“At first it upset me to realize how many people are, at heart, selfish. Now I take that in stride, but people's loneliness still gets to me.”

“You know, you’ve set a really bad precedent for first dates,” I said. “How is anyone ever going to top this?”I turned to him for the first time. He was watching me, not the scenery. “I brought you here because I wanted to see the look on your face when you saw this place.” He smiled, and my heart flipped over. “It was worth the trip.”

“I can't believe you just did that! Are you crazy?"I gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Why do people keep asking me that?"He turned to stare at me, his eyes worried. "Who else keeps asking you that? Are any of them doctors?”

“You're getting me wet." He looked me in the eyes for the first time, and the corners of his mouth turned upward. "Although I suppose I shouldn't complain about that since it's like your trademark or something. If we're going to hang out together , I'll need to start wearing my raincoat.""Are we going to hang out?"He tilted his head and considered me lazily. "I've always wanted my own elf.”

“Still smiling, he leaned toward me. "You're jealous, aren't you?""Why would I be jealous of her?""Because she has what you don't.""Which would be what? A bad hairdresser, poor rhythm, or a striking lack of financial sense when it comes to buying clothes?"His smile grew. "Admit it, you're jealous.""I'm not jealous." I straightened the napkins into a tall stack. "Rich people are so arrogant. You all think everyone just sits around coveting your wealth. Well, my happiness isn't dependent on my account numbers."He gave a mock grunt. "I wasn't talking about Olivia's money. I was talking about me.""Oh." It was suddenly hard to breathe.”

“But that's how life is. You never know how it's going to turn out, and you can't plan for everything. You just have to do your best dealing with things as they come and hope people forgive you when you make a mistake.”

“When is Colton coming over again?"I straightened magazines on the coffee table and pretended the subject didn't bother me. "When he realizes the truth about either me or Bryant."Julianne's head popped up from behind the couch, where Ken and a collection of tiny plastic picnic food had fallen. "When will that be?" "Oh probably around the same time hell freezes over.""I thought Colton was your friend," Evelynn said. "I thought you liked him.""I do-well, I used to." It made me feel sad just to say the words.Rebecca gave me a long look. "But you're not going to talk to him until hell freezes over?"I straightened another magazine. "Well, anything is possible. After all, Colton is in the same business as the devil, so he probably has some pull down there. Hell might be cooling as we speak.”