[A dog is] a bundle of pure love, gift-wrapped in fur.

Ah, selfish. There’s that word again.” Sherry smirked. “It’s been hurled at me many a time, because being a mother and wife is all about selflessness, see?” She imitated a perky, syrupy-sweet voice. “Giving up every molecule of your soul. If you want anything for yourself, you’re accused of being selfish. Marriage and especially motherhood mean being condemned to play second fiddle your entire life.

She loved him, and she was going to do everything she could to get him back. She hadn’t come this far just to walk away. He was the love of her life, dammit. The man she wanted to marry. The world had reversed its orbit to bring them back together, for Pete’s sake, and she wasn’t going down without a fight. Fate could only do so much; the rest was up to her.

It’s like I’m trying to keep the bad away with one hand while holding on to the good with the other, and it just doesn’t work. It’s stupid. I need both hands. So I guess I just have to spread out my arms and accept the bad with the good.

I can promise you that I could be sent back to live this year a hundred times, and I would always choose you. I would always. Choose. You.

I see you, and I suddenly forget why I was keeping score. That’s why I stayed away, I guess. It was a last-ditch effort to protect myself. Because you totally, utterly undo me.

She felt empty yet full, spent yet bursting with energy, drowsy yet wide awake. She felt love.