“It was odd, (Tessa thought), what brought out tenderness in people.”

“The odds against this were tremendous, but Edith was not interested in the odds; people who thought about odds were unheroic and would never achieve anything. 20”

“But just as natural disaster brought out the best in some people, it brought out the worst in others.”

“Tessa was laying on her side, her brown hair spread over the pillow, watching Will, whose face was bent over the pages, with a look of tenderness in her eyes, a tenderness mirrored in the softness of Will's voice as he read.”

“The tenderness between two people can turn the air tender, the room tender, time itself tender. As I step out of bed and slip on an oversize shirt, everything around me feels like it's the temperature of happiness.”

“I tell myself he's better than he makes himself out to be, but, Tessa, what if he isn't?”