I smiled at her, but she was already lost in thought, looking around the library as if it held all the answers to all our problems.

These are the kinds of things a guy thinks about when he visits his own grave.

And you couldn’t control who you loved, even if you wanted to. That had been Genevieve’s problem with Ethan Carter Wate. It had been Uncle Macon’s problem with Lila, Link’s with Ridley. Probably even Ridley’s with Link. Love was how all these knots started to unravel in the first place.

Good for you, Ethan." That's what my poor mama would've said. Ma'am.

It’s funny how the good things are all tied up with the bad. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which. But either way, you end up taking your sugar with your salt and your kicks with your kisses.

Old things are better than new things, because they've got stories in them, Ethan.

You end up taking your sugar with your salt and your kicks with your kisses.