Night Road Quotes
"Kids in the system were returnable, like old soda bottles and shoes that pinched your toes."
"She pictured eagles perched on telephone poles and stars that seemed close enough to grasp."
"Her world had always been dangerous, uncertain, a ship heading for the shoals."
"I know how hard it is to place older kids. And the Rexler family was cool."
"You have relatives, Lexi. I found your great-aunt."
"Don’t feel bad, Ms. W. I know how hard it is to place older kids."
"If my mom hadn’t come back, I think that one would have worked out."
"It’s okay, Lexi. It’s okay. I’ve been alone a long time. I’m glad you’re here."
"I was sorry to hear about your momma passing."
"She remembered sitting for days in a dirty playpen, crying, waiting for someone to remember her existence."
"A mother’s job was to protect her kids—whether they wanted it or not."
"You’re a teenager, right? But it’s okay, Lexi. It’s okay."
"Every day as she’d lain in that bed, imagining her babies, she’d pictured it as a war, a battle of wills."
"Jude, why is it that you give that girl from the trailer park the benefit of every doubt, and you give me none?"
"You’re not giving up on something. And do not buy me jeans again. I mean it, Mom. You don’t get what I like."
"I’ve been alone a long time. I’m glad you’re here."
"She felt a rush of affection for this careworn woman who had taken her in."
"She let her fingertips graze the cold glass, as if a little touch like that could connect her with a woman she could no longer see."
"It’s impossible to love your children too much."
"Most of it she’d blocked out entirely, but when she tried—when one of the State shrinks made her try—she could remember being hungry, wet, reaching out for a mother who was too high to hear her or too strung out to care."
"It isn’t about being at the same school or the same town or even the same room, Lexi. It’s about being together. Love is a choice you make."
"It’s a dream come true, right, Lexi?" "A dream come true," Lexi agreed tiredly.
"You’re a sex maniac." "Takes one to know one."
"I love her, Me-my," Zach said. "And we love you."
"I love you so much," he said solemnly. "It means I want to marry you someday."
"We made out. Did I tell you that?" Mia said. "Only about a million times," Lexi replied.
"You think I haven’t already thought all of that?" Zach said.
"How could she? It was all well and good for him to say he wanted to be with her, but that was a distant cousin to going with her."
"Good job for calling," Jude said tiredly.
"You be careful, Lexi," Aunt Eva said quietly.
"May came to the Pacific Northwest like a favorite relative, bringing sunshine."
"Happy birthday," she said, blowing on a noisemaker.
"It was a glorious leonine month always, a bright respite before the pale gloom of June."
I love you, Lex," Zach said. "College won’t change that. We’ll stay in love. Always.
"The thought was liberating and a little scary."
I'm sorry," Jude said. "What is sorry supposed to mean to me?
"It’s okay, baby," she said, over and over.
"You guys should stop worrying about me."
"You don’t need to be religious to have a funeral, Judith. God will be there—"
"I never planted a white rose," she said quietly. "Why didn’t I ask Mia what flower she liked? Why didn’t I know?"
"You can’t not go," Miles said, squatting beside the car. Rain pelted his face, straightened his hair.
"We have to stop these teens from partying. That’s all there is to it. The consequences are tragic. Every year, there’s a grad-party accident. This year, someone was killed."
"I need to sleep," she said. Clutching Mia’s purse and the single white rose, she turned her back on her family and stumbled down the hallway to her bedroom, collapsing on her bed.
"You’re breaking Zach’s heart," Miles said. "I know you know that. He needs you today."
"I’m proud of you, Alexa," her aunt said. "You’re a good girl. And don’t you dare think otherwise."
"I am an example," Lexi said quietly. "I am the worst thing that can happen, and kids should know that."
"I was pregnant with her when I got in here. Didn’t know it, though."
"I’ve had enough bad come from that night," she said quietly. "Will you guys help me?"
"Don’t you dare mention God to me. He let her die."
"You’re not a loser. And what’s wrong with her loving you?"
"She loved him so much. It wasn’t only in her blood, the way she loved him; it was her blood."
"I have so much to say to you, little girl, but you won’t remember it."
"This was how she moved through the hours of every day."
"I don’t want her to grow up like I did. Keep her away from me."
"A girl without a mother was a prisoner of a different kind."
"You look like someone who could use a boost."
"I wake up in this place and the first thing I think of is you."
"I’m going to try to forget you. I’m sorry, but I have to."
"We have adequate cause to move forward here."
I gave her to Zach," Lexi said. "Gave her. Do you know how hard that was?
"She’s my daughter, my Mia. And I want her back."
"She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It was breaking her heart."
"I’m proud of you, Jude," Harriet said in that strangely even voice of hers. "It took a lot of courage to face Lexi again."
"What’s wrong with me, Dr. Bloom? I feel like I’m going crazy."
"The only way to get clos—" "So help me, God, if you say closure, I’ll walk out. There’s no closure. That’s just a bunch of claptrap."
"I said I live in the gray. A thick ashy fog."
"I know your pain won’t end, Jude. I’m not a fool. But maybe you’re finally getting ready to accept that there might be more than just pain."
"I’m afraid I won’t be able to put myself back together."
"People think love is an act of faith," her mother said. "Sometimes it’s an act of will."
"You, of all people, should understand, Judith."
"I loved your father," she said quietly, a crack in her voice.
"She was telling you about Mia?" Miles asked, looking at Jude. Over Grace’s golden hair their eyes met, and a quiet understanding passed between them.
"I’ve missed you, Judith," her mother said softly.
"Your daddy changed my mind," Mommy said. "Is that okay with you, Grace? Can I live with you guys?"
"Come home with me, Lexi," he said, and all she could do was nod. Home.
"I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. I got… lost," she finally said, and once she started talking, she couldn’t stop.