You know what the secret is? It's so simple. We love one another. We're nice to one another. Do you know how rare that is? - Carmen

She kept walking. The very small, brave part of her brain knew that this would be her one chance. If she turned around, she would lose it.

Bridget's anger evaporated and the sadness came back. The anger was easier. She owned and contolled it, whereas the sadness owned her.

Carmen was bad at loving. She loved too hard.

But then she hadn’t just learned to love this summer – she had also learned how to need.

He just wanted to look at her and know her life was marching along under the same arch of time and space as he is.

For some reason our lives were marked by summers. . . . Summer was the time when our lives joined completely, when we all had our birthdays, when really important things happened