“Normally, she never paid calls, not on her own. But this was life after Leo - a series of tiny, halting steps toward independence.”

“She [Susanna] realized she was still hugging the wall. Pride propelled her two steps forward. As she advanced, something bleated at her, as though chastising her for trespassing. She stopped midstep and peered at it. "Did you know there's a lamb in here?""Never mind it. That's dinner."She gave it a smile and a friendly pat. "Hullo, Dinner. Aren't you a sweet thing.""It's not his name, it's his...function.”

“After spending all of her girlhood fervently wishing she could run away from home— she’d actually done it.”

“What kind of a modern woman was she, if she didn’t reach for her own dream? Maybe it was time to sweep the man off his feet, for a change.”

“No, of course she didn't say it. But there is no other reason she should have called, except to pave the way for her brother. she had nothing whatsoever to talk about. Just sat there like a stick, sipping tea.""I didn't know sticks could sip tea.”

“The pain of an injury is over in seconds. Everything that comes after is the pain of getting well." He gave her a heartfelt look, full of apology. "I'd forgotten that you see. Coming back to life ... It hurts.”

“She would allow him to comfort her. And perhaps, someday, she would listen patiently if a dark, dreary night found him well in his cups and he drunkenly confessed to still feeling scores of wounds that weren’t his own, but those of men under his command.”