Bearclaw Valley remember me,

do you think you could ever fall in love?

she sat with that question, picking at it like it were scraps on a dinner plate. yes, she thought. she could fall in love.

"before my kids i would have said no," she shares, green meeting gold in a stare of thoughtful warmth. "but they have shown me a side of love i did not think i would ever know."

and she would never know a love greater than that which she held for her children. there was no man or woman or soul on this earth that would drive her heart to beat the way in which it did for her kids. but she knew also it was a different love in which cole spoke.

"a love like that is terrifying, beautiful, boundless and i do not know if i would be worthy of it." yes, she thought. she could fall in love. but would she let herself?

"but the want for it is there all the same."