The Great Alone

by Kristin Hannah

He taught her something new about friendship: it picked right back up where you’d left off, as if you hadn’t been apart at all.

And the books! She’d never seen so many. They whispered to her of unexplored worlds and unmet friends and she realized that she wasn’t alone in this new world. Her friends were here, spine out, waiting for her as they always had. If only Matthew could see this …

“Do you want. To fix it up? Live here?” “Maybe. Or maybe we’ll burn it down and rebuild. Ashes make great soil.”

To say goodbye. She said to me once that she felt like she’d been nothing, a reflection of other people. She never quite understood her own worth. I hope she’s looking down now and knows … finally … how loved she was.”