“I’ve got some news!” Harper blurted out. Unable to hold in her announcement a second longer, she shouted, “I’m engaged!”

After a second’s stunned silence, Dora and Carson squealed in unison. In a rush the three sisters were hugging and jumping up and down with more squeals.

Mamaw walked into the room. Never one to be left out, she asked imperiously, “What in heaven’s name is going on?”

Harper broke off from her sisters to run to Mamaw and envelop her in a hug. “I’m engaged!”

Mamaw was taken aback. The woman rarely sputtered. “Engaged? To Taylor?”

“Of course to Taylor.” Harper laughed. “Oh, Mamaw, is it even possible to be so happy?”

“Sweet child, I’m so delighted for you.” Flustered, Mamaw pointedly looked at Harper’s left hand.

Harper caught the gesture and grasped her ringless hand in the other. “I don’t have a ring.” She put on a brave smile. “The proposal caught us both by surprise. I couldn’t care less if he ever gives me one. I love him and he loves me and that’s all that matters.”

“True.” Mamaw’s voice wavered and she took Harper’s hands in hers and squeezed gently. “You’ve only known him for a short while. Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Harper replied with conviction. “We both know it’s been quick, but sometimes you just know. Mamaw, he loves me for me. Just me. I’ve waited to hear those words my whole life. He’s the one, Mamaw.”

“Then he deserves you, my child,” Mamaw said with feeling.

Harper basked in the glow of her grandmother’s approval.

“A wedding!” Dora exclaimed. “At last! Have you set a date?”

“Oh, God, no. We didn’t talk about that yet.”

“You have to set a date,” Dora told her urgently. “Charleston is a popular destination-wedding location now. Venues are booked way in advance. We’ll have to start looking immediately.”

“Hold your horses, Vera Wang,” Carson chided Dora. “She just got engaged. Let the poor girl celebrate at least a day before we strap her to the wedding harness.”

“I don’t even know if I’m having a formal wedding,” Harper said. “All that’s a ways off.”

“Of course you’ll have a wedding,” Mamaw declared.

“My mother won’t come. And she certainly won’t pay for a wedding.”

“Why wouldn’t she? You’re her only daughter,” Mamaw said.

“We had a terrible row. I tried to call her several times this morning. It went to voice mail each time. I followed up with an e-mail, but she still hasn’t called me back.” Harper shrugged. “I don’t expect she will. My mother has the ability to slam an iron door down around herself, cutting a person out. It’s a power move. I’ve seen her do this many times not to recognize it when it happens.”

“That’s cold,” Carson said. “Give her time. I mean, her only child is engaged.”

“We don’t need Georgiana James to have a wedding,” Mamaw said haughtily. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, I must throw you a small dinner party to celebrate your engagement. It is time we met Taylor’s parents.”

“We need a good party at Sea Breeze,” Dora said. “It might be the last party we have here. So let’s do it proper.”

In a rush of enthusiasm the women began spouting out ideas for the party, one after the other. As the mood shot skyward, their discussion was interrupted by the sound of the front doorbell.

“I’ll get it. That must be Blake. Don’t look at me like that,” Carson warned her sisters, rolling her eyes. “He’s just coming by to report on Delphine.” She turned and hurried away to answer the door. A few moments later she returned carrying a piece of yellow paper with a bemused expression. “Harper, you got a telegram. I didn’t even know people still sent telegrams.”

Harper couldn’t imagine who would send a telegram these days instead of an e-mail. She hurried to take the telegram, and with Carson looking over her shoulder ripped open the envelope.

Harper had to read the telegram twice, and it still didn’t make sense.

“Who is it from?” Carson sidled closer.

“My grandmother in England. Granny James.”

“Her?” Mamaw came near. “Whatever does she have to say that merits a telegram?”

Harper lifted the piece of paper and read it aloud: “ ‘Arriving Charleston Wednesday four p.m. Stop. Please collect me. Stop.’ ”

There was a moment’s stunned silence.

Mamaw stood straight, her hands folded in front of her, her brows knitted in thought.

Dora spoke first. “Wednesday . . . as in the day after tomorrow?”

“I assume,” Harper replied.

Dora tilted her head and made a face as if she had a bug in her ear. “You mean your grandmother is showing up here, all the way from England, just like that? Without calling you first?”

“Where is she staying?” Carson wanted to know.

“In a hotel, I suppose,” Harper said.

“Absolutely not!” At the sound of Mamaw’s voice the three young women swung their heads toward her. Her voice was stern with authority. “Harper, if your grandmother is flying all the way from Europe for a visit, she is most welcome to stay here at Sea Breeze. To do otherwise wouldn’t be hospitable. Even,” she said archly, “if she has the bad manners to show up on our doorstep uninvited.”

Harper felt the sting of the insult and felt she had to defend her other grandmother. Granny James was nothing like Georgiana and was one of the only people in Harper’s lonely childhood who’d made her feel loved. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to impose. That wouldn’t be like Granny James at all. She’ll have already made reservations somewhere.” Harper stared at the telegram in her hand. “Still, it’s so unlike her. I can’t imagine why she is coming like this, in such a rush, and without so much as a phone call.”

“Can you not?” Mamaw asked.

“She’s about as subtle as a Mack truck,” said Dora. “Your granny’s coming to check out your young man.”

“But I only just got engaged. How would she know?” As soon as the words were out, Harper knew the answer. She looked into Mamaw’s knowing glance. Georgiana would have called her mother in a great show of hysterics after listening to Harper’s voice mail, no doubt telling her all sorts of horrible stories of Harper’s downfall. She could only imagine the colorful adjectives used.