“Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I’ll show you a crook.”

“Oh, they’ll never believe a woman could solve such puzzles. They’ll just assume I’m humoring you by editing it myself and allowing you to put your name to it.”She raised her eyebrows. “But you wouldn’t be.”He humphed. “They’ll never hear me admit it.””I will,” she said, a smile curving her lips.He shrugged. “They’ll believe me, not you.”

“Ho! Wise men say, ‘He who hath not a good and ready memory should never meddle in telling lies.'”Drew smiled. “I have a good and ready memory.”

“If there was one thing that made Captain Lord Jack Blackthorn smile more than holding a pretty woman in his arms, it was a winning hand at cards. To his dismay at the moment he had neither.”

“Oh, Lord, why was she doomed to adore a man steeped in blindness and utter stupidity?”

“A hand stole around her mouth, silencing her, then his lips parting her tumbled hair: “The walls have ears.”She blinked, and for the first time, looked around. A thin beam of light beneath what may have been a door. That was all. When he released her, she endeavored to match his own, barely audible tone. “Do the walls understand English?”

“Skip your fancy talk, Captain Lord Blackthorn. If I do your bidding, and I’m still discussing that with the Almighty, it will only be to save my arse.” Katie O’Reilly to Captain Lord Jack Blackthorn in “Titanic Rhapsody”

“I was born Katie O’Reilly,” she began. “Poor Irish, but proud of it. I boarded the Titanic at Queenstown as a third class passenger with nothing more than the clothes on my back. And the law at my heels.” Titanic Rhapsody”

“Katie shook her head in dismay. “I thought being poor was the worst thing that could happen to a girl.”“No, Katie,” the countess said in a clear voice. “The worst thing is to be in love with one man and have to marry another.”Katie O’Reilly to the Countess of Marbury in “Titanic Rhapsody”

“Time is tick, tick, ticking away. How many souls will I capture today? Will they be a challenge or will they be given? Only time will tell as the clock keeps tick, tick, ticking. Your god has arrived with enough hatred for y’all, with enough evil for the big and small, so come one, come all. I will shred your souls and place them in my satchel, call you a settler and make you my peddler. Come one, come all, come stand behind your god. I will lead you into the darkness of Earth’s end. Come one, come all, my wilted flowers, come claim your title, speak out and cheer it. Come one, come all, let’s have a ball, my wilted flowers . . . Sweet, Unconquerable Spirits.”

“Yes. Kissing. Overrated.””I could change your mind,” Zach said, surprising the hell out of them both. Why would he take something as simple as this banter as a challenge? “I don’t know that I want to, but I feel right sure I could.””How arrogant. How typically male.””I suppose.” He shrugged and reached for the wine bottle. “More?”She nodded, frowning now. “How do you know you could change my mind? It’s been a long time since you… well—””Over two years.” The pain was there, an ache in his chest he imagined he would feel every time he thought of Hannah.And he thought of her every day. Dreamed of her about as often. But lately, maybe only in the past week, he’d begun to realize that his life had not ended with his wife’s.He either had to die or start living again.”

“Sneezeweed, Drew?”He grinned. “Jealous?””Surprised.””Remind me, and I’ll have a talk with Gerald. Give him a few tips.””Promise?””Absolutely.”

“Their daughter scrunched up her hands and legs, waving them wildly in the air. He opened his palm, allowing the babe to kick his hand.”Is she like a puppy?”Constance choked. “What!”He looked up. “Will she get her spots later?”Laughter bubbled up from within her as she playfully whacked him on the shoulder. “Yes. Yes, I’m afraid she will. As soon as the sun touches her skin, the freckles will appear.”A delicious two-dimple grin spread across his face. “Good. I find I’m rather partial to freckled redheads.”

“Thought you didn’t like red hair.”One of Drew’s dimples kicked in as he draped an arm about Grandma’s shoulder. “Must have me confused with someone else, but I’m not surprised. Seems to happen to most of the older set at some point or other.”