“He wasn't good with this sort of thing - with the back-and-forth dance between man and woman. He wasn't even sure if they were dancing, or if she was merely being polite.”

“I fear that one day I will no longer understand desperation, and with that, I will slowly stop listening to what others have to say.”

“Miranda shook her head slowly. 'Good heavens. That's quite an act you put on.'He drew himself up haughtily. 'I beg your pardon.''An act,' Miranda repeated. 'Stand as tall as you like, and frown at ...”

“I'm not broken,' he repeated. 'Although at the moment . . . ' This was what came of violating the sentimentality quota. Everything he kept bottled inside him came out. He shut his eyes and pinched ...”

“The dog looked up in entreaty. Liquid brown eyes begged: Take me with you. Ill be good. Oh, the lies that dogs told.”

“With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.”

“Then Cassie told her story. The feeling was like gathering up everything she's ever done or felt or known up to that moment and tying it into a ball and pitching it with all her might as far away a...”

“Every woman needs secrets,' her mother said with a smile then, her eyes meeting Sally's in the rearview mirror. 'Remember that when you're old like me, pumpkin, because the world has a way of makin...”