"I'm
Gobsmacked. Apparently, she's sneakier than I've given her credit for."
"It is unconscionable to treat human life in such a careless way--to mortify and betray and scandalize for monetary gain and entertainment."
RANDOM
Jocelyn politely declined the airline pillow,
stifling a shudder at what could be lurking under its disposable papery sham.
"Formal wear?
There are no
galas
in the movie we're making, Riley. There are only
cabins
and
hospitals."
​
You're imagining
my dumpy apartment, aren't you?
"I want to be the guy who's married to
Jocelyn Connor.
You owe him one after today. I may have freaked out a little in the back seat of his car on the way to the airport. He kindly talked me off the edge."
"I'd say it's a typical
sweater dream."
​
"Is that even a thing?"
​
"Oh, sure. Freud talked about them all the time. It seems you have a subconscious obsession with loomed goods."'
The reality of my situation is spectacular. You are here with me. You came all this way for me. It means
the world.
I hope you realize.
Thanks for
standing in
my path
"Shall we stroll?"
​
"We shall!"
Fact:
The cast and crew of
Saying Goodbye
aren't filming in sequence.
Using clues from the actors' dialogue, can you use your imagination to piece together the movie's storyline?
If you can,
Gilda Godfrey
would be proud!
"I was desperately bored, and missing you
fiercely"
"Here's to documenting thoughts when
we have them, and memories whilst we remember them."
"This is no cautionary tale. This is brilliant."
You said L.A. is nothing more than
glittery frocks
and outlandish stilettos. What about New York?
Will this do?"
"My two favorite food groups exist side by side on the corner of Kenmare and Cleveland."
"Favorite food groups?"
​
"Pizza and cheesecake."
​
"Interesting food groups."
​
"My favorite cupcake bakery is in Soho."
​
"Are cupcakes a food group?"
​
"Do you even need to ask?"
"You're my favorite human."
​
"Your ultimate favorite? Like, out of all the human beings walking
the earth there are to choose from, I top your list?"
​
"The very top of the top."
​
"It's heady praise coming from
the person I hold in the same high regard. Thanks for choosing me."
​
"You're welcome."
"You ask like that's a
bad thing."
"Through the looking glass, just like
Alice."
"I was enjoying a veritable sensory overload of Riley Graves, and it still wasn't enough."
​
​
FACT: The hands on the book covers are CLUES. What do they mean?
"Whoa, there, shufflebutt, or you'll be wearing a hole
in this spiffy upholstery."
"I dragged her into my world. I dragged her into the spotlight. I dragged her where she feared to tread."
Happiness had been replaced by the bitter bile of despair. It welled in his throat, choking him, over and over again.
Waiting Room chairs see it all--the anxiety, the heartbreak, the worry, the anger, the fear, the grief, and the helplessness. They're like open wounds, waiting for a scab to form. I Hate
Waiting Rooms.
I'm already waiting,
his note had said, the note she'd read while nearly hyperventilating at the gate in the Jackson Hole airport.
​
Get on the plane, Joss.
Grab the moment,
it had said. It was a pushy note, but she'd obeyed because turning moments into memories with Riley felt like the right thing to do.
​
​
"You think you'll still be flirting with me when I'm eighty?"
"You can bet on it."
"They've most likely got her cornered against the fence, unprotected and vulnerable . . .
an angel accosted at the gates of Hell.
I should've seen this coming. "
"It's a train station down here on earth. One gigantic Kings Cross. People arriving. People departing. Earth is nothing more than a short stop before the next leg of the journey. None of us know how long our stopover will take."
It was the same paralyzing fear that washed through him the day his
mother left.
"We aren't the only ones who love her.
She's charmed the Socks Off everyone she's ever met."
By morning, the photos had spread across media outlets like wildfire in a dry season.
"I can actually hear
the smug look on your face."
"Your sister says protein smoothies are the breakfast of champions."
​
"Well, for today, the champions will be eating bread dough, fried to perfection and doused in sugary goodness."
​
"Good enough for me."
"Time will tell."
​
"Will it? Will time tell? Or will it keep its secrets? Will it stay silent? Will it make us count the seconds by the drip of her IV and the beep of her heart monitor?"
"I don't usually eat airline food, but it's tastier in
First Class. You've spoiled me for the likes of Coach from here on out, and that's a shame, because they are my people."
"Your people?"
"Yeah, my people. The people who take a hard pass on the pricey cardboard sandwich selections offered back in Coach."
​
​
How do you feel about short engagements?
"I'm trying to be the brother you looked up to as a kid, and there won't be any point at all in my gargantuan efforts if you aren't here to see the impressive results."
"I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life, and the Lord answered my prayer. He sent me a good example.
He sent me you."
"How are you so perfect for her? It's crazy. It's like that governess of yours had a blueprint for raising The Soulmate of Jocelyn."
"If Jocelyn Connor falls in love with you, it's like getting a TEN on the pole vault in the Olympics. You're not gonna get any higher than that."
"Peppermint reminds me of kissing you . . . "
I wish my MOTHER
had kept a
JOURNAL. I wish I had more of her than
ONE LETTER.
​
"Your fans are called
Riley Girls!
Did you know about this?"
"I'm trying to decipher between reality and the fairytale."
"What we're currently experiencing is both reality and fairytale, and it's all ours."
"Are we allowed to have both?"
Moment grabbed.
Memory made.
Give the audience HOPE.
"I admit I'm glad we're not shooting a
Comedy,
or I'd be in a fair amount of trouble."
FACT: The inclusion of Jocelyn's Admitting Report is a shout out to the author's days as a
Medical Transcriptionist.
"This whole
Living in the Moment
thing is getting me into trouble."
"In COACH, there wasn't room to budge during a crash landing, wedged between the aisle seat and the window seat. COACH was safer. COACH was where she belonged."
"Has this ring box become your Worry Stone?"
"I refuse to
re-enact the scene. I refuse to say goodbye to her. Not at the beginning. Not before she knows how she has changed my life."
"Sometimes it's enough."
"What's enough?"
​
"A glimpse into
someone's heart."
"I can't get over the fact that an average-looking guy
like you could have such a beautiful sister."
​
"Hmm. It seems I could say the
same thing about you."
​
"What? This face? Joss and I
are practically twins."
"Not even close. You, my man,
got beat with the ugly stick compared to your sister,
and she's getting by on sponge baths and dry shampoo."
"Have you
kissed
her?