Not everything," he said. "Not the important things. My kids are safe. You're safe. That's all I really care about. This" - he said motioning - "is just stuff. Most of it can be replaced. It just takes time.

In another time and place, she might have felt differently, but thinking along those lines was pointless now.

Each recognized the fact that real commitment could be proven only through the passage of time.

And maybe, just maybe, it will.

You can't be a writer if you don't write, it's just that simple.

I'm going to marry you one day, you know." "Is that a promise?" "If you want it to be.

As compromised as their marriage might be, part of her still believed in her vows. She loved the man he'd been, and she loved the man she knew he could be.