Little Secrets Quotes
"Pike Place Market is a tourist trap on a regular day."
"Sebastian’s jacket is shoved into one of Marin’s shopping totes, but still, he’s sweaty."
"Mommy, I want a lollipop," he says for the second time."
"Bash, please, five more minutes," she says, exasperated."
"Marin is well aware of how insane that is."
"She tells herself that it’s okay to spoil him once in a while."
"Derek’s somewhere on First Avenue, enjoying a beer in a sports pub."
"She cradles the phone between her shoulder and ear."
"The market is too loud for her to hear her phone, but she can feel it."
"I hate it when people just stop," the man mutters."
"She can’t see her son anymore, and she’s entering panic mode."
"She can’t spot him anywhere. No reindeer. No Sebastian."
"Sebastian’s gone." Her voice is three times louder."
"One second he’s there, his foot crossing over the threshold."
"Behind her, Derek paces, speaking in heated tones."
"He’s now standing near the main entrance under the iconic neon-lit Public Market sign."
"What did she do? She lost their son, that’s what she did."
"Marin shows up at her downtown salon wearing a pink Chanel shift dress."
"It’s Daniela’s day to clean, but that doesn’t mean the woman should have to pick up clothing from the floor."
"Marin had an easier time getting out of bed this morning."
"She heads to her car, and is starting the ignition when a text from Sal comes in."
"The FBI estimates that there are currently over thirty thousand active missing persons cases for children."
"Frances introduces her as Jamie—no last name, at least not yet."
"Jamie’s car is beside Marin’s, and they click their fobs at the same time."
"Marin is reminded, and not for the first time, that sometimes someone else’s pain is the only thing that makes yours better."
"The private investigator’s email stops her in her tracks."
"She had just stepped out of the shower, her wet hair dripping onto the marble vanity."
"She’s tempted to take her diamond ring off and toss it into the fish tank."
"Castro is watching her closely, and Marin forces herself to focus."
"Marin finally told Dr. Chen her secret."
"A strange thing happens when you’re going through something terrible."
"Marin’s been numb for so long that this spark of anger surprises her."
"Sadie responds immediately. She’s probably dying to know what Marin learned at the PI’s office."
"She peeks at the receptionist’s computer to check the next day’s bookings."
"But it would be an act of self-care for you to choose not to keep his things where you see them all the time."
"There are gaping holes in all the places my son used to be, and I have no desire to relocate them somewhere else."
"She misses the comfortable mess of their family life."
"Evidence of Sebastian’s existence would be everywhere, at all times."
"It’s breathing life into Marin in a way she didn’t know such a negative emotion could."
"The person who took Sebastian doesn’t have a face. But the woman trying to steal her husband does."
"Everything about her seems vibrant. Exotic."
"Marin wants to ruin her life the way she is ruining Marin’s life, the way she is ruining Marin."
"Rage untangles her, making everything clear."
"Rage is better than sadness. Rage is better than numb."
"This woman is everything Marin is not, and she can only assume that’s what Derek likes best about her."
"But living in denial is easier than confronting it. Denial is a safe little bubble that protects your soft underbelly from things that scratch, bite, and burn."
"Women pitting themselves against other women is the world’s oldest cliché."
"Marin knows next to nothing about tattoos, but even she can acknowledge the artistry."
"The younger generation seems completely comfortable uploading their entire lives onto these virtual platforms."
"Don’t be nervous, Marin. We’re only talking."
"We’re friends. We’ll always be friends."
"You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t let opportunities pass you by because of me."
"That’s factually impossible. Because you never had me."
"You are with me. That’s the part you don’t get. When I’m here, I’m here."
"It’s how we remind other people that we exist."
"We’re good, Marin. You and me. We’re good."
"It's like your heart walking out the door on two legs, vulnerable and unprotected. It's scary as hell."
"It's not like I don't believe in myself. My dream is to dance professionally. But I could break my ankle tomorrow. And then what? I have no other skills."
"You don’t take the first offer. It’s a negotiation."
"You have more power than you think. Just don’t you dare fall for him."
"I was unhappy and needed someone to make me feel wanted again."
"You’re a blank slate, and you don’t know how much I need that."
"I avoid trust-fund babies like the plague."
"You should read this book. It’s about a woman who does drugs, cheats on her husband, goes on this crazy long hike, all these things to get away from feeling the pain of her mother’s death."
"I don’t have twenty years of mistakes with you."
"I wasn’t checking up on you, I happened to check this morning because I saw the Facebook post McKenzie’s roommate made, and I wanted a quick way to verify where Derek was, in the chance that they might be together."
"One person in Derek’s life suddenly gone is one thing. Two is…"
"He pulled her back for another one. 'I’ll wait up for you.'"
"I don’t usually see you twice in one month these days."
"I’ve learned not to make comparisons. Hell is hell, in all its incarnations."
"We’re at the hospital. She’s having tests. For the brain injury."
"It’s not the answer I wanted, but it was always the answer I was going to get."
"I’m so grateful that the nightmare of not knowing is over. And now I feel… I feel free."
"A missing child is an open, infected wound."
"If Santa appeared on my doorstep, offering me definitive answers about my child along with a cup of spiked tea guaranteed to knock me out, I’d down that sucker in a heartbeat."
"You always want everything on your terms, Marin, and it’s not fucking fair."
"‘Those guys’? How many of those guys do you know?"
"And maybe because I know it’s my fault, that what I did that day is the reason he’s not here with me."
"It’s like there’s nothing to be afraid of now."
"I may not have all the questions answered, but at least I don’t have to wait for him to come home anymore."
"You didn’t do anything, you hear me? Whatever happened to Derek’s girlfriend isn’t on you."
"I feel like if I say ‘good,’ people will think, why are you good? You have a missing kid."
"It’s like losing him all over again. The pain is intense, paralyzing."
"I never want to see my son lying in a casket, Sal. I don’t ever want to have a funeral for him."
"You didn’t try to do anything. You met a friend of mine in a diner. You ate some food. The next morning, in a completely unrelated act of generosity, you donated a bunch of money to charity. That’s all you did, you understand?"
"He’s never cared about money. He walked away from the family business and bought a bar, for Christ’s sake. This makes no sense."
"But if the answer is that he’s dead, I’d jump off a bridge tomorrow."
"You didn’t have to be an asshole about it. I was just trying to help."
"I’m not mad at you. Fine. Maybe I am a little."
"What, like that’s so hard to believe? Like a guy can’t feel used and tossed away like yesterday’s newspaper?"
"It’s interesting to watch a liar when you know they’re lying. The tiny facial twitches, the spotty eye contact, the little vibrations of various body parts."
"Her husband looks as pale and sick as she’s ever seen him. 'I told them I’d pay it. I have the money. It’s in a bag in the car. I’m waiting for a text.'"
"Her son is laughing so hard that his icing-covered cheeks are pink. She still wakes up in the middle of the night, compelled to check that he’s asleep in his room and safe."
"It’s confusing how love and hate can exist at the same time, intertwined and tangled and messy and confusing, even after a person is dead."
"I’m going to Prosser. I need to see him. Wherever he is, he’s somewhere on that farm. I know it. I feel it."
"She’s never liked J.R.’s farmhouse. It was already old and tired when she first saw it years ago, and it’s in even worse shape now."
"The investigation into Sebastian’s disappearance—despite his photo and the video from the market being all over the national news—had dried up."
"Sal’s upstairs in his old bedroom, looking out through the window. Marin is near the tree swing, about fifty feet away, seated on the passenger side of a police car."