The Widow of Rose House

by Diana Biller

Love isn’t naïve, Alva. It’s hope, and it’s faith, and it can outlast buildings and wars and empires.”

God knows I’m not saying you haven’t faced your own problems, but you don’t know what it’s like to not have people to hold you up when you need it most, parents who will pick you up when you fall down. Sometimes people who don’t have that, who aren’t used to that—sometimes it takes them longer to trust. And sometimes they aren’t ever able to, no matter how much they want to.”