Always make your needs and expectations known,she used to say. That way no one gets hurt.

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

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.

After you finish a book, the story still goes on in your mind. You can never change the beginning. But you can always change the end.

Those silly girls had no idea what they were really celebrating. They had no idea what it took to bring Agatha and her friends together seventy-five years ago. The Women's Society Club had been about supporting one another, about banding together to protect one another because no one else would. But it had turned into an ugly beast, a means by which rich ladies would congratulate themselves by giving money to the poor. And Agatha had let it happen. All her life, it seemed, she was making up for things she let happen.

It was the best first kiss in the history of first kisses. It was as sweet as sugar. And it was warm, as warm as pie. The whole world opened up and I fell inside. I don't know where I was, but I didn't care. I didn't care because the only person who mattered was there with me.

But surprises were nothing new to her. Like opening a can of mushroom soup and finding tomato instead; be grateful and eat it anyway.