"Riley, obviously I haven't met your father, so I won't pretend to understand his intentions or the way he parented, but look how you've turned out. I understand you resent him, and I'm sure all your feelings are perfectly reasonable, but if end results are what counts, he succeeded, because you are an outstanding human being."
RANDOM
Even one of those pressing matters was enough to consume her thoughts, but each of them, pressing together, was a steamroller of overwhelming.
"Focus on the
Knowing now,
not on the years of
Not knowing."
​
It doesn't necessarily change anything, but somehow it feels like it changes everything.
"My mother came out here to listen to the light.
When she turned his way, she witnessed the dawning of a slow smile, rising to meet his eyes. She loved his smile.
It warmed her like the sun.
"I've just fallen a bit more in love with you. What did your father call it? Oh, yes. Landing in love.
I've just landed a bit harder for you, Jocelyn Connor, makeup artist of the people."
The entire world had effectively
shifted on its axis
in three weeks' time.
Jocelyn didn't know why it had,
or what it meant,
or what it would mean,
going forward.
She only knew it meant
something.
"My heart
CANNOT
forget."
"My imagination has a mind of its own . . ."
"My mom's paintings will last forever. My
work gets washed down the drain
at the end of the day."
Fact: The author had been working on the story for almost two years when she discovered Riley Graves was a place, and not only a character from her dreams. Driven to study the location's historical events, she ultimately weaved what she'd learned into her story, and feels she was inspired to do so. Like Jocelyn, she didn't know what it meant, or what it would mean going forward. She only knew it meant Something.
Jocelyn Connor knew the way home.
"It felt more
like a
Memory
than an
Imagining."
"This is not materializing
the way I imagined it."
Los Angeles is nothing more than
glittery frocks
and outlandish stilettos. It doesn't take much to fit in."
"Isn't a Top Ten album a pretty good measure of success?"
"I guess it depends on what you were trying to succeed at, doesn't it?"
"No one with five minutes to spare would ever waste those five minutes typing my name into the search bar. I'm the most boring subject in the world a person could ever Google."
"Not to me."
"He pushed me out of US and left me here ALONE."
"Afraid of a little competition?"
​
"No one holds a candle to you. As far as I'm concerned, you reign supreme."
​
"Whatever. You just know I'm gonna kick your butt if we keep playing."
​
"Perhaps."
FACT: The author and Riley share the same super-imagination, which routinely keeps her up at night.
FACT: The plague site Riley is named for is in Eyam in the Derbyshire Dales.
Eyam rhymes
with Dream.
"I'm not judging. It's nice to know what's happening when you gaze into the distance the way you do."
"Do I regularly gaze into the distance?" Jocelyn looked sidelong at him, one eyebrow raised. "Okay, then. It looks as though I do."
"You're using the searing stare, which you shouldn't do while I'm driving if you value your life. You're flirting with disaster is what you're doing."
FACT: Riley and Jocelyn discuss what their meet-cute was. There is another meet-cute in this story that will become apparent in The Moment Girl. Can you guess whose it was?
"Hey, Avery. Did I hear your Uncle Ian call you a paper clip?"
Avery squinted in contempt. "He thinks it's funny there's an office supply company named Avery, so he never uses my real name. He always calls me some weird office-y thing, instead. My mom says if I'm a patient girl, he'll grow out of it, but I'm ten now, and he still thinks it's funny every single time he does it."
I knew I'd know her when I saw her, and when I saw her, I Knew.
​
Now the challenge is to get her to see Eternity the way I do.
​
She says she's Ruins, she's
Wreckage. She's not right for me.
​
I'm gonna spend my life proving she's exactly what I need.
​
When It comes to Love, she only knows the Unconditional kind.
​
She's my Mystery.
She eludes me.
She'll be always on my Mind.
​
"You've just hit upon the very question I've been asking
all my life.
"Come to think
of it, you said something about your name being a plague.
To be honest, I thought you were waxing metaphorical."
A wise woman taught me this:
Moments are slippery.
We've gotta grab them
And turn them into memories
While we're able.
"If you're amenable to on-the-job training, I'm glad to be of service."
​
"You fit in like you've always been a part of this crazy
menagerie."
It was a different dynamic, being with Jocelyn in front of other people. Up until this point, all their interactions had been orchestrated so the two of them could be alone--stolen moments away from the limelight. Now, there were others watching them as they functioned as a couple.. They were being watched together. If her family could envision it, then maybe convincing Jocelyn it was a possibility wasn't so futile as it sometimes seemed.
"While we have you alone, we thought maybe we should have a little talk about our baby sister."
Is Joss seriously your
MysteryGirl?
"Eventually, the entire field will turn to gold, and when the wind blows, the wheat will wave back and forth like the tides of the ocean at sunset . . .
a golden ocean."
"You are public property. You're a
national park."
"Have you just called me a national park? If sneaking you into these woods is the only way to woo you out of the public eye, then these mountains will be seeing a lot more of us. Perhaps they should be named for me, after all."
​
"I like the name
Riley National Park,
but Way to Woo You Woods
is super catchy, too."
​
​
"Oh man! You partook of the JAM? It is Eve's apple, dude! The White Witch's Turkish Delight! That stuff has the Call of the Siren in it! You don't stand a chance against the jam. Just pack it in now. Time to wave the white flag."
"My dad was a regular King Solomon. You had to be careful what you complained about."
"I know you aren't perfect, but I know you are good."
He looked at Jocelyn, standing under the skylight, the dust particles dancing in the rays of sunlight above her, and felt hope for a day when he could fill her life with thoughtful deeds.
She snuggled deeper into Riley's chest and watched a perfect sunset, wondering how the girl who'd survived the rapids had come to stand on the hilltop with such a surprisingly wonderful human being from the other side of the world.
Step One?
Get up from it. Step Two?
Get past it.
"I didn't know you three weeks ago . . . "
He felt so STRONGLY about her, it caused an ACHE
deep in his chest. He refused to imagine his life WITHOUT HER
in it.
"It was you in that photo I sent you! Holy Cannoli! My sister is dating Riley Graves!"
"I always fancied myself more of a
rabble rouser."
"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?"
"We call it her Shower Therapy."
"What was I talking about? You've caused a stupor of thought."
"It seems we've both been practicing toward playing a Duet
for some some."
"That was the most romantic thing I've ever witnessed. Let's make S'mores.
I need CHOCOLATE. Right. Now.