The Square Heap

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By Dora Lee McKee

In 1875 Missouri Territory, twenty-five-year-old Lucy is desperate for a life of her own, beyond the relentless caretaking of her brothers and their broods. When she answers a mail-order bride advertisement, she’s prepared for hardship. But nothing prepares her for Roan Shields… or the ramshackle ten-by-ten shack he lives in called The Square Heap.

Roan is a quiet widower with two motherless children—and an unsettling charm. He’s kind, respectful… yet keeps Lucy at arm’s length, both physically and emotionally. As she adjusts to backbreaking farm chores and the chaos of frontier motherhood, Lucy is determined to make the best of her new life. But then more children—Roan’s—begin showing up, each the product of past entanglements he refuses to explain.

Just as Lucy begins to piece together the oddities surrounding her new husband, Roan returns from a mysterious hunting trip with a dangerous companion: Dan’l Skinks, a man whose very presence darkens their homestead. Suddenly Roan changes. He’s more affectionate—too affectionate for Lucy’s taste. And what was once a yearning on her part turns into a fear of the man she once longed for.

When a stranger arrives with questions Roan won’t answer, Lucy’s intuition turns to suspicion and dread. Who is Roan Shields exactly? What happened in those woods? And how far will he go to protect his secrets?

As the walls close in, Lucy must figure out how to protect herself and the children in her care. Because in this wild, remote land, love is always a dangerous risk, but trust can be the most deadly gamble of all.

Dora Lee McKee was born in Oklahoma in 1920. In the early 60s she began writing character-driven stories that combined human resilience, intrigue, and strong female voices; all of which were repeatedly turned down by publishers. Sidelined by ill health, Dora passed away from cancer in 1972 at the age of 52, leaving behind a wealth of unpublished manuscripts. Today, Dale LaCasella brings together the right people to champion her mother’s work. As a result, The Square Heap comes to life as the first of Dora Lee McKee’s stories to finally be published, 53 years after her death.