“Whatever the truth is, I don’t see how it will help me get food on the table.”

“Our kitchen is stuffed with enough food to feed a small country. The refrigerator is full as are all of the counters. Liechtenstein can have it all. I don’t understand how broccoli casserole and Shepherd’s pie is supposed to help me forget that I won’t be seeing my mom anymore.”

“When I've got nothing better to do, I look down the league table to see how Everton are getting along”

“I have to fix this,” I told him, as clearly and calmly as I could. “If you want to help me, then help me. Don’t shield me, don’t protect me, don’t bury me alive. Help me .”

“I pushed back my chair and leaned against the table, then swung back to Tens. 'And if you're not nicer to me I'll just wiggle my eyebrows or purse my lips or whatever the hell I do to kill everything around me and then you'll be dead. And then we'll see who gets the last laugh.”

“That’s it,” Mabel said, getting up. She tossed her napkin on the table. “No. That is not right. I don’t know what you just said, but whatever it was, I’m pretty certain it was pure hokum. I don’t want to dance. I don’t want to hear about your plans for a summer house. I am not your sister. And if I were your sister, I’d have to tell people you’d been adopted as an act of charity. Please, don’t get up.”