“Lia let out a low growl and moved her arrow to the base of his fat throat. "What do you think, Gabi? Would you like to see these nuptials through?""Not this day," I said"How about on the morrow?" Marcello asked, smiling and lifting my hand to his lips. "If I am your groom?""Hold that eHarmony thought," Lia whispered in English. "We gotta get out of here.”

“Lia aimed, shifted and waited, watching one man peek out time and time again. She let her arrow fly anticipating his next peek at us and it pierced his eye.“Okay that’s just going to make ’em mad ” I said.“Three hundred and ninety-two ” she said to Luca tossing her braid over her shoulder and taking aim again.“Saints in heaven ” he said to me rolling his eyes “how much deeper in love can I yet fall?”

“How dare you - ""How dare I offer you more than you could've ever dreamed?""How dare you waltz in here and presume - ""Presume to prescribe a future with hope and promise?"I shut my mouth abruptly, glaring at him. Then, "Are you quite finished?""Are you?" he asked."I am a free woman, Mr.Kensington. Grown. I can do as I wish.I may be blood kin to you, but I am not your employee." My eyes cut to Mama, but hers remained on the barn."Regardless, you shall do as I say."I let out a sputtering, exasperated laugh. "And if I do not?"He traced the edge of his chipped china saucer. "That would be ill advised.”

“I think the trick to living fully,” I said, thinking through each word, “is to appreciate what we have, day byday, regardless of what we know might come our way.” I took a breath and slowly looked from one of myparents to the other. “If I live in fear of what might be, how can I truly live my life to the full in the present? Andif I do not give myself to the day, to hope, to life, what do I miss?” I raised my eyebrows and shook my head.“Life itself, I think. At least the way I wanna live it.”

“We froze. Neither of us moving, simply staring at each other, wondering if the other was going to move first. "You are," he whispered, "uncommonly stirring." He closed his eyes then, as if he had to in order to break the bond between us, then lifted me to the saddle and stared at the ground as he guided my feet into the stirrups.”

“How good it felt, to do some good, here and there. Perhaps this was what it meant to be an adult. To grab the opportunity at hand, make the most of the day, regardless of what it looked like.”

“We all belong to Him, from the cradle to the grave, whether we know it or not. And He'll see justice done in His own time and in His own way. Now if we trust in Him, that's all we have to think about. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm just saying it's what I think we're go do.”