“Dear Jack,I love you, too.And I think I know the secret to a long and happy marriage— just choose someone you can't live without.For me, that would be you.So if you insist on being traditional . . .Yes.—Ella”

“... I think I know the secret to a long and happy marriage - just choose someone you can't live without.”

“I was just thinking if the sex with you is one-tenth as fun as arguing with you. I'll be one happy bastard.""You'll never find out. You--------" He kissed me. ~ Jack Travis & Ella Varner”

“You told me you believed marriage was for other people.""You're the only man who could make me believe that it's for me, too. Although when you get down to it, love is what's real. I still say marriage is just a piece of paper."Jack smiled. "Let's find out," he said, and he pulled me down to the bed with him.Jack & Ella”

“Dear Miss Independent,I've decided that of all the women I've ever known, you are the only one I will ever love more than hunting, fishing, football, and power tools.You may not know this, but the other time I asked you to marry me, the night I put the crib together, I meant it. Even though I knew you weren't ready.God, I hope you're ready now.Marry me, Ella. Because no matter where you go or what you do, I'll love you every day for the rest of my life. —Jack”

“…I love you. I love you desperately, violently, tenderly, completely. I want you in ways that I know you would find shocking……I want to talk with you forever. I remember every word you've ever said to me.If only I could visit you as a foreigner goes into a new country, learn the language of you, wander past all borders into every private and secret place, I would stay forever. I would become a citizen of you.You would say it's too soon to feel this way. You would ask how I could be so certain. But some things can't be measured by time. Ask me an hour from now. Ask me a month from now. A year, ten years, a lifetime. The way I love you will outlast every calendar, clock, and every toll of every bell that will ever be cast….”

“To be honest," I halfwhispered,"I don't feel as safe with him as Ido with you.""I know."A ghost of a smile touched my lips. "Howdo you know?""Think about what safety is, Ella.""Trust?""Yes, partly. But also an absence of risk."He unstuck a strand of hair from my dampcheek and tucked it back. "Maybe you needto take a risk. Maybe you need to be withsomeone who rattles you a little.”