Love is needing someone. Love is putting up with someone's bad qualities because they somehow complete you.

I hoped that Grace would be a little bit of the best of all of us: Scarlett's spirit, and my mother's strength, Marion's determination, and Michael's sly humor. I wasn't sure what I could give, not just yet. But I would know when I told her about the comet, years from now, I would know. And I would lean close to her ear, saying the words no one else could hear, explaining it all. The language of solace and comets, and the girls we all become, in the end.

See, Colie, it's all about understanding. We're all worth something.

It's not always easy being her daughter.' I think,' she said, 'sometimes it's hard no matter whose daughter you are.

I write thank-you notes the minute I throw the wrapping paper away.

And I felt comfort. Finally. All I'd wanted for so long was for someone to explain everything that had happened to me in this same way. To label it neatly on a page: this leads to this leads to this. I knew, deep down, it was more complicated than that, but watching Jason, I was hopeful. He took the mess that was Macbeth and fixed it, and I had to wonder if he might, in some small way, be able to do the same for me. So I moved myself closer to him, and I'd been there ever since.

But against love, the case was solid. Easily argued. And you could, indeed, hold it in your hand.