“No phones, no internet and no TV and we manage to make the news in at least three states. What are the odds?” Alex looked at him deadpan and said “Well, I do make really good buns. Word was bound to spread.”

“First Cooper and now Quinn, she had to stay off this porch, it was a dangerous place to be.”

“The Maestro spoke again. "When we are not, at what point do we become?" I could not reply. For I had grasped no shape of his thoughts. I understood neither what he said nor his intent behind it.”

“I peered at his writing, but I could make nothing of it. Then I saw why, and my soul chilled like marble. His writing was running left to right. Not the words in reverse order, but the letter themselves. All of it. It was mirror writing- to be read by the Devil.”

“Georgie: I feel stupid.Andrew: What are you talking about, you feel stupid? You just walked in here and insulted me for ten minutes.Georgie: That was different. I was mad.Andrew: You have to be mad to talk?Georgie: No, come on—I don't know—Andrew: I could make you mad.Georgie: No, you couldn't. You're too nice.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: —Andrew—Andrew: Fuck you. Come on. Fuck you.Georgie: Yeah, fuck you too.Andrew: Fuck you.Georige: Fuck you.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: You look really stupid saying fuck you—Andrew: Fuck you. Fuck you! Fuck you.Georgie: Andrew, stop it. Cut it out. It sounds weird when you say it. You shouldn't talk like that.Andrew: You talk like that all the time!Georgie: I'm different. I mean, I know how to swear. You don't. It's like, fuck you. Fuck you. Or, you know, fuck you. It's just—you know. You got to know how to say it.Andrew: Fuck you.Georgie: Forget it. You look really stupid. You look the way I look when I try to talk like you.Andrew: You've tried it? Really? I must have missed that day.Georgie: Oh, fuck you.”

“She looked... She looked young, and- and--" I glanced down at Rossana gazing up at me, lips parted, eyes shining, her hair loose around her shoulders, and the next words I spoke were intended with no artifice at all. "She is almost as beautiful as you." There was laughter, and I looked up, confused. "If you wish to pay court to my daughter, Matteo, you must first speak to me," Captain dell'Orte said in mock severity. Rossana's face colored pink."Elizabetta is also very beautiful," I said quickly, thinking to cover any embarassment, but also because it was true. The adults roared with laughter. "Now Matteo seeks to woo both girls with one compliment.”

“Tell him that I loved the little boy in him, and that I loved the man in him. Tell him I loved his sad side, and his laughing side.”