“Your kite, milady?"She curtsied and handed it to him. "Why, thank you, Sir Tucker. Take care, though. The fabric is wont to snag.”

“Read. Everything you can get your hands on. Read until words become your friends. Them when you need to find one, they will jump into your mind, waving their hands for you to pick them. And you can select whichever you like, just like a captain choosing a stickball team.”

“It was like skimming through a novel without fully engaging with the story until a well-turned phrase or powerful bit of imagery snagged her attention, hinting at depths previously unnoticed.”

“Jericho, hmm?" Hannah felt an answering grin curve her lips. "I suddenly feel a great fondness for that name."The two women giggled like young girls scheming behind the schoolhouse. Jericho Tucker had no idea what was coming his way.”

“You need not treat me like a child, sir. I am perfectly capable of navigating this staircase on my own."He snorted.Her nostrils flared. "I promise not to ask you to catch me again, all right? Now stop scowling."Of course he did no such thing.”

“And therein lay the crux of her problem. She didn’t trust God to direct her steps. When trouble loomed, she altered her course, convincing herself she was displaying wisdom and the courage of her convictions. Yet in actuality, she was surrendering to fear, letting it control her in place of the Lord’s hand”

“All this time she’d thought it God’s will that she be a spinster. She had grown content with that expectation, taking satisfaction in the wisdom she’d gained through her experience with Stephen. No man would dupe her again. But what if living alone was never part of God’s plan for her? What if she chose that life because it was safe—because she was afraid?”