The baby woke up before you did. I took him to the other room to let you get a little more sleep. We've been watching a game." "Did he cry?" "Only when he realized the Astros were having another first-round play-off flame out. But I told him there's no shame in crying over the Astros. It's how we Houston guys bond.

...whether he stayed or left, whether they walked the same path or not. They could live on opposite sides of the world, and she would still be his.

The next time you face a room full of strangers . . . you might tell yourself that some of them are just friends waiting to be found.

One of the women at the clinic had remarked dryly that Harrow's personal magnetism not only affected men, women and children but also extended to armoires, assorted chairs and the nearby goldfish in a bowl.

- No, no... She shook her head for emphasis. No. His lips twitched. - One 'no' is enough, darling.

Both of us were quiet with the recognition that something was ending, and something was beginning.

I realized I wasn't going to find a man until I was willing to expose myself to possible harm, to assume the risks of rejection and betrayal and heartbreak that came along with caring about someone. Someday, I promised myself, I would be ready for that kind of risk.