The phone was her worst enemy and her best friend but she never knew which until she answered it.

There are moments in your life when the big pieces slide and shift. Sometimes the big changes dong happen gradually but all at once. That's how it was for us. That was the day we discovered that friends can do things for you that your parents can't.

They needed to grieve alone was what Tibby's dad said. Lena wondered if really there was any choice in that. Everyone grieved alone.

Women always seemed to bring the size they wished they were to the fitting room, rather than the size that would actually fit.

Her vision of the world under the water represented a beautiful stillness, a version of heaven. It was the lost city of Lena, her alternate universe, the life she yearned for but didn't get to have.

She hadn't chosen the brave life. She'd chosen the small, fearful one.

He'd pushed her. He'd scared her. He'd besieged her. He'd vowed he wouldn't, and he did.