Delicate Escape (Sparrow Falls, #2)

by Catherine Cowles

My drug of choice was reading. The books I picked up from the secondhand store for a nickel, or the ones I checked out from the library, thanks to Sutton’s library card. The subject matter varied widely: murder mysteries, tales from other planets, and my favorite, epic romances. But I had one rule. There had to be a happy ending. There was enough hardship in the real world. I needed hope in my stories.

“Because everything about you screams that you’ve been fighting alone for too damn long, Thorn. You need someone to help carry the weight for a little while. I might not be able to fix everything, but I can help carry the load.”

“What. Did. He. Do?”

“Don’t think I don’t want you there, Thorn. I want you wherever I can get you. Why do you think I’ve been coming to the bakery every day for months? I don’t even like sweets.”

“The last thing in the world I want to do is walk away.”

“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her,” Shep snarled.

just because you don’t share blood with someone doesn’t mean your tie is any less strong. Sometimes, it’s stronger. Because that tether is a choice.”

“You’re my home.”

“Your heart is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced. Beautiful because it’s been broken. Those cracks let it become something else entirely. Stronger. Wiser. The fiercest defender of anyone who needs it. And the gentlest confidante for anyone who needs understanding. You see it all. And you don’t look away. You come alongside without judgment, and you simply love. You can’t ask me to walk away from that after I’ve experienced it. It would be like living in the sun, only to exist entirely in darkness.”

“So, if you need to go, then I go, too. Wherever you need to be, that’s where I am.”