Based on her experience with men, most assumed that when you talked to them about a problem or dilemma, they were expected to offer an opinion, even when all you wants was for them to listen.

A good man is hard to find," she said wistfully. "Not everyone is as lucky as you are.

I don't know that I've ever felt as happy as I did that day, but then again, it was always like that when we were together. I never wanted it to end.

You never answered my question, about what you want to do with your life. Maybe my dreams aren't that complicated. Maybe I think that a job is just a job. What does that mean? Maybe I don't want to be defined by what I do. Maybe I'd like to be defined by what I am.

I read over a hundred books a year and have done so since I was fifteen years old, and every book I've read has taught me something.

He leaned closer, their faces drawing near, and he could feel the heat of her breath mingling with his. He closed his eyes against the memory of a thousand other kisses and touched his lips to hers. He felt a kind of spark, and all at once he felt her slowly coming back to him. She was the arm that held him close in times of trouble, she was the whisper on the pillow beside him at night.

I steeled myself to focus only on the present yet remain alert to what might come next.