Whirlwinds I Have Known

These five stories run the gamut of the near erotic to the pure romance, from the wild west to murder for hire. The common thread? They're all about the women.

• In "Paper Hearts," a waiter, now an older gentleman, finds a pair of paper hearts. But when exactly did he find them?
• In "About Mrs. Featherberry," we learn what spoiled sardines have to do with homemade pie.
• In "The Laborer," a lightly erotic romance, like her husband says, there's no harm in looking.
• In "Ink," a woman bears a very different kind of power and is incredible in its deployment.
• "Coralín," a story excerpted from the novel The Marshal of Agua Perlado might be the stronest typhoon ever to hit Mexico; she is most definitely the strongest ever to hit former Texas Ranger Wes Crowley.