"Where does a story truly begin? In life, there are seldom clear-cut beginnings, those moments when we can, in looking back, say that everything started" (Prologue, p. 1).

"He was tired of being alone, of waking up in an empty bed, though the feeling still surprised him" (Chapter 1, p. 7).

"New Bern, she'd learned almost right away, was not a town for singles" (Chapter 2, p. 17).

"There are some simple truths in life, and this is one of them: Whenever someone dies young and tragically, there's always interest in the story, especially in a small town, where everyone seems to know each other" (Chapter 4, p. 49).

"But real hate, the kind that made the stomach roil, wasn't possible without an emotional bond" (Chapter 6, p. 64).

"Miles hadn't asked her out because he hadn't known how. In his entire adult life, he'd never had to ask a woman out—his wife had been...