“His name's Nash."Aunt Val took a butter knife from the silverware drawer. "What year is he?"I groaned inwardly. "Senior." ...here we go ...Her smile was a little too enthusiastic. "Well that's wonderful!"Of course, what she really meant was "Rise from the shadows, social leper, and walk in the bright light of acceptance!”

“I believe in that line from An Imperial Affliction. 'The risen sun too bright in her losing eyes.' That's God, I think, the rising sun, and the light is too bright and her eyes are losing but they aren't lost.”

“I said his name softly to myself. Lucky. Lucian Radcliffe. His name must come from the Latin lucianus, meaning light, and that's what he was, golden and bright.I didn't care what Jack's name meant. Probably Jackass.”

“Goodnight, Nash.”His lips twist into a wry smile. I wonder what he was expecting. “Good night, beautiful Olivia.”

“One step, two...three...Soon she was in front of Aeron, smiling at her success. "What was that?" he asked. "Walking." "Took you so long, I'm officially fifty years older." She raised her chin, pride undiminished. "Well, I didn't fall.”

“He opened the back. “Well, at leas let me carry them to the door.” “Okay.” I walked with him to the doorway and took the bags from him, and then I reached in and took out the gum. I didn’t know what to say, so I handed it to him and his face lit up. A smile I remembered from the photos of him as a little boy appeared on his face. It wasn’t a smile the world ever caught a glimpse of in magazines. “I take it I was good.”