Bhriv

“Some of the greatest difficulties aren’t the decisions we make, but the results of them.”
― T.K. Chapin, One Sunday Drive

“Phillip hardened his grip on Totka’s. “For all our manipulations, God always manages to get His way.”
“A beautiful woman once told me our Jesus Creator is a good and wise chief, worthy of obedience without question. His plan is perfect. Wait, and you will see.”
― April W. Gardner, Beneath the Blackberry Moon: The Ebony Cloak

“With unsteady hands, Phillip yanked on the mare’s bridle straps while trying to loosen one of the stubborn buckles. She snorted at his rough handling.
Totka appeared beside him. “Let me.”
Phillip gratefully released the task, an unexpected sense of brotherhood filling him. If anyone knew the heartache of separation, it was the man whose deft brown hands readied Phillip’s mount for the long road ahead.
Totka’s own road had been lengthy. And yet, after two years, he somehow managed to continue to place one foot in front of the other. His breath still entered and left his body in the same monotonous pattern. How? When already several times over the half-day since Grayson had ridden out with Milly, Phillip had wondered if his chest might explode with the effort of expanding and contracting without her.”
― April W. Gardner, Beneath the Blackberry Moon: The Ebony Cloak

“Was there anything he wouldn’t give for an isolated cabin and one night with her? No, he didn’t imagine there was—not that he had anything left to give.
The last two things Phillip possessed he’d already bequeathed—to Milly, his heart, and to the Almighty, his vow to that he’d marry her if He would simply rearrange their circumstances to make it possible.”
― April W. Gardner, Beneath the Blackberry Moon: The Ebony Cloak