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“You have no problem staying with a man you just met on a farm where the only witnesses to your potential screams would be a handful of chickens and a cow with a limp?” “What kind of screams are we talking about? Murder or sexual?”
“This would be a lot easier if you had a sense of humor.” “This would be a lot easier if you were a man.”
“There’s a difference between rushing through something to get to the other side and doing it right.”
She’d give him one last chance. One last chance to redeem himself before she murdered him on the spot with his own beer bottle.
“You’re like Thoreau, and this is your Walden Pond.” “‘Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails,’” John quoted.
When I bring whoever the future Mrs. Pierce is here, I don’t want her facing any shadows from the past. I bought this place for her.”
“You’re making me take these to Phoebe so you can avoid her, aren’t you? Man, she must scare the shit out of you.”
“You’re living here alone with John?” she hissed. “Oh, my God, Mom! How did you know?” “There are no pictures in the house, no toys, no crib, and Elvira thought the linen closet upstairs was the bathroom before she opened the door.” “Does Dad know?” “Sweetie, you know your father doesn’t notice anything that isn’t a direct male threat to his daughters.”
“This will make you feel better,” Elvira promised, handing Phoebe a plastic cup. “Spiked lemonade. The best of childhood and adulthood in one cup.”
“What is my problem?” she asked the night. “You lack patience. You need to know what you want and be patient enough to get it.”
“I can’t catch my breath,” she whispered. “You can have mine,” he promised.
All he needed to do was ask her to stay. One little word. “Stay.” And maybe three more words. “I’m an idiot.”
Parenthood is a festering nightmare dotted with moments of truly blissful wonderment.
Donovan wrapped his chubby little arms around her leg. “My Mommy and Daddy wrestle nakeds just like you and Uncca John!”
“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad. And I could use a little time away from my army of adorable assholes. I mean, I love them more than anything in this universe, but sometimes I just want to drive away and never come back.”
Grief called for movement. Anything to keep you going forward one step at a time.
It was amazing, the things the human heart could contain, she mused. The joy, the grief, the peace, and the strife.
Life was hard, but that’s what made it so incredibly good. That’s what made her appreciate every second that she had on this earth. Even on the darkest day, there was still beauty to see, still love to find. There was still a beginning to find in every end.
