“Maybe Leland would appear there by chance in the morning his chin freshly shaved against his stiff new collar and upon seeing his love in such duress would spring into action. Maybe he would even carry her out like a princess in a bedtime story.”

“He was just like summer, and she loved summer. If she had any wish, it would be to live a lifetime of summers.”

“She had had no idea what it would do to her seeing him in a suit.”

“That was how the heroine of a book would play it and Diana was still writing her own story the best heroines she'd always believed took their fate into their own hands.”

“I know it’s going to sound funny, but I know you’ve been hanging around with that Billie Marsh, so maybe it won’t be strange after all. Would you be my best man—or, I don’t know, my best lady?”

“There was plenty of life left and if he had to he would use it all to get her back. The time had passed for making promises to her-all that was left for him was to act.”

“What was it about that short creature with her wild hair and spurious air of purity and why would anyone much less two men love her and to such disastrous ends.”