“She knew whose love she doubted. It wasn't her parents' and it wasn't her friends: It was her own.”

“She wasn't in love but she would love him, if that would save her.”

“Katie smiled and turned away, knowing it wasn't an illusion or a figment of her imagination. She knew what she saw. She knew what she believed.”

“There was no doubt about Sandra's experience and lack of inhibition. She spread herself and I entered her. She wasn't unresponsive. Yet, when I asked her softly if she was liking it, she resorted to her favorite expression: ‘It’s all right.”

“But when Anthony kissed her, she felt as
if she were losing her mind. And when he
kissed her twice, she wasn't even sure if she wanted it back!”

“Bird.
A good name for her. She wasn't a sparrow or a songbird, though. She stood so straight, and her face was strong.”

“But would she do it differently if she could? She doubted it. Her experiences growing up ad formed her into the woman that she'd become, just as his experiences had formed him, and she didn't regret them. And yet…she knew that wasn't the question that mattered. …she realized the choice before her was this: Where do I go from here?
It is never too late to change things.”

“If she wasn't your grandmother I'd shoot her."
Ranger”

“And I wasn't old enough to be wise, so I loved her more, not less, because I knew she would be taken from me soon.”

“She tried to smile sympathetically, but with her face it wasn't quite possible.”