“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 The Doomed 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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