“I was ripe ten years ago. Now I’m merely preserved, and before long I’ll be buried back in the orchard with the other pits.”-Amanda to Jack”

“Sweet,” he whispered, and stole a kiss from her lips. “Sweet… let me stay with you a little longer.”-Jack to Amanda”

“His expression was infused with lust and adoration as he lowered his head to kiss her throat, his tongue venturing into the little spaces between the diamonds and round opals. “Why can’t you see yourself as I see you?”-Jack to Amanda”

“As we talked, I had the sense of uncovering something precious and long-buried, fully formed. Our conversation was a process of removing layers, some of them easily dusted away. Other layers, requiring chisels or axes, were left alone for now. We revealed as much as we dared about what had happened during the years that separated us. But it wasn't what I had expected, being with Hardy again. There was something in me that remained stubbornly locked away, as if I were afraid to let out the emotion I had harbored for so long.”

“I’ll take your bet,” he said grimly. “I’m going to win it. And in three months, I’m going to put this back on your finger, and take you to bed, and do things to you that are outlawed in the civilized world.”

“I knew I would replay the scene countless times in the years before me, each time thinking of different things I should have said and done.But all I did was walk away without looking back.”

“A long time ago I learned not to explain things to people. It misleads them into thinking they're entitled to know everything I do. —[Sara]”