“Grand, there’s one other thing.”“What’s that, Seth?”“You always call me ‘favorite male grandchild,’ and I like that. I do. But fact is, I’m your only male grandchild.”Ralph looked at him, blue eyes sparkling. He smiled. Then he laughed out loud. “Details,” he said. “Mere details, Seth.”

“He pulled to the side and saw, to his chagrin, that Mrs. Prince of the $2,100 bill at the Star Store was just leaving. She waved at him merrily and grinned and Seth waved back gamely. He wondered how Ralph had reacted to the news that his grandson had managed to screw up running the Star Store’s cash register. He could easily imagine Mrs. Prince’s words: “Ralph, I hate to ask, but can that boy even count?”

“He managed to make his request with the minimum of time given to speculating what she looked like naked, forgiving himself for the instant of fantasy by telling himself it was the curse of being male. In the presence of a beautiful woman, he had always experienced that knee-jerk reaction to being reduced - if only momentarily - to skin, bone, and testosterone.”

“As they headed across the hospital lobby, undersheriff Mathieson came in the door at a run. Seth thought about hiding. He thought about stuffing Becca next to an artificial plant with large dusty leaves.”

“Daniel, he said. I would have you follow me.Master!....I will fight for you to the end!.My loyal friend, he said, I would ask something much harder than that. Would you love for me to the end?...I don't understand, he said again, You tell people about the kingdom. Are we not to fight for it?The kingdom is only bought at a great price, Jesus said. There was one who came just yesterday and wanted to follow me. He was very rich, and when I asked him to give up his wealth, he went away.I will give you everything I have!....Riches are not keeping you from the kingdom, he said. You must give up your hate.”

“Hungry”, she said, “That’s what it’s like. Inside of me, always. This ... hunger that nothing is able to assuage. It’s horrible. It’s why I always feel ... well, empty. I know I can’t keep living this way, but I don’t know how to make the hunger stop.”“Perhaps you’re not meant to”, he said, “Perhaps you’re meant to cope with it. Either that or to come to realize that the hunger and the appeasement are two entirely different things. They’re unrelated. One will never quell the other.”She thought about this. She considered how much of herself – and the way she’d lived so long – had been tied up with a single unfulfilled desire. She finally said, “This is not who I want to be.”“Then be someone else.”Deborah/Lynley”

“You always help me put things in perspective Ray,” I told him after our food arrived.“No, Camille,” he laughed. “I point out the bullshit you avoid, make you step in it then I leave it up to you to figure out how to get it off your shoes.”“I guess that’s why I’m never sure if I should thank you,” I said suddenly feeling lighter than I had in days. “There’s a lot of old shit on my shoes today.”