" Why did you come back? ’Tis not safe.” “I came back to finish what we last started.” Did he mean their near embrace in the barn? Before Pa came in? His mouth was warm against her ear, his fingers stroking her hair, which frayed at the touch of his callused hand. “I came back to ask you to be my wife.” The words, so long wished for, were every bit as sweet as she’d hoped they’d be. But here in this shadowed corner, with Pa so ill . . . “Do you love me? Or do you feel pity for me, alone, almost fatherless?” “Not pity, Morrow. Love. The love between a man and a woman.” Her lips parted in a sort of wonder. “Have you ever been in love?” “Not till now . . . not till you.” “Then how can you be . . . sure?” “I know my mind, my heart. "
― Laura Frantz , Courting Morrow Little