“Let's leave it for tonight. Is it a decent hour for two middle-aged people to go to bed?' He held out his hand for her.Half an hour later he exclaimed, 'My God, where did you learn that?''I read a book once,' she answered.'Thank God for literate women,' he said fervently.”

“You said fucking two minutes ago,” Bruce protested.“Sure I did,” Joe said, his tone patronizing.“You did,” Bruce insisted. He was two tables away now, but apparently this was the argument that he didn’t want to let go.“I fucking doubt it,” Joe said”

“We're living on the top of a pyramid,' he had said, 'supported by the massive base, rising above it, above everything that has made it possible. We're responsible for nothing, not the structure itself, not anything above us. We owe nothing to the pyramid, and are totally dependent on it. If the pyramid crumbles and returns to dust, there is nothing we can do to prevent it, or even to save ourselves. When the base goes, the top goes with it, no matter how elaborate the life is that developed there. The top will return to dust along with the base when the collapse comes. If a new structure is to rise, it must start at the ground, not on top of what has been built during the centuries past.”

“Selfish as this sounds, I meant what I said earlier,” he finally says.I try to remember what he said, but everything is kind of a blur. “Which part?” “The ‘I’m glad you came tonight’ part.” So I’m not imagining the nudging or the sparks or what I could have sworn was his thumb tracing circles on the back of my hand while we walked to his car. “Mmm. Well in that case, I meant what I said, too.”He kicks a rock I’m two steps from tripping over out of my path. “You said the potholes in Leslie’s driveway suck.”

“Finally Doug broke the stalemate and looked at Megan."Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically. Then he yanked off his plastic gloves, tossed them at her feet, and stormed away.Finn let out a sigh as he gazed after his brother. "You know, my parents really should have stopped with me.”

“Though she hated to stop kissing, Luce held Daniel's warm face in her hands. She gazed into his violet eyes, trying to draw strength."I'm sorry," she said. "For running off like I did.""Don't be," he said,slowly and with absolute sincerity. "You had to go. It was preordained; it had to happen." He smiled again. "We did what we needed to do,Lucinda."A jet of warmth shot through her,making her dizzy. "I was starting to think I'd never see you again.""How many times have I told you that I will always find you?”

“I was crying for joy, my Sassenach,' he said softly. He reached out slowly and took my face between his hands. "And thanking God that I have two hands. That I have two hands to hold you with. To serve you with, to love you with. Thanking God that I am a whole man still, because of you.”