Рита Браун: Homeward Hound

“In the library,” Gray called out.

Shortly Tootie and Weevil stepped into the library.

“What have you got?” Aunt Daniella broke into a huge smile.

Tootie handed a Norfolk terrier puppy to her mother. “I don’t want you to be alone. Her name is Ribbon.”

Tears filled Yvonne’s eyes as she held the adorable puppy to her bosom. She realized her daughter loved her.

“What a beautiful puppy.” Sam rose to grab a tissue for her.

They all made noises about the puppy, who was cute and a little sleepy, resting her head on Yvonne’s forearm.

Aunt Daniella leaned back, finished her bourbon. A marvelous glow followed but she felt glowing anyway. Love. Puppy love. A parent trying to make up for too much money and not enough time for her child, and the child understanding finally. Then she looked at Sam, handing Yvonne another tissue and oh, she heard Yvonne when she would declare, “I am done with men.” Doesn’t every woman say that at least once in her life? She certainly had. In Aunt Daniella’s case, that promise lasted perhaps a week, but still. As for the ex-husband, he wasn’t done with his daughter and ex-wife yet, but for now who cared? He was out of the picture and Sam offered compassion. Eventually Yvonne would figure this out.

Then she studied Weevil and Tootie. Tootie was opening her heart to her mother and to this kind young man.

Aunt Daniella surveyed the room, thinking love comes in many guises. Never turn your back on love. But little Ribbon, well, perhaps that was the best—and it was Valentine’s Day.

Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. James Evert, who taught us at South Side tennis courts and later at Holiday Park tennis courts that it is the Ten Commandments not the Ten Suggestions

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Donna Packard, my friend and typist for more than thirty years, passed away November 17, 2017. She left behind an adored husband, two grown children, and legions of friends. Working without my wonderful backstop was a sorrowful adjustment.

J. M. Cummings, another novelist, stepped up to the plate so that much did not need to be explained. My handwriting, however, did.

As always, Kathleen King and Dee Phillips, Ph.D., both foxhunting buddies, pitched in when I needed odd bits of information.

I stuck Raymie Woolfe, Jr., briefly in this novel to tickle him. Born July 31, 1935, he died on May 10, 2018, before publication. His bursting onto the steeplechase scene occurred when he was sixteen, winning the Saratoga Steeplechase on Hampton Roads. He was a winner in the saddle and out of it. He also wrote clear, excellent nonfiction. His book on Secretariat in 1981 remains the touchstone. In 2016 TheDoomed Horse Soldiers of Bataan was published to high praise. There were books in between, and at his death he was writing another.

As to acknowledgments, if I have forgotten anyone, cuss me like a dog.

Speaking of which, my greatly admired, beloved Jane Winegardner, MFH, gave me a Norfolk terrier for my birthday in 2016. She chews my papers. That’s all I need, another literary critic.

Couldn’t resist putting her in this novel.

May you all be well.

Rita Mae Brown, MFH

The Sister Jane series

Outfoxed

Hotspur

Full Cry

The Hunt Ball

The Hounds and the Fury

The Tell-Tale Horse

Hounded to Death

Fox Tracks

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Crazy Like a Fox

Homeward Hound

Books by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown

Wish You Were Here

Rest in Pieces

Murder at Monticello

Pay Dirt

Murder, She Meowed

Murder on the Prowl

Cat on the Scent

Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers

Pawing Through the Past

Claws and Effect

Catch as Cat Can

The Tail of the Tip-Off

Whisker of Evil

Cat’s Eyewitness

Sour Puss

Puss ’n Cahoots

The Purrfect Murder

Santa Clawed

Cat of the Century

Hiss of Death

The Big Cat Nap

Sneaky Pie for President

The Litter of the Law

Nine Lives to Die

Tail Gate

Tall Tail

A Hiss Before Dying

Probable Claws

The Nevada series

A Nose for Justice

Murder Unleashed

Books by Rita Mae Brown

Animal Magnetism: My Life with

Creatures Great and Small

The Hand That Cradles the Rock

Songs to a Handsome Woman

The Plain Brown Rapper

Rubyfruit Jungle

In Her Day

Six of One

Southern Discomfort

Sudden Death

High Hearts

Started from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual

Bingo

Venus Envy

Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War

Riding Shotgun

Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser

Loose Lips

Alma Mater

The Sand Castle

Cakewalk

PHOTO: © MARY MOTLEY KALERGIS

RITA MAE BROWN is the bestselling author of the Sneaky Pie Brown series; the Sister Jane series; the Runnymede novels, including Six of One and Cakewalk;A Nose for Justice and Murder Unleashed; Rubyfruit Jungle;In Her Day; and many other books. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia, and is a Master of Foxhounds.

ritamaebrownbooks.com

To inquire about booking Rita Mae Brown for a speaking engagement, please contact the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau at speakers@penguinrandomhouse.com.

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