Free Them Bones by Carolyn Haines

have money to indulge in The Club, or the tennis matches, or the charity events. "Things have changed for me, Harold. My life is different."
    "You don't have the money to keep up with them."
    He'd hit the nail on the head. "That's one way of looking at it. Another is that I'm not like them." Even as I said it, I realized it was true. They had married and settled, they had accepted a way of life from which I had slipped away.
    "You could go back. You were born and bred for it."
    "Could I?" I was asking myself as much as him.
    His hand slipped over and grasped my shoulder so suddenly that I gasped. His left hand moved toward me in a fist. Suddenly the glove opened and in the middle of his palm was a small velvet box.
    "Take it," he said.
    My hand trembled as I reached for it. Without being told, I snapped open the lid and gazed down at the diamond. It was at least four carats, but not ostentatious. Incredible. I had never seen a jewel so beautiful. "It's lovely," I said.
    "Marry me, Sarah Booth. I thought I wanted a casual relationship, but now I realize that I must have you as my wife. I want you to have my children, to be a part of my future."
    I held the ring in my right hand and looked into his eyes. They were the lightest blue I'd ever seen. It was impossible to tell what emotion lay hidden behind them. Conquest, love, something else.
    "I can't," I said, handing it back.
    "Can't or won't?" He didn't sound upset.
    "I know it's going to sound crazy, but I haven't married because I haven't fallen in love." Even to me it sounded ridiculous. One thing that Daddy's Girls knew from birth was that love was a fickle consort--security was the basis of a lasting relationship. "I'll marry when I meet the right person."
    Harold's smile widened again. "I knew you'd say that." He turned the key in the ignition and the Lexus purred into life. "It's the perfect answer, Sarah Booth. It only makes me more determined."
    Great. That was exactly what I'd intended. "Harold, I don't think this is a situation where determination can make a difference."
    He turned the car around and drove slowly back to the road. I was relieved to be on blacktop where there were other cars passing.
    "Is there someone else?" he asked.
    "No." That was honest.
    "Good, because if there was, I might be driven to desperation." He reached across the seat and put his hand over mine, squeezing it lightly. "I look at this as a challenge. You'll marry me, Sarah Booth, and sooner than you think."
    8
    Knob Hill was an impressive sight, especially silhouetted against the magnificence of a clear Delta sunset. Behind the three-story plantation, the sky burned fiery pink, deepening into coral, mauve, and, near the horizon, a purple of intense richness. Spreading out on either side of the house were the cotton fields, a deep burnt umber in the dying light.
    The detail of the house was lost in shadows as I drove along the curving drive that climbed to the top of the hill and ended at the front door. But I could see more than enough.
    Dahlia House was beautiful; Knob Hill was theHollywood version of Southern architecture. The porch fronted the entire first story, a sweep of gray boards that looked, in the waning afternoon light, as if they'd been freshly painted. The columns that supported the second-floor balcony were stout and white. Knob Hill was in excellent repair for a ghost house.
    I was surprised when I found the gates open. I'd anticipated driving by for a look, and then proceeding on to the tiny community of Bunker to find the people who had once staffed the great house.
    Since the gates were open, I decided to detour for a closer look at the place where Hamilton Garrett had spent his formative years. I couldn't help but wonder howEurope had compared to this kingdom. For all of the culture and glamour of the great Continental cities, it would not have been an easy trade for me.
    I got out of the car, more to stretch my legs than with any purpose in mind. Curiosity led me up