“Is that what your mother did?”

“In spades,” Harper answered. “That’s why I’ve always enjoyed coming here, to Sea Breeze. Mamaw let us run wild and play our own games.” She released a short laugh of pleasure. “You know, whenever I think of the best times in my childhood, they’re always here at Sea Breeze.”

“Me, too.”

“We sure had great summers, didn’t we?”

When Dora didn’t answer immediately, Harper turned her head. She watched Dora stare out at the Cove as though she were going through personal memories. The moonlight made her hair appear an almost unworldly shade of gold.

“We surely did,” she said in a faraway voice.

“So, there’s your answer. Be like Mamaw and do the same thing with Nate. Let him go wild. Go exploring. Have fun just for the sake of doing it together.” She wagged her finger. “No lesson plans. Okay?”

Dora laughed. “Okay.”

Harper took a breath and asked Dora the question that had been niggling at her brain the past few days. “Dora, are you going to introduce Nate to Devlin?”

Dora leaned back on her arms. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Not right away.”

“Why not?”

“There’s no hurry. Besides, Nate doesn’t do well with change. He’s already upset that his father isn’t around. He might feel threatened if Devlin came into the picture right away. And, selfishly, when he gets back, I want some time alone with him.”

“Are you sure you’re not pushing Devlin away?”

Dora shook her head. “I thought about that, but no. Not at all.”

“I think he’s good for you.”

“You do?” Dora asked, delighted to hear this opinion from Harper, whose opinion she was learning to respect. “Why?”

“He’s the yin to your yang. More relaxed, a little wilder, earthy. Not afraid to mess things up. I think this fellow might give you that balance you’re looking for.”

Dora felt as though Harper’s words lit a light inside of her. She felt herself glowing with pleasure.

“We dated all through high school and into college.” She glanced at her sister and said, “He was my first, you know.”

Harper looked up, surprised. She didn’t know. She smiled encouragingly for Dora to go on, reveling in the rare moment of true sisterly bonding.

“Not that there were a lot of others,” Dora continued after a huff of embarrassed laughter. “Dev was the only other man I’ve slept with besides Cal.”

“Really?” she asked, her tone incredulous.

“Why? How many men have you slept with?” she asked, sounding a little defensive.

Harper burst out in a laugh. “I don’t know,” she said, evading the truth. She didn’t want to shock her sister with what she’d think a scandal, not when they were finally getting along. “A few more than two, I guess. Let’s just say they weren’t that memorable.”

Dora smirked, indicating she knew Harper was being evasive. “Uh-huh, sure.”

“I’m serious.”

“Has a man told you he loved you?”

“Sure. Plenty of times,” Harper said flippantly. “The problem is, I never believed them.”

Dora glanced at her with uncertainty.

“I’m what you might call”—Harper lifted her fingers to make quotation marks—“ ‘a good catch.’ I’m decent enough looking, well educated, have—or rather, had—a good job. But that’s not the real lure. No, sirree,” she said in a self-mocking manner. “I’m an heiress. Rich. With a pedigree. I’m the whole package. Mothers are throwing their sons at me.” She laughed bitterly. “Whenever a man tells me he loves me, I’m never quite certain if it’s me he desires, or my fortune.”

“But even so, didn’t you ever fall in love? With any of them?”

Harper considered the question seriously, letting her mind roam over a litany of faces she’d known throughout her teens and into her twenties.

“There were some I liked quite a bit. One or two I dated for several months. There was one chap in England my grandmother almost called the banns for.” Harper lifted one shoulder insolently. “Unfortunately, she liked him better than I did. Honestly? I can’t say I ever did fall in love. It’s rather sad, isn’t it?”

“You’re only twenty-eight!” Dora said with a light laugh. “You’ve got lots of time left. Lord, you make it sound like you’re over the hill.”

Harper didn’t laugh. She didn’t want to make light of this. “Think of our father and his track record. He never fell in love. He was incapable of making a commitment. And I’m always told Jameses don’t marry for love.” She changed her voice, taking on a British upper-class accent. “Jameses marry for alliances.” She smirked. “My ancestors have married for money for generations.”

“How royal of you,” Dora said as a tease.

Harper laughed at the truth in that statement. “God knows my mother never loved anyone but herself. I honestly don’t think she’s capable of that emotion. Not even for her own daughter. She despised our father.”

Dora burst out in a laugh. “You mean Mamaw was right after all? Your mama just wanted him for his sperm?”

“I’m afraid so,” Harper replied, coloring faintly. “But don’t ever tell her I said so. I’ll never live down the fact that I am the product of such an ill-advised union.”

“My lips are sealed. But I’m glad she did. I have you as my sister.”

Maybe it was the oddly intimate spell the night seemed to be casting over them as their feet dangled in the cool water, but Harper finally felt like she could share her deeper feelings. “Do you think there’s something inherently wrong with me?”

“What?” Dora blurted. “Lord, no.”

“I’ve been thinking about this,” Harper persisted. “Maybe it’s in my genetic line to be incapable of love. I worry about that. There might be something missing in my DNA.”

Dora reached over to lay her hand on Harper’s. “You’re crazy if you think that. Love is out there. You just have to find it.”

Harper smiled weakly. “I want to believe in love,” she confessed. “But I’m not willing to settle. I refuse to be shackled by my fortune. I will not be like my mother,” she said with heat. “I’m holding out for true love.”