There were no knights, no castles, no magic. But there was laughter, and there was love, and while Judith still had breath in her body, she would make sure they had enough. Her life was already its own once upon a time. There was enough joy in the story, enough sorrow mixed in. It might not be the sort of tale that mothers told their children but it was still a good one. Not everything hurt. It would all turn out.
Money may not buy love, but it buys something like it. Not having any money makes love complicated.
Men touch their horses to calm them,” she said distantly. “They caress their falcons to remind them that they are bound. Touch smacks of ownership, and I am weary of being a possession.
And she’d discovered she wasn’t empty inside. She was magnificent. Even if nobody yet recognized it.
I’d tell you to fetch a match, but you have always had your own spark.
A ninnyhammer,” Jane said, “sounds like a magic hammer. One that I can use to smite ninnies. I have a great need for one of those.
Oh, dear.” Free looked down, fluttering her eyelashes demurely. “Is my punctuation showing once more?
He’d fallen a little bit in love with her the moment she’d said his name as if it had value.
Here was life, gently reminding her that she could care again. That her grief was allowed, but so was her joy.
Family isn’t a matter of history. Or biology,” he said softly. “It’s a matter of choice.
Love is never safe,” Tina repeats. “It’s weird. It’s magical. It’s the moment when you break through the dark shell that protects your heart and say, this, this person. I’m going to let this person in, let him come so close that he can hurt me more than I can possibly imagine. I’m going to let him hurt me.” She inhales. “Love is never safe.” “And yet,” I say, “we do it anyway.” “We do it anyway.” Her voice is a quiet echo of mine, but her hands close on mine.
It’s called basic human decency, and I deserve no credit for doing what every man should.
Do Chinese dragons even eat people?” “She lives in the Bay Area,” I say severely. “She eats a Westernized diet.
If that door opens now, of course,” he murmured in her ear, “I can step away and only the flush in your cheeks will raise suspicion.” His hands continued to chart a dangerous course over her body. He stroked her, caressed her, until she strained against him. He kissed the back of her neck. “So I think we should remove any doubt as to what is happening.
But none of that matters. When I see you, I remember that you made me want to drown rather than be myself.
We’re friends... And what that means is this: I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not if I can stop it.
Sir Mark Turner,” he said. “I speak with the tongues of a thousand angels. Butterflies follow me wherever I go. Birds sing when I take a breath.
Experience tells me that fiction is fiction and that hope leads to disappointment.
You said that I didn’t notice people like you.” His voice lowers. His eyes are relentlessly blue, and they cut into me. “That’s completely false. You’ve never been invisible to me. I saw you the first day we crossed paths, and I’ve been seeing you ever since.
I think she’ll fit quite well. As wives go, Miss Pursling will be just like these books. When I wish to take her down and read her, she’ll be there. When I don’t, she’ll wait patiently, precisely where she was left. She’ll make me a comfortable wife, Ames. Besides, my mother likes her.