“Hey, my little girl! Look at you! You’re all grown up now.” He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Now where’s that man who’s stealing you from me?”

“I believe you’re talking about me, sir,” Daniel’s voice came from behind her.

“Nice to meet you, Daniel. I’m George.”

As the two men shook hands, her father’s gaze drifted past them and fell on her mother.

“I see your mother has already arrived.” He nodded in her direction. “Ilene.”

“George,” her mother responded with the same icy voice her father had employed.

“Where’s your luggage, George?” Daniel asked.

Her father turned toward the trunk of the sports car and opened it. “I’ve only got a small bag.” He tossed a pointed look at the large suitcase and the carry-on luggage of his ex-wife. “I always travel light.”

He lifted the bag out of the trunk and shut it. “But you know, if you don’t have any space in the house for me, I’m fine staying at a bed and breakfast down the road. I drove by a few. I’m sure I’ll find something.”

“Out of the question, Dad!” Sabrina insisted. “Besides, the house has six bedrooms, so it’s perfect. And it’ll make everything so much easier with driving to and fro.”

Her father smiled at her. “Well in that case, I don’t think I can refuse.”

Daniel motioned to the door. “Why don’t we go find my parents? I know they’re excited to meet both of you.” He smiled encouragingly at Sabrina’s mother and took her suitcase.

The front door was unlocked, and Daniel opened it and stepped inside, setting the luggage down in the foyer.

“Mom? Dad?” he called out toward the back of the house.

Sabrina entered with her mother, her father following them.

“Wow, what a huge house,” her mother exclaimed, looking around in awe.

Sabrina had grown up middle class, and their house in Northern California had been very nice, but couldn’t compete with the splendor of the Sinclair’s house. Her parents’ house had been a simple home; Daniel’s parents’ house was a mansion.

“Well, it looks like you’re marrying better than I did,” her mother remarked with a sideways glance to her ex-husband.

Sabrina was saved from commenting, when Raffaela and James appeared in the hallway.

“Oh my god!” Raffaela said, flustered. “We weren’t expecting you today. I’m so sorry. I must have gotten the dates wrong.” She wiped her hands on her apron and rushed toward Sabrina’s mother. “You must be Ilene. The resemblance between you and your daughter is remarkable. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say the two of you are sisters!”

Sabrina suppressed a chuckle when she exchanged a secretive glance with Daniel. Raffaela had a way of wrapping people around her little finger that melted all their defenses in an instant.

As their respective parents exchanged greetings, Daniel pulled her aside and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Are we okay now?” he whispered into her ear.

She nodded, though she still had doubts. Everybody in the Hamptons knew about the article and thought her to be a call girl. How could she hide this from her parents? And while Daniel’s parents seemed to have accepted his explanation, her own parents might not be as understanding.

She could only hope that Daniel’s efforts to get the newspaper to retract the story and issue an apology would bear fruit. And fast. Preferably before the wedding. Or there would be no guests attending it.

Sabrina understood now why Raffaela was getting all these cancellations. Those guests had read the article and decided that they didn’t want to be associated with the Sinclair family anymore. And the incident in the lingerie store that Paul had rescued her from? The owner of the store had wanted her to leave not because she’d rubbed her cheek against the merchandise, but because she didn’t want a presumed call girl in her establishment. Sabrina was being shunned by the community that held the Sinclair family in such high regard.

Could she really do this to them? Go ahead with the wedding when it meant dragging their reputation into the mud?

Sabrina sighed and prayed silently that the story would be retracted swiftly and her reputation restored—and with it the reputation of her future in-laws. But if it didn’t happen, she had a choice to make.

15

“You can do this,” Holly encouraged her.

Sabrina took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face. She’d never been so nervous in her entire life. “There’s so much happening right now. Maybe this is not the right time to find out.”