The Heiress

by Rachel Hawkins

Married four times, Ruby seemed singularly unlucky in love, losing her first husband, Duke Callahan, to a shooting on their Paris honeymoon, her second to an electrical accident at Ashby House, the third to a lingering illness, and the last, Roddy Kenmore, to a boating mishap.

In addition to Camden (20), Mrs. McTavish is survived by a sister, Nelle (69), a nephew, Howell (49), a great-nephew, Ben (23), and a great-niece, Elizabeth (17).

you can put miles and mountains between you and home, but eventually, home will call you back.

Tell him, an insistent voice whispers. Tell him now, while there’s still time. Because if he finds out after you arrive … But we’re almost there. We’re so close now, and soon, everything I’ve done will be worth it. And I will tell him. All of it, the whole story, no lies between us, just like it’s always been. But not now. Not yet.

It seems to me that it should not be that hard to be both good in bed and a good man, and yet the vast majority of men never cease to amaze me in their refusal to master this particular skill set.

“I did my part,” he says, his voice low even though there’s no chance of us being overheard. “I got him here. Now, Mrs. McTavish. When are you going to do yours?”

I don’t believe in an afterlife—I’m sure you can understand why such an idea is abhorrent to me—but if there is a heaven, and through some mix-up of celestial paperwork I actually got to go there, this moment is where I’d want to spend eternity. Andrew’s hand on my hair, the fire before us, the snow outside, the crackle of pages turning and his soft chuckle in my ear.

“They’re going to tell me that she was really Dora Darnell.”