Quotes from Linda Lael Miller

chigger bites. On the other side of the ranch house, which was, she admitted

Something is happening, all right. But it's perfectly natural, Lily. Stop worrying and let me show you what it means to be a woman." Her

I hate you, Caleb Halliday," she vowed. He kissed her lightly, and she caught the spicy female scent of her own body. "Of course you do, darling," he said, propelling her toward the Tibbets' front gate. "And what happened tonight is never going to happen again!" "Wrong," Caleb said confidently. "It's going to happen thousands of times, in thousands of different places." Before

Lily remembered Sandra saying that Caleb's mind couldn't be changed by a blast of dynamite once he'd made it up on a subject, and she had a hunch both women were right. Caleb was the most hardheaded man on earth.

Yet in all the years she'd stared at others, Emma had never seen so many good-looking people in one place before. The nurse…gorgeous. The doctor…gorgeous and so damn sweet. And that deputy guy…well, he went beyond gorgeous, but he was anything but sweet.

There were times when Caleb thought he'd go insane if he had to put another platoon of privates through their paces on the parade grounds. But now there was Lily, and she'd changed everything. As soon as he'd brought her around to his way of thinking and she was safely ensconced in a proper house, Caleb decided, he would go back to Pennsylvania and make an attempt at setting things right. Maybe he would even leave the army and take his proper place in the world. Lily

Sooner or later, given enough whiskey, hard work, and women, he'd have been able to put Emma Chalmers out of his mind. Now everything had changed. He couldn't leave her to that fool of a hypocrite she planned to marry; if he did, the blue fire in her eyes would falter and die one day in the not too distant future. Outside

Caleb rolled over and slid down to kiss her belly. He seemed to love touching it now that it was rounding with his child. "You know, as soon as you get over having this baby, I think we ought to start another one." Lily sighed. "I have no doubt that we will." He

I don't believe this," Emma said, temper flaring. "I came all this way to help you and you're scolding me like a child!" "I've got half a mind to take you over my knee and paddle you." He took another swallow of the whiskey and made a lusty sound of satisfaction as it went down. "You wouldn't dare." Steven flinched as the needle made its first pass through his skin. "Ask Joellen Lenahan about that." Emma

There's a baby inside you right now," he said, leaning forward to trace her collarbone with kisses as Emma gave in and let her hips move of their own accord. "And as soon as you're over having this one, I'm going to put another in you, Emma. And then another. I'm going to have you morning, noon, and night—" "Ooooh," Emma groaned helplessly, as he cut off his own words by closing his mouth over one of her nipples.

Lily was exasperated, but she knew arguing with Caleb would only waste valuable time. It was like having words with a hitching post. They

Dratted women," the colonel muttered, tossing down his napkin and bolting out of his chair. "They don't know how to listen. They don't know how to obey. If the army were made up of them, we'd all be British subjects." Caleb

Steven maneuvered the horse among the cattle that strayed from the herd as easily as if Emma hadn't been mounted in front of him, whistling and waving his hat at times. In calmer moments, he told Emma about Fairhaven, his home in Louisiana. He told her how many children they were going to have, and exactly where each one would be conceived. When they got to Spokane, he promised, he was going to take a hotel room and keep her tossing on the mattress for a full day and night. Emma

So," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders and escorting her toward his small wooden house, "you've finally come to your senses and decided to settle down and make a real life for yourself. The major seems like a fine man to me." Lily wondered if Rupert had overlooked the fact that she and Caleb hated each other. "He's a pompous, overbearing, bullying ass," she replied. Rupert grinned. "Just what you need," he retorted. As

Emma shifted her gaze to Steven, sitting just ahead of her at a table, Garrick Wright beside him. As though sensing her perusal, Steven shifted in his chair to look back at her, and to her utter amazement, he winked. She pursed her lips, amazed that he could take so serious a proceeding so lightly. He mimicked her dour expression, then turned to face the front of the courtroom again. The

How can dreams be secondhand? Lissie asked, sounding both skeptical and intrigued. Addie flipped on the headlights, watched the snowflakes dancing in the beams. Sometimes people give up on them, because they don't fit anymore. Or they just leave them behind, for one reason or another. Then someone else comes along, finds them, and believes they might be worth something after all.

As luck would have it, Caleb appeared at supper that night. His uniform had been shaken out and pressed, and his butterscotch hair gleamed with cleanliness. He brought Cuban cigars for Rupert and a delicate china figurine for Lily. She looked at him in bewilderment, and he smiled at her as though there had been no disagreement at the front gate only a few hours earlier.

When they reached Fairhaven, Jubal rushed out to collect her. "I knew you shouldn't have gone to that ole trial, Miss Emma," fussed Jubal. "I tried to tell Mr. Steven that. You's makin' a baby, you can't go gallivantin' all over the parish—" Emma might have smiled if her husband hadn't been accused of a murder he didn't commit. As it was, she just let Jubal prattle. She

I hope it won't rain," Lily said, feeling very shy all of a sudden. Caleb turned and smiled at her. "Whatever happens, Lily," he said, "I'll take care of you." Soon

She said a silent prayer of gratitude and went to the stove, making as little noise as possible, stirring the embers with a poker and then shoving in several sticks of the precious seasoned wood. When the stove was putting out noticeable heat again, she made her way to the hearth and repeated the process, feeling a certain primitive joy as the flames leaped up around the fresh logs, crackling cheerfully and spilling warmth over her bare feet.

caught up in causes and concerns and plans for the future and forget what truly mattered—loving and being loved, in the present moment.

He had a tenderness in him, and a streak of poetry, and she knew he loved the land for far more than its ability to sustain him.

See that you mind your manners, that's all. No gentleman will buy the cow when he knows he can get the milk for nothing." Lily managed not to roll her eyes until she'd turned her back on Mrs. McAllister and stepped into the hall again. Caleb had come right out and admitted that he had no intention of "buying the cow"—he only wanted to rent it. Lily

By God, if I were twenty years younger," he thundered, "I'd drag you outside and horsewhip you!" Steven