Rustic Hearts (Poplar Falls, #1)

by Amber Kelly

Sophie lost her daddy too, but unlike your parents, he had a choice. He made that choice, and for whatever reason, he didn’t choose her. He chose to walk away. Not because he didn’t want to be a father or couldn’t be a father because he took you and Elle in and raised you. It was because he didn’t want her. That’s what it looks like to her anyway. It has to cut deep.”

Real love survives time and distance. It doesn’t need to be constantly reassured. It just is.

Falling in love is the easy part, the fun part. It’s staying in love that’s hard.

I guess that’s just how it goes with true friendship. No matter how long you’re apart, you can pick back up the second you find your way back to each other. No anger. No resentment. No explanations or apologies needed.

Time is the most valuable thing any of us owns. We can’t hoard it or save it, can’t borrow it from another person, can’t buy it or even pray for more of it.

Yet time is the one thing we waste more of than anything else, and we never even notice. We always think we have more until we don’t. We are even so careless as to wish it away. Wishing for the weekend to hurry up and come or the workday to be over with or the winter months to pass. Never appreciating the moment we have right now and never stopping to truly live it.

“Sometimes, a love so big comes along, and even if you only get to hold on to it for a little while, it can fill you up for a lifetime.

“You’re in my bed tonight, Princess. Get rid of him.” Then, I dart off into the barn.

Take your ass back to New York and hide. I’ll drive you to the airport myself, but first, you’re going to sit your ass down and hear what Jefferson has to say.”

Love is defined by choice. If there were only one option, then you are just that—the only option. Choosing to love another person in spite of all the other options available … that’s the part that makes it special. That’s the part that makes it all worth it. I chose her, but she didn’t choose me. That’s our love story in a nutshell.”