Written in the Dust Quotes

“Love that's dead won't put up a fight.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“He’d been racking his brain for something he could do, but maybe for once it wasn’t about what Hunter did to fix something. Maybe the only way could accomplish what he needed was to let it rest. Free it. Decide it didn’t matter.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“Loving you isn’t fluff and sunshine, Hunter. Loving you . . . it’s seeped into my bones. Loving you is part of who I am. You wonder whether I see a future together? You’re the future that I want. You.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“Crazy thing about dirt roads. Get very much rain and they’d pack down like tracks of clay, sticking to tires and caking to the wheel wells. Have a drought, though, and the dust would puff up for what seemed like a mile following a car’s path, turning the sky into a dingy haze. Dirt-colored smoke. Maybe Holly had lived there long enough that her heart mirrored the roads. It had been one heck of a dry season, but she’d seen a few showers lately. If she could just learn hang onto those downpours a little longer, maybe the dry days wouldn’t cause such a deep ache.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“The idea of staying is new to me, you know. I spent the last decade trying to convince myself that things I remembered here weren’t real. When I came back to claim Grandma’s house, I wasn’t sure whether there was anything here that could possibly make me want to stay. Every time I see you it feels like we’re on a roller coaster. Highs and lows. Passion and fury. I can’t get past the notion that we might be bad for each other. Don’t you see it?”
“I don’t now if we’re bad for each other, but I know I ain’t good for anyone else.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“You want to see me every day, I’m there. Mowing lawns or moving pianos or eating the same sandwich night after night after night—I’m yours.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“You know what I really want? An arm on a pew. It’s pretty simple, actually.”
“An arm on a pew?”
“Yeah. Every Sunday I sit with Grady and Colleen, and two rows in front of us are Karl and Ellen Penrose. Those two make me so jealous.”
“Karl and Ellen Penrose?” He stifled a chuckle imagining Holly being jealous of the octogenarians.
“He always puts his arm on the back of the pew behind her. Nothin’ flashy or showy—just a constant reminder that’s he’s there. That’s what I want. An arm on the pew behind me.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“Do you have any idea how amazing you are?”
“I don’t know about that.”
“‘Course you don’t, ‘cause you wouldn't think that way. You’d be the guy behind the scenes tryin’ to make everyone else look good, but I see you brighter than I see anyone else.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“There had been snippets of time where he made her feel like she was everything. Moments when she felt like the world could stop if she gave the word. But didn’t Chad make everyone feel the same? The whole town was grieving his absence in a way that refused to allow her to move forward, because if they were lost without Chad, she had to be lost times ten.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“Chad’s voice interrupting her thoughts was getting more annoying by the day. Spending so much time with him over the years had obviously affected her brain, and all those pretty words he’d told her were starting to feel like shackles inside the recesses of her mind. It had been nice to hear that she was amazing all the time, but he didn’t treat her like she was amazing. If she was being honest, it never even felt like Chad had the capacity to truly love another person. It was more important to be everyone’s something than to be somebody’s everything.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“It always seemed to me like Grandma led a charmed life. Simple, idyllic, slow. Making homemade canned goods and figuring out what to cook for church potlucks. It never occurred to me that she had a past full of struggles.”
“Every story has its share of plot twists and surprises, as long as you don’t skip to the end or read nothing but the highlights.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“Every time she attempted to clean a corner in Hope Canyon, she unearthed a new load of spider webs. If she weren’t careful, she’d find herself so tangled in them she’d never be able to cut loose.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“She wasn’t a warrior, but she wasn’t a princess, either. She was somewhere in between, trying to figure out whether there was ice in her blood or steel in her bones.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“You want to dance with me?”
“Now? Here?”
“Sun’s almost gone. In my book it couldn't get more perfect, throwing back a vanilla root beer while I dance in the glow of my headlights with you.”
“After all this time, now you want to dance with me?”
“Do I have to let you go after?”
“No, you don’t have to let me go.”
“Then yes, after all this time, I can finally dance with you.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“Stretching her hand over, she barely brushed her fingertips across his pinky. He twisted his hand until his palm faced up, running his fingers along hers as though he was exploring the concept of touch. She stared at their hands, feeling as though the two of them had accidentally discovered a new language. Whatever it was, she wished she could translate it.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“I promise you, from this day on, you ever ask me to dance and I’m there.”
“Even though it's not your favorite pastime?”
“I don’t know—I might learn to love it. I didn’t dare dance with you back then. I was teetering on the edge as it was.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust

“Gatlin Moore. Her immediate reaction was to shrink from his scrutiny, but instead she sat a little straighter. He witnessed her exit all those years ago, so it was only fitting that he witness her return.”
― Christina Coryell, Written in the Dust