Hidden Waters (Tattered & Torn, #3)

by Catherine Cowles

She was so much braver than I was. So much fiercer. Never afraid to stand up to anyone, even her jerk of a brother or her dad when he was in one of his moods.

Beckett had never been anything but kind to me. But his presence was overwhelming. Tall and broad. Handsome, but with an almost feral edge. That edge told me he was a predator, and I needed to watch my step.

I knew something about taking a trek through hell. And the last thing I wanted was for the woman with the haunting eyes and the gentlest spirit I’d ever seen to have visited that demon-filled desert.

Appreciate the kindness but never let yourself rely on it because it will likely disappear one day.

She deserved someone at her back. I just hoped like hell I could be that person.

That laugh. The sound was magic, light with a bit of a rasp to it. Like how she’d said my name, I’d never heard anything like it. And I’d spill pizza sauce on myself every single day to hear it again.

We leave a million what-ifs and what-might’ve-beens in our wake. The only thing we can do is try to learn from them.”

you have to give yourself some grace to stumble. Perfection doesn’t exist.”

“There aren’t shouldn’t-have-beens when it comes to feelings. I’m realizing that the more we stuff them down, the worse it is when they cut loose.”

“You must’ve been an angel in another life because I know you’re raising hell in this one.”

All I wanted was that ever-elusive word: normal. Yet it felt further and further out of my grasp.

As much as I wanted to be the one to heal Shy as a way to make things right, I couldn’t. The only person I could heal was myself.

We don’t have control over what happens to us, only how we react to it.”

“Any time you start to believe those lies, you come to me. I’ll tell you the truth.” I swallowed against the burn in my throat. “Okay.” I dipped my head so that we were eye-to-eye. “Anytime you start taking on the weight of the world, you come to me. I’ll remind you to set it down.”

The only way we fail is if we give up altogether.”

There’s no doubt in my mind that you can do whatever you set your mind to. I’m just glad you’re letting me come along for the ride.”

I liked the idea that maybe Beckett and I were leaning on each other. That it wasn’t just me who needed him.

“We need the laughter, Beckett. It’s what keeps us human. I lost it for too long. Now that I have it back, I’m not letting it go.

“Beauty in the strength that carried you through. Beauty in how you refused to be broken. Beauty that you never let yourself become cruel like him. Addie, there isn’t a thing about you that isn’t beautiful.”

“Why would you want to settle for normal when you’re extraordinary? Everything around you is gray, and yet you’re cast in every color I could ever imagine.”

“Life is full of pain. We’ll hurt each other. But I trust us both to make it right when that happens. I trust that we’ll learn and grow and do better next time.”

we found something that was ours alone—movement and breath and…us.

just… I feel like we’ve been more than friends for weeks now. It wasn’t romantic; it was something else entirely. Like our souls recognized something in each other.

“He’s your launchpad.” I looked at Hadley in question. “He’s the place you always come back to. But he also sends you out into the universe.” Warmth flooded my chest. “He does do that.”

“Hope is the most powerful emotion I can think of.”