"What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again."
"You're a painter. You're a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in your tea. And you always double-knot your shoelaces."
"Sometimes when I'm alone, I take the pearl from where it lives in my pocket and try to remember the boy with the bread, the strong arms that warded off nightmares on the train, the kisses in the arena."
"There are much worse games to play."
"An ability to look into the confusing mess of life and see things for what they are."
"I clench his hands to the point of pain. "Stay with me."His pupils contract to pinpoints, dialate again rapidly, and then return to something resembling normalcy. "Always,"he murmurs."