“She set her mouth, lifted her chin. "I'm not leaving you here. No matter what.”

“Since I can't get this leashoff and take myself for a walk, what would you suggest, baby?" she lifted her chin "that's princess to you”

“Okay. But I'm just going to be out there - having a tea party with her cats or whatever it is she has in mind. You need me? You yell. You want to leave? We go. I'll get you out of here, no matter what.”

“Is — is any of this real?" she asked. "Are you real?"He lifted a hand to her cheek, his fingers brushing her jaw."Even if this is a dream," he whispered, "I'm not."Isobel's eyes widened, recognizing those words as her own, the same ones she had once uttered to him. She reached for him, her arms twining around his neck, drawing him closer so his scent poured over her, that combination of incense, citrus, and dried leaves overriding the funeral funeral smell of the crowding flowers."Don't leave," she breathed."I'm here," he whispered. "Right here. Waiting.”

“Today, I'm the real me." She lifts her chin toward the large white beer tent. "How about a couple of beers?""Do you have an ID?"She laughs and pulls me toward the tent. "Honey, I've got a pocket full of them.”

“Jessica felt like a heroine in a tragic, dramatic love story. She lifted her chin and turned away. It was all over.”