“A tree. She spotted one. It was hidden behind a much larger tree, its limbs misshapen in its attempt to fight for even a little sunlight in the shadow. Dana has this tradition of giving a sad-looki...”

“He locked gazes with her. I have to wonder why you arent being straight with me. I hate getting myself killed without knowing why.”

“Hed been trying to save this woman in his dreams for years. Now here she was, all grown up, and he still felt helpless.”

“He started for his office, but something was bothering him. Turning back to her, he said, I have to know. DJ walks in and you instantly like her. Youve never liked any of the women Ive dated, and y...”

“I want to die. May shook her head. Let me get a knife. Ive made a horrible mess of things. Havent we all? If you dont want your supper burned, die quietly while I get back to the kitchen.”

“They rode up a trail until the trees parted and they got their first good view of Lone Peak across the valley and river. This late morning it was breathtaking. The stark peak gleamed against the de...”

“...I do come home at Christmas. We all do, or we all should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday - the longer, the better - from the great boarding-school, where we are for...”

“He went to the church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and for, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of ho...”

“The Christmas presents once opened are Not So Much Fun as they were while we were in the process of examining, lifting, shaking, thinking about, and opening them. Three hundred sixty-five days late...”

“Hank Knight asked questions about Jesse Rose and an item that was taken from her crib the night she was kidnapped. His questions led our lawyer to believe Hank had knowledge about the crime and pos...”

“Her gaze locked with his and she felt her heart quicken. Slowly, he bent his head until his lips were only a breath away from her own. She couldn't breathe. Didn't dare. She thought she would die i...”

“Funny how women are ashamed of their inner fairy whereas men are forever proudly displaying their inner cowboy or fireman”

“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.”

“There is more to life than making a living. Do not work more than you live.”

“We paw at nostalgia even before we hit twenty, wanting a holiday that never happened, a wholesomeness that could not survive in the wild.”