“I'm not going to tell you how I think you should live your life, or what I think you should do," said Mary. "Now's not the time. But I will say this: Don't try to paper over things that matter, Laura. The cracks will appear. Maybe not immediately, but they will.”

“Because if you love someone, you have to be brave and tell them. Don't let them go.And if you say no I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to convince you I'm right. I promise. I won't leave you alone. Because it's not about who's whats or wheres or anything. We should be together. The other stuff doesn't matter. That's all.”

“I think you might have missed the right person, your true love, because you have spent your life looking too hard for him. You have a great capacity to love, Laura. Don’t run away from it. Use it. Stop wasting it. Throw yourself into it, and don’t be scared. I promise you, with all my heart, that you will never live a day when you regret it.”

“Not to be with the one you love, Laura, the one person you should be spending your life with--it’s like a kind of living death. To wake up every morning and know you are still here. To have that brief, sweet moment of blankness, before your mind reminds you who you are, and why you are unhappy. It was like hell. A living hell of the heart’s own making.”

“What she didn't say was:"Can I punch both your sisters?""How do you cope with this, all the time?""Why can't it be the two of us, like it was before?"And,"Do you realize I've fallen for you?”

“It's different up here, you know.""I know," said Laura miserably. "I was -- enjoying myself, that's all."Nick watched her for a moment. "Don't look so tragic about it, Laura. It's not a crime to enjoy yourself, you know.""Yes, it is," muttered Laura, feeling as if she were in some biblical parable, the one where the Lord wreaks vengeance on the stupid girl who is a foolish wanton by removing the last shred of common sense in her brain.”

“Are you sure it wouldn't work?" said Jo urgently, in a quiet voice. "Are you sure you don't want to see him again?Laura wanted to laugh. Those were two totally separate things, weren't they?”