Suzanne Palmieri

You'll be just fine," he said. "Listen to your heart and mind together, that's the trick. Not one or the other, both.

Now, Simone, I'm a witch, remember? There's not much I don't know just by looking at you. And you know what I see when I look at you?'Simone walked out the door before she could finish, only hearing the steely hush of Millie's voice add, 'Nothing.

The kitchen door, painted red from the day Naomi moved in, and a geranium, also red, outside on the stoop, gave the whole area a feeling of whimsy.

The kitchen of the Big House was always one of my favorite places. Airy and sunny. No modern cabinets or anything like that. Just a room full of windows, set into wise, worn walls.

I wouldn't want to live that life. I choose the pain. I chose the pain.

Sometimes it's the smallest secrets that hold the most hope, the most fun, the most danger.

Father and Ivy used to go off on their excursions, never knowing that I was relieved when they were gone. That I'd wear my nightgowns all day and read from dawn till dusk.

A game like sardines is scary, not so much for the hider but for the seekers. It's scary because you lose your companions and the whole world creeps up quiet and you slowly realize you're going to stumble upon a secret place where everyone will jump out at you. And then, when you are the very last seeker, you start to wonder if you're the only person in the world. If the hiding place somehow sucked up the players and the last one has to decide to run away or get sucked up, too.

You really are a chameleon, aren't you? Fitting in wherever you go."Aren't we all?" she said...

I'm an old man now. Old on the inside. I'm a drunk, and I hate to tell you, but I'm not prepared to change. So you have to figure out if you want to forgive me and love me like I am, or run away again. Or hell, stay here and hate me. Just...know that I love you the best way I know how. I always have. I do the best I can.