“Then she smiles, like it'sthe first time she's seen sunafter a decade of winters.”

“And then to win the prize had been incredible. She felt like she was being seen, actually being seen, for the first time in the endless years of being a mother and a wife.”

“She is beautiful, isn’t she? (Lochlan)Like the first day of spring after a long, harsh winter. (Sin)”

“For the first time in probably the entire decade that had passed since I had seen or spoken to my own mother, I thought warm and grateful thoughts about her. She instilled in us nothing but a total and unconditional pleasure in food and eating.”

“Go back,” he said.“Can’t. Stand aside?”“Can’t.”“So it’s like that?” I said.Fix exhaled. Then he nodded. “Yeah.” And for the first time in a decade the Winter Knight and Summer Knight went to war.”

“He smiled like he couldn't help it. She couldn't believe it. He was actally smiling, teeth and all. Had she ever seen him smile before? No, she realized, because right now, it was such a jarring thing to witness that for a moment it felt as though she was sharing the car with a stranger.”