Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)

by Abby Jimenez

“The FBI should hire more women. We’re natural investigators.

“When men stop assaulting women they meet on the internet, we’ll stop creeping on them to make sure they pass the vibe check.

She’s like black mold, she always comes back.”

“Why not forgive? In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin.

“Maybe home isn’t a place. Maybe it’s a person.”

Even though experience and common sense told me not to hope, it burst into life inside me anyway.

“Be glad you don’t get it. It means your life has been a lot gentler than hers.”

“So you think she got so depressed she decided to steal two hundred thousand dollars?” “Justin, people get so depressed they kill themselves.”

“Unhealed trauma is a crack. And all the little hard things that trickle into it that would have rolled off someone else, settle. Then when life gets cold, that crack gets bigger, longer, deeper. It makes new breaks. You don’t know how broken she was or what she was trying to do to fill those cracks. Being broken is not an excuse for bad behavior, you still have to make good choices and do the right thing. But it can be the reason. And sometimes understanding the reason can be what helps you heal.”

It was easier to pretend to be angry and tough than to admit to being devastated and heartbroken.