“And the flames are every colour of the rainbow.""They can't be," observed Daffy."Well, they are," she said cheekily. "Have you been there, that you know so much about it?""No," said Daffy, very calm, "but I'd wager I know more than you about the chemical processes of combustion."Mary rolled her eyes. Did he hope to dazzle her with syllables?”

“I love you, Mallory," he said very quietly, very seriously. "So damn much."Warmth and affection and need and so much more rushed her. "I know.""You know?""Yes.""Well, hell," he said with a small smile and a shake of his head. "You might have told me and saved me a lot of time.""How about I tell you something else?" she said. "I love you, too.”

“You've got good taste,honey." Daffy winked. "In food and in men."As Daffy walked away, Marilee chuckled. "You realize," she said as she lifted the frosty bottle to her lips and drank, "that Daffy was practically drooling when she looked at you.""She drools over every cowboy that walks through the door.Now if you'd drool"-he touched a finger to her jaw-"my ego would definitely be stroked.""I doubt your ego needs stroking. I'm thinking you have a very high opinion of yourself,rebel."He gave an easy laugh. "Does this mean you're not going to buy into my shy-guy routine?""Not likely.”

“Of course,' I said, 'you know her so much better than I ever did.'In some ways,' he said gloomily, and I knew he was thinking of the very ways in which I had known her the best.”

“To you,” he said, “I surrender my heart and soul.”She rolled her eyes. “Very romantic, considering you have neither.”

“Maybe you can explain to me what is so spectacular about her, because you gay girls can’t seem to keep your hands off that daffy redhead.”