“So what will it take?”
“For what?”
“For you to marry me in a huge ceremony in front of all our friends and family? I want to shout my love for you from the rooftops.”
His question overwhelmed her, but she recognized that running was impossible now. Even if it was the smartest thing for everyone, hope had seized control. What if she and Linc could make a go of things? She loved him. Could she really turn her back on a chance for happiness?
“I can’t honestly say what would change my mind,” she said, but in fact, she knew. If by some miracle the family origin legend was true and she was descended from an old Charleston family...
“You underestimate how persuasive I can be.” A wicked grin lit up his expression.
“Well, there’s a welcome sight.”
Claire glanced toward the back door and spied Sawyer standing just inside the kitchen.
“What are you doing here?” Linc demanded.
“Interrupting something, obviously.” Wearing an unrepentant grin, Sawyer strode toward them and snagged Claire by the arm, tugging her away from Linc. “Excuse us, brother dear. I need to speak with Claire.”
“What’s going on?”
“Give Mom a call. She wants to know if you’re interested in coming by for dinner. Claire and I will be right back.”
Claire bit her lip as Sawyer led her toward the front of the house. Her stomach, still unsettled by the day’s events, began churning in earnest as Sawyer directed her into the living room and onto the tufted cobalt sofa.
“What’s going on?” she asked, echoing Linc’s earlier question. “Did something happen after I left the polo event today? Does everyone know what’s been going on between Linc and me? Is that why your mother wants him to come over for dinner? So she can tell him to send me packing?”
And yet, wasn’t that what she’d been all ready to do mere minutes earlier? To disappear out of Linc’s life? What was so different now that he’d told her he loved her and wanted to marry her?
“Nothing like that,” Sawyer assured her. “As for Mother, she’s delighted that Linc has found someone who makes him as happy as you do.”
“She knows about me? About us? How did she find out?” Claire sagged back against the sofa and closed her eyes. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Linc told her the day after the party. I don’t think he went into any great detail about what you two have been up to, but she knows he loves you.”
Claire sat up and stared at Sawyer. “Then what is it you needed to tell me?”
“What I found out from my friend at the historical society about your ancestor James Robbins.”
“What you found out?” Claire regarded Sawyer in confusion. “I don’t understand. How did you know about him?”
“Linc told me your story, so I went to the historical society and did some digging to find out about the Robbins family.”
Claire couldn’t believe Sawyer’s excitement over what she’d found and noticed her own pulse picking up speed. Although her great-aunt had believed the stories of James Robbins leaving behind his Charleston family to chase his fortune in the California gold rush, part of Claire hadn’t quite believed that there was anything more to the tales than family legend.
“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?”