42
" I love it when you stay, but I think you’d better go. I feel like I’m playing with fire every time I let you talk me into bed. I don’t want to become too dependent on you. And I don’t want the whole town to know we’re sleeping together. I have children to think about.” “Are you cutting me off?” he asked nervously. She smiled at him. “Did you just whine?” She chuckled at him. “Noah, much as I love cuddling up to you, I don’t want your new town, your future congregation, to think the worst of you.” “I’m not worried about that. I think I’d get a standing ovation for finding you. But, to ease your mind and your reputation, I’ll be very discreet,” he said. “That’s about half the problem… There are also children to think about…” “We’ll be very cautious there, sweetheart. They’re your top priority, which makes them mine also.” Then he pulled out his secret weapon. He kissed her. Hard and deep. He pulled her against him and it took her less than fifteen seconds to melt into him and fully enjoy his arousal. When he released her lips, she said, “You are a very bad boy and no one with an ounce of sanity would take you for a minister.” “Could I be taken for a man who wants the woman he loves?” “Yeah, you qualify,” she said. "
― Robyn Carr , Forbidden Falls (Virgin River, #8)
55
" Shelby handed off her bouquet and faced Luke, taking both his hands in hers. And she
began: “Luke, I love you. I promise that each day I have you in my life, I will show you my love.”
Noah's eyes drifted to Ellie's and a smile played about his lips as the bride and groom
spoke.
“Shelby, I love you. In each day of our lives together, I will show my love. And where
there is injury, I will pardon without hesitation.”
“Where there is doubt, Luke, I will have faith in you.”
“In times of despair, you will be my hope.”
“In times of darkness, I will find my light in you.”
“When there is sadness, let me bring you joy.”
“Luke, I will not so much seek to be consoled as to console.”
“I will seek to understand, not just to be understood.”
“I will love, not just crave love.”
“I pledge you my heart, my life.”
“And I pledge mine to you.”
“I, Luke Riordan, take you, Shelby MacIntyre, to be wife, my best friend, my lover, my partner, the head of my family and other half of my heart. Forever.” He slid a ring on her finger.
Shelby slid a ring onto his finger. “I, Shelby MacIntyre, take you, Luke Riordan, to be my
husband, best friend, lover, partner, head of my family and other half of my heart. Forever. "
― Robyn Carr , Forbidden Falls (Virgin River, #8)
57
" He grabbed her face in his hands again. "I want to be with you forever. I want to be beside you every night, holding you close, whispering to you that I love you more than anything in the world, that you turned my whole world upside down just when it needed to be turned upside down. I want to make forever promises to you out loud, in front of God, and I want you to promise to be my woman, my wife, my one and only love, my best friend and my conscience. You're never easy, Ellie, but you're sure never boring..." (Noah Kincaid) "
― Robyn Carr , Forbidden Falls (Virgin River, #8)
60
" Hanging on to it a little, are you? … There’s a trick to letting it go, in case you’re interested… You can’t try. Trying is a struggle and doing is an act. You can’t witness the act of trying, but you can see the results of doing. Trying brings on stress because not only do you have the problem, but now you have all this frustration with it not going away just because you want it to. It’s kind of like being told not to think of pink elephants- impossible. What you have to do is stop. You say to yourself, this is over for now. I’m done for now. Take your mind to another place and concentrate on that peaceful place. Deep breaths. Go limp. Put your mind in another state. It takes practice, but it gets easier, over time… My gramma used to say, you can only feel one feeling at a time. For example, you can’t feel trust and fear together. If you want to trust but you’re afraid, fear is still in charge. If you trusted, there wouldn’t be fear. She also used to say you have to listen to what you feel- feeling fear could be warning, right? ...
Don’t make love to your problems- they’ll never give you back the satisfaction you give them. And, your troubles aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, but that doesn’t mean writing them down won’t help you get a fix on ‘em. And, God respects you when you work, but he loves you when you dance… she also used to say, ‘if Jesus walked the earth today, he wouldn’t be hanging out with Billy Graham. He’d be found with the drug addicts and prostitutes and the like. "
― Robyn Carr , Forbidden Falls (Virgin River, #8)