The Time in Between Quotes

“Well, they’re right,” I told her. “But do you know how lovely you are?” She looked confused. “Do you mean pretty?” “Yes, but in a way where I can see it.” I lifted a hand and touched a finger to her heart. “And I can feel it because you’re pretty inside too.” She seemed to marvel at that. “No one ever told me I was pretty inside.” “Well, you are and don’t ever stop being that way because it really doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside. It only matters how you are on the inside.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“He finally looked into her eyes. “I loved you and I made you live a hell.”
“I loved you and I was happy to be in that hell if you were there with me.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“He was like . . . like . . . a magnet and I was metal and all the laws of nature said there was nothing for it. But it wasn’t like I was drawn to him. It was like I was connected to him and nothing could shake me loose unless all my molecules were jumbled up and I became a different me.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“Gonna share somethin’ about the brotherhood that might get me a demerit since I’m breaking the code and blabbing one of our secrets, but guys have no fuckin’ clue what to do when women cry even a little bit. They’re completely lost when a woman loses it and bawls herself sick. So if I gotta buy a pizza and a six-pack so you can stay on the right path and no other shit will hit where I gotta consider carrying a handkerchief, please, God, let me.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“This is it. This is me. I’m your man. The man who loves you. The man you love. This is who I am. This is how it is. This is how it’s gonna be. And if you don’t understand what I’m saying to you, I’ll spell it out. My job is to look after you. My job is to protect you. From bad shit. Or just from the crap of life happening it’s always been that since the first time we kissed. And when I don’t, and there will be times when that’s out of my control, like arguably that whole fiasco we endured, I’m gonna feel that. It’s gonna live in me. I’ll be able to hack it but that doesn’t mean it’ll go away. And you have to let me feel that because it’s just plain…me.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“I missed your smell. I missed those green eyes. I missed holding hands with you. And I missed just having coffee with you … We had a version of paradise, but this here? This is the real thing.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“In life, you sometimes lose. If you're lucky, more often you win. And even as you note the losses and try to move on, you should make sure to celebrate the wins.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“It takes a lot more guts and balls to forgive and move on than it takes to hold on to resentment and nurse it to bitterness, which is just a way to twist the emotion of regret into something you can stomach.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“But there had been more times than any of those since he’d lost her that he’d missed just holding her hand. Moving slowly like he was”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have put you through all this, if I wasn’t all in, if I didn’t still love you. You said you still loved me too. So we have that. We hold on to it. And we ride these rapids until I can get us to safety. You with me?”
“I’m with you.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“We have to learn something from what came before.”
“What’s that?” she asked quietly.
“We have to learn, even when it gets hard, we can’t give up and we can’t let go.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“Where does that leave us when you look at me?”
“Do you wanna find out?”
“With everything I have even though it’s completely terrifying.”
Coert relaxed but did it still holding her close.
“Then let’s find out.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“Eighteen years ago Coert and I fell together against all odds.
Then it ended.
And neither of us got over it.
No more missed opportunities.
It was time to risk everything.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“Stick with me. Believe in me, Cady. Even if you don’t know what I’m asking. I’m still gonna ask it. Don’t give up no matter what.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“When the bad comes, you focus on the good or you’ll lose yourself forever.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“Now I think I understand why you’re prettier when you look at Daddy. Because what’s inside is coming out.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“That guy’s not hot. He looks like every cop out there.” “If that’s true, then I should have married into law enforcement, not heating and air conditioning,” Pam shot back.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“Coert raised a brow. “Threatening criminal charges against asshole animal abusers is being paternal?” “Taking care of your baby, no matter what form she comes in, even if she’s covered in fur . . . yes, it absolutely is.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“We both suffered but neither of us stopped living our lives and we got so much out of them, so, so much. And now we have each other. So we have it all.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between

“Cady, I love you. I never stopped loving you ... I was never able to commit to another woman because I was still in love with you.”
― Kristen Ashley, The Time in Between