“So there’s a Robbins family in Charleston?”
Sawyer shook her head. “Not anymore. They died out when their first son was killed during the Civil War.”
“Oh.” Claire struggled to contain her rising disappointment. What a fool she was to think maybe she had a connection to a family that might impress Bettina. “Well, thanks for looking.”
“Not so fast. Just because the Robbins name died out doesn’t mean they weren’t an important Charleston family. There was a daughter. Penelope. She married well and had lots of descendants.”
It hadn’t occurred to Claire that after all this time she might actually have family living in Charleston. She’d been focused on the members of her great-great-grandfather’s generation and determining if James Robbins had been telling the truth. “What would they be? My distant cousins?”
“It will take a while to sort out all the genealogies and how everyone connects to you, but I know for sure that you’re related to the Haskells. As in my friend Shelby Haskell.” Sawyer beamed at Claire.
“Really?”
Claire recalled a brief exchange she’d had with Shelby at Bettina’s party and something clicked in her heart. A missing fragment of her identity slipped into place and made her feel whole for the first time in what felt like forever. She belonged here in Charleston in a way that had nothing to do with Linc.
“Yes, really,” Sawyer exclaimed. “Isn’t that exciting?”
“You have no idea.” All at once, Claire burst into tears. For a long moment, she couldn’t breathe and her throat hurt too much to get out a word, but she managed to find her voice again. “I can’t believe this is real.”
“It sure is. Even before you two figured out that you loved each other, I could see that you were special to him. He told me how important this was to you and I’m so glad I was able to help.”
“Have you told Linc?” Claire wondered if this was what had caused him to propose. Maybe he’d decided she was suitable after all.
Sawyer shook her head. “I just found out myself not more than half an hour ago. I thought maybe you’d like to be the one to share your news.”
“And your mother?”
“Stop worrying about things that don’t matter,” Sawyer counseled, clearly recognizing what Claire feared. “Linc loves you and that’s all there is to it. Neither he nor my mother care where you came from.”
Since when?
Claire repressed the thought. If she had any chance of making things work with Linc, she simply had to stop using the gap in their social stations as an excuse to guard herself from getting hurt.
“I know,” she said, expelling her breath in a long sigh. “It’s just that it’s been so long since anyone has made me feel safe and I’m a little skittish.”
“Linc is the best guy around.”
“You should listen to her,” Linc said from the wide arch that led to the hall. He’d followed Honey, who now raced into the room in Claire’s direction. “Are you ready to go tell my mother that I’ve chosen my future bride?” he asked as she scooped her daughter onto her lap and hugged her.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Do you really need to ask?”
Claire glanced down at her jeans and cotton sweater. “I should change my clothes.”
“You are beautiful no matter what you’re wearing.” He took her hand and grazed his lips across her palm, making Claire shiver. “I’ll give you ten minutes to change.”
While Sawyer entertained Honey, Claire rummaged through her suitcase. She’d bought a beautiful floral dress a week earlier. It wasn’t an expensive designer original, but the soft pastel tones brought out the gold highlights in her hair and the wrap style flattered her slim figure.
Claire slipped into the first-floor bathroom and, within the allotted ten minutes, transformed herself from a fearful runaway to a woman ready to face the upcoming challenges and grab the brass ring.
“You look beautiful,” Linc said as she reentered the kitchen.
Sawyer had left moments earlier, leaving Claire and Honey alone with Linc once again. Claire smoothed her palms down the skirt as he approached, keenly aware as he scrutinized every inch of her appearance.
“Do you think your mother will approve?” In truth, she already knew the answer, but her confidence grew beneath Linc’s possessive regard.
“Yes.”
“Then I guess we’d better go.”
“One thing before we do,” he said, reaching into his coat pocket. “I have something for you.” He displayed a ring box and popped the top. Framed in black velvet was a huge oval-cut diamond set on a thin rose gold band of micropave-set diamonds. “Claire Robbins, will you marry me?”
This time she didn’t have to think about the answer. “Linc Thurston, I love you with all my heart and want to be your wife.”
She took his face in her hands as he leaned down to kiss her. Distantly, she heard Honey’s sweet giggle. Then she was swept into the heat and wonder of the connection she always felt with him and all her fears melted away.
Both of them were breathing a little unsteadily when they broke off the kiss. Honey was growing impatient, her calls penetrating the fog of passion that had enveloped them. Claire watched while Linc slid the diamond ring onto her left hand, her heart stopping at the joy glinting in his eyes.
How had she gotten so lucky to win this man’s heart?
On the way to his mother’s house, Claire sat paralyzed, fearing that if she moved a single muscle, the whole thing would vanish like a beautiful dream.
Yet with each block they traversed, alarm zinged with ever-increasing speed along Claire’s nerves until by the time they pulled into his mother’s driveway she was buzzing with tension.
“Relax,” Linc murmured as he turned off the car. “No one is going to eat you alive.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” she retorted more sharply than she intended. “You’re wealthy and socially prominent. I’m a nobody who cleans your house.”
His eyebrows rose at her vehemence, but then he nodded. “Thanks for reminding me. There’s something I forgot
