“And although there were countless single dads who were raising daughters, no one could deny that there were milestones that a girl wanted a mother for.”

“The Travises who had survived were the most purely stubborn people on earth, the kind who relied on their backbones when their wishbones were broken.”

“One of the more ignominious features of love was that you could only express it with cliches...it made you sound like a fraud at a time when you were blazing with sincerity.”

“I had learned that there were substitutesfor a mother who couldn't be a mother. Youcould find love with other people. You couldfind it in places you weren't even looking.But the original wound would never heal. Iwould carry it with me forever, and so wouldTara. That was the trick . . . accepting it, goingon with your life, knowing it was part ofyou.”

“I love you," she said wretchedly. “And if I were well, no power on earth could keep me away from you. If I were well, I would take you to my bed, and I would show you as much passion as any woman could.”

“Anyone who had ever read a novel knew that governesses were supposed to be meek and downtrodden.”

“Then he raised her enough to whisper in her ear, and while his voice was tender, his words were savage. "You're my woman, and no man or God or ghost will ever take you from me.”