“Dane touched my chin and lifted my face upward, and kissed me gently. Only then did I understand that Dane had always been a friend I had slept with, and how entirely different that was from having a lover who could be a friend.”

“I realized that my kisses with Dane had become a form of punctuation, the quotations or the hasty dash at the end of a conversation”

“I'm not running away from my fears," I told Dane. "I'm running away from my relatives.”

“Jack Travis was a novelty in my experience, an old-fashioned man's man. None of the boys I had gone to college with had been anything more than that, just boys trying to figure out who they were and what their place in the world was. Dane and his friends were sensitive, environmentally aware guys who rode bikes and had Facebook accounts. I couldn't imagine Jack Travis ever blogging or worrying about finding himself, and it was pretty certain that he didn't give a damn about whether or not his clothes were sustainably produced.”

“Back to what? A guy who bails on you when you need him? What's Dane doing now that's more important than helping you? Fighting for the rights of endangered ferns?"I stiffened and pushed away from him, irritation jolting me out of my fugue-state. "You have no right to judge Dane or my relationship with him."Jack made a scoffing sound. "That half-assed excuse for a relationship was over the moment Dane told you not to bring the baby to Austin. You know what he should have said?...'Hell, yes, Ella, I'll stand by you no matter what you do. Shit happens. We'll make it work. Come home now and get in bed.”

“Dane picked up on the second ring. "How's Operation Baby Rescue going?""I've rescued the baby. Now I'd like someone to rescue me.""Miss Independent never needs to be rescued."I felt the hint of a genuine smile appear on my face, like a crack in the winter ice. "Oh, right. I forgot.”

“Hello?""How's it going?" Dane asked.I relaxed at the familiar voice. "I'm having a fling with a younger man," I told him. "He's kind of short for me, and there's a little incontinence problem . . . but we're working to get beyond all that.”