“I laughed under my breath, and it sounded bitter. “Listen to me. What am I talking about, worth it? Is any experience or bit of beauty worth the cost of my life? I know nothing but safety and self-preservation at all costs.”“And yet,” he said softly, “you’re risking everything to help me.”

“I realize that advice is worth what it costs--that is, nothing.”

“This wife you have, Bird said at last, deeply contemplative, did you pay a great deal for her?She cost me almost everything I had, he said, with a wry tone that made the others laugh. But worth it.”

“But whether there's some grand design really matters little to me. My only hope was this. To see what could be, and to believe that it should be, and then to do all I could to bring it to pass, whatever the cost. And when a life ends as mine will end, no one can persuade me that the cost was not worth what it has brought me at last.”

“Was it worth it?” he asked me, breaking the silence.“Was what worth it?” I asked, looking up at him.“Taking a chance with me,” he said softly, kissing the top of my head. “Not thinking, going with your gut?”“It was the best chance I’ve ever taken,” I said, snuggling closer to him and breathing in his familiar scent.”

“Once again, I am a fragmented person. I am divided between the soft, sentimental girl who loves Caleb at all costs and the hard, logical version of me determined to survive – even at the cost of pushing Caleb from my heart.”