“you're my first born child, and the person who first showed me the miracle of this love a mother has for her child. ”

“I mean, I’ve always loved her, we’ve been best mates for years. When I started this thing, I thought that maybe, maybe there was something else – the germ of something else that could happen between us. But I don’t think I was entirely serious. It was speculative, you know. But, bloody hell, it’s bitten me in the arse. And now I love her. I think about her all the time. When I’m not with her, I’m just waiting for the next time I can be, and when I am, I’m just really happy. She’s funny, and smart, and.. gorgeous. I love her. Never felt like this before. Want-to-marry-her-and-be-with-her-all-the-rest-of-my-life kind of love her.”

“please don't carry my love for you with you forever. but don't let that be all. our capacity to love is vast - all of us. my daughters taught me that. there is room. ”

“I can't believe you came all this way, No one ever did anything like that for me before.' His eyes bored into her. 'No one ever loved you the way i love you, Susie.”

“mum's dress. mum loved big parties. she loved dressing up and champagne bubbles tickling her nose, and dancing with her arms above her head, shoes thrown to the edges of the dance floor, and shouting inane happy things at people. ”

“You care about me. We're in a room together, with a hundred other people, and you know ehre I am, who I'm talking to. We enjoy each other. We're a bit alike, but different enough. You see things in me that you don't see in your wife and you know, deep down, that if we had met in another time, when it wasn't impossible for anything to happen between us, that we could have had something. And you think it might have been spetacular. And you know you might be a different person if you were with me, and that scares the hell out of you. And when youve had a few drinks, you fancy the arse off me." (...)He gave her a little sideways smile. "Nearly right."She raised an eyebrow. God, this felt good. (...)"Just to be sure we're both clear on this, I'm about to kiss you, Lucy.”

“and there you go - i was alone, without love, for eight years. and it took me about twenty minutes - over a cappuchino and an egg salad sandwich - to fall in love with him. ”