It is a kiss that, once begun, never really ends. Interrupted, yes. Paused, certainly. But from that very moment onward, Vera sees the whole of her life as only a breath away from kissing him again. On that night in the park, they begin the delicate task of binding their souls together, creating a whole comprising their separate halves.

When you get . . . to the end, you see that love and family are all there is. Nothing else matters.

It's not a date. I bought my own drink and I didn't shave my legs.

She is like a child picking at a scab, unable to stop herself even though she knows it will hurt.

It's not intentions that matter. It's actions. We are what we do and say, not what we intend to.

You look great," he said. It made her smile, even if it was a lie. "I'm as big as a house." He laughed. "I like houses. In fact, I'm thinking about architecture as a career.

Sometimes you simply made the wrong choice and you had to live with it. You could only change the future.