalty, hung up the phone, and let her shoes drop to the floor. “Edna will be up with a tray.” She sank down onto a velvet-covered couch. “The buffet looked lovely, Rachel. I kept thinking how pleased Daddy would be that at least everything proceeded in a correct manner.”
Rachel turned from the window. “Yes. Edward was always so emphatic about protocol.”
“For the first time in my life I feel at loose ends.” Margaret sighed resignedly. “I feel as if I've been unmoored from something. Can you understand that?” she studied Rachel for her reaction.
“I think so,” Rachel said hesitantly. “Your father had a very strong personality.”
“I won't say Daddy was domineering, but he made me do things, not because I wanted to, but because it was what he wanted. That is, I did nothing, because he wanted me to do nothing.”
“He loved you very much.”
“And he bound me to him with that love,” Margaret said firmly, feeling for the first time since the funeral as if she would cry. “Don't think I'm ungrateful for that love, Rachel. I loved him, too. And because his heart was so bad these last few years I was obedient to his wishes and left my own life in limbo. You don't know how I longed to have a job, get an apartment, have friends my own age. Once I talked to him about it, and he brought up that kidnap attempt again. But that was ancient history.”
Rachel sat down on the couch beside her. “He was obsessed with the fear that you might be taken and held for ransom.”
Margaret grabbed Rachel's hand. “Great wealth isn't the blessing some people think, is it? Many times I wished Daddy was poor. I'm afraid the few men I did date had their eye on Daddy's money, or on a position higher up the social ladder—except for Justin, of course. I haven't had an opportunity to meet anyone else these last few years. At least I got to go with Justin occasionally—even if two security men did tag along each time.” She grimaced and fell silent.
After a long pause, Rachel said, “I want to talk to you about Justin. I hadn't planned to do it quite yet, but this seems to be the right time.” She hesitated again.
Justin Whittier, the man who was soon to be her husband, Margaret mused. He'd been a bulwark of quiet strength over the past several months—and Margaret's sole connection with the outside world. The only times her father had seemed happy to see her go out she'd been on Justin's arm. What could Rachel possibly have to say about Justin that could be causing her such obvious distress?
“What is it, Rachel? Is something wrong?”
“Do you love him, Margaret?” Rachel asked bluntly.
Margaret turned wide eyes toward the woman who had been like a mother to her for as long as she could remember. Why was Rachel asking that? Of course she loved Justin; she'd agreed to marry him. He was strong, solid, gentlemanly—almost too gentlemanly, she thought wryly. But what could be wrong with that? She managed an uncertain smile. “He's comfortable to be with, and I like him very much.”
“I know he's pressing you to set the date, but I don't want you to drift into a marriage unless you're sure you love him. He's a good, reliable man, devoted to the Anthony interests, but he's almost as old as your father was when you were born. Now there's nothing wrong with loving an older man, but…” Rachel's voice trailed away.
“But what?” Margaret prodded, growing more anxious by the second.
Rachel looked at her searchingly, as if fighting some inner battle. Then, with the look of one rushing in where angels feared to tread, she blurted out, “It isn't enough just to be comfortable with him! You deserve more than that. Does he make your pulse race when he's near you? Do you feel all warm and glowing when he touches you?” Margaret's face must have betrayed her turmoil, and Rachel hurried on. “If he doesn't, you mustn't give up your youth for him—not unless you truly love him.”