“A small laugh startled me and I looked over to see her actually smiling. Making her do that more often was a new goal.”

“I see a glint in her eye as she looks at me and it makes me smile. Hold our breath? she seems to say. Move the earth? We've been doing that all along.”

“...looking at him makes her feel like laughing all over - as if she could laugh not just with her mouth but with her eyes, her heart, her very limbs.”

“I want to make you smile. For real. Always. We're going to go for dinners, and see movies, and walk on the beach. We'll go hang-gliding, or bungee jumping, or whatever you want to do. Whatever makes you smile and laugh more. Let me make you smile.”

“Do you love him?”Adam looked back at her and she squeezed his arm. With a small smile she turned to her brother. “Yes.”Braden shrugged and reached casually over to the kettle to turn it on. “About bloody time. You two were giving me a headache.”

“He made her feel small. Since there weren’t too many men out there who could make her feel small, this frightened her a bit. It actually frightened her more than the huge sword slung across his back.”