“Believe me, the real romantic person is him who ain't done anything but imagine. If you have actually participated in disasters, like me, you get conservative.”

“And the thought consoled me, as it does now: everything you believe you have imagined is real. You have only to outlive it.”

“I like the strings. I always have. Because that's how it feels. But the strings make pain seem more fatal than it is, I think. We're not as frail as the strings would make us believe. And I like the grass, too. The grass got me to you, helped me to imagine you as an actual person. But we're not different sprouts from the same plant. I can't be you. You can't be me. You can imagine another well – but never quite perfectly, you know?”

“Me?...Stupid?” I fluttered my eyes innocently. “When have I ever done anything stupid?”“Don’t get me wrong, you’re the smartest person I know…” She fought back a smile. “But you have done some of the dumbest things I ever thought possible.”“So you have a point…” I shrugged. “Still not stopping me.”

“I don’t like you in danger. When a man finds the only personof worth to him, that one person who matters more than anything and makeseverything he’s ever seen or done or gone through worthwhile, believe me,Rikki, the urge to protect her is overwhelming. If that bothers you, then I’msorry, because it’s going to be happening over and over throughout our yearstogether.”

“The real question is, can you love the real me? Not the perfect person you want me to be, not that image you had of me, but who I really am.”