“He would ruin the Rodales and take the Halls down too, for good measure. He wanted them all to burn in hell, especially Natalie. That way, he'd have some company.”

“When he sat across from her, barely enough personal space remained to be polite. She could feel a delicious heat coming off his body, smell a whiff of spicy cologne. Something stirred in her, sexual and dangerous. She stomped on it. This wasn't the time, this wasn't the place, and he definitely wasn't the right man to be attracted to.”

“Happily ever after does not mean they don't experience exasperation with each other, or are somehow exempt from life's hardships and misery. Living happily ever after is hard work, but you do it because you want to stay in love with the other person. Because your life without this one other, very special person would be something not full, but only half-alive”

“He remembered the gracefulness with which she moved in battle—like liquid flesh. There was no one quite like his wife, and he never felt more triumphant and free than when he was in her company.”

“The prospect Smiler was a manic farmer. Few men I think can have been as unfortunate as he; for on the one hand he was a melancholic with a loathing for mankind, on the other, some paralysis had twisted his mouth into a permanent and radiant smile. So everyone he met, being warmed by his smile, would shout him a happy greeting. And beaming upon them with his sunny face he would curse them all to hell.”

“The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.”

“He's gone," Sara said. "I can feel it. This time for good."Natalie hugged her, and she started to sob. Then Harry shattered the silence with a pained yell, hurling his thermos into the woods. With tears in his eyes, he said, "I want a drink."I hugged him fiercely. "It'll have to be one of my special chais, Harry. Have I made you a dirty one yet?""I want mine filthy," he said. We trudged back to the museum together, and toasted Coby with dirty vanilla chai lattes.”