The Grace Year

by Kim Liggett

But I won’t be a broken bird. Not for anyone.

“You don’t have to change for me.”

“You can keep your dreams,” he whispers. “But I dream only of you.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” he says, watching my lips. “I’m afraid of the way you make me feel.”

“Heaven is a boy in a treehouse, with cold hands and a warm heart.”