There was a mood of magic and frenzy to the room. Crystalline swirls of sugar and flour still lingered in the air like kite tails. And then there was the smell-the smell of hope, the kind of smell that brought people home.

Sometimes its necessary to embrace the magic, to find out what's real in life, and in one's own heart.

He was the only person in the world she was tongue-tied around, and yet the only person she really wanted to talk to.

But relying on one person for your every need is so dangerous. One set of hands isn't enough to keep you from falling.

She was so Southern that she cried tears that came straight from the Mississippi, and she always smelled faintly of cottonwood and peaches.

You'd be surprised how easy some things can be, things you never thought you'd do, when you take self-respect out of the equation.

...a sad sort of vulnerability was wafting from her, making the night smell like maple syrup.