“Everywhere was filled with painful, jarring reminders of what I'd lost: an elderly couple sitting on a bench, gnarly, arthritic fingers interlaced; a handsome young man in a baseball cap whispering something in his pregnant wife's ear, his arm draped protectively around her shoulders.”

“Jack wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He whispered in her ear. “He’s not getting near you again, baby, I promise. No one’s laying a finger on you ever again.”

“Yes, of course. But ... how?"Kat felt her crew around her: Hamish's arm hung around Simon's shoulders; Gabrielle's delicate hands draped through the arms of Angus and Nick. Kat's own hand found Hale's, then, fingers interlacing, palms pressing together so tightly that Kat knew nothing could come between them. Nothing. She looked at him. No one."It's easy," Kat said, "when you don't have to do it alone.”

“...she lost twenty minutes sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, smiling into the pretty glow and imagining herself a contented farmer's wife waiting for her man to come in from the fields.”

“Afterward, she hooked a limp arm around his neck, buried her face against his shoulder, and whispered, "Don't ever get hypothermia with anyone but me.”

“Doubt crouched over his shoulder, ready to take him by the throat, whispering in his ear, You are an old man. An old, old man.”