Delicate Escape (Sparrow Falls, #2)

by Catherine Cowles

Telling someone you thought you were better as friends never went over well.

“I just don’t want you to miss out on something amazing because you’re scared. Men like Shep are one in a million.”

“Not in a creepy way. Like he’d give anything to simply have you look his way.”

“You’re a good human, Thea.” Rhodes came back into focus in front of me, and I shook my head. “I’m a mess.” She grinned. “All the best people are.”

“We can’t always see a person’s capacity for evil. But that doesn’t make us culpable. It just means we see the good in those around us.”

My drug of choice was reading.

“But we can’t let one bad experience sour the rest of our lives. We can’t let the bad win. Make us stop living. If we lock ourselves down, we don’t just keep out the bad. We keep out the good, too.”

Shep’s eyes locked with mine. “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.”

“Alone isn’t a place. It’s a state of being. And no one can stay that way forever. Every person on this planet needs others. Needs to share their burdens with someone.”

“We all do what we have to do to make it through. I’m never going to judge you for what you need to feel safe.”

“I like you. Even when you were prickly as all hell, I admired it. There’s something real about you. An honesty you don’t see a lot these days. And there’s kindness. You might try to hide it beneath those thorns you love so much, but I’ve seen it. And, somehow, it’s more potent since you’re not using it for show. You’d rather have no one see you extending a hand to someone else. That’s why.”

“You’re worthy, Shepard Colson. You don’t have to fix anything to be that. You don’t have to dig a million trenches or replace feet of corroded piping. You’re worthy just for who you are.”

“You don’t have to be perfect for me, Shepard. You don’t have to have everything together. I want you just as you are, even when you want to burn down the world.”

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.”

“We all carry with us the weight of our experiences. The hard things change us. Sometimes, they scar us. But it’s never all bad. They grow our empathy, understanding, and the way we care for others around us.

“Sometimes, the mental scars are worse.”