The High Tide Club Quotes
"Sometimes, I almost wonder if I dreamed them. Dreamed the times we had together."
"Praise the spells and bless the charms, I found April in my arms."
"It's just that people these days mumble and fail to enunciate properly."
"We had a ritual. Whenever we were together, the four of us, and there was a high tide and a full moon, we'd go skinny-dipping."
"I’ll let you know when I need some rest."
"She was reading before first grade and had such a thirst for learning."
"We were peas in a pod. We made our debut together."
"I was scared and confused. Afterward, I was too ashamed of the way I’d acted to reach out and apologize."
"I’ve taken my pills, and there’s nothing more to be done."
"A devoted mother and advocate for liberal causes, Mrs. Quinlan became involved in the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, joining the Rev. Martin Luther King’s Washington peace march in 1963."
"No services are planned. At Mrs. Quinlan’s request, memorials may be made to the American Civil Liberties Union or Planned Parenthood."
"She was thrilled to see a list of more than a dozen hits. Clicking on each citation, Brooke learned that R. Elizabeth Quinlan was a somewhat prolific, if not wildly successful freelance journalist."
"Josephine wants to meet you. You and your brother. I’ve been trying to find a way to contact him too, but I’m sort of at a dead end."
"‘Yeah, sure. And I’m the crown princess of Istanbul. Who is this really?’"
"‘I’m an attorney in Georgia, and my client was a lifelong friend of Ruth Mattingly Quinlan, whom I believe was your grandmother.’"
"‘My grandmother has been dead nearly ten years. I don’t know anybody in Georgia. What does your client want?’"
"I met her just a few days ago, so she’s been feeding me the details in tiny little spoonfuls."
"‘Josephine is hazy on the details, but that’s it in a nutshell. Now she’s got terminal cancer. She wants to reconnect with her old friends’ heirs and ‘make amends’ as she says.’"
"‘Tell her I’ll come if she’ll pay my way. All expenses, including airfare, meals, and hotel.’"
"‘This is totally, totally nuts,’ Lizzie said."
"‘She’s old and ornery, and she’s dying.’"
"‘You know what she paid for my folks’ house over there? Did she tell you? If not, I will. She paid my widowed mother $1,500. For the house and more than an acre of land.’"
"‘We’ll see.’ Felicia looked around the office at the stained, fraying carpet, secondhand furniture, and single bank of file cabinets."
"‘You’ve got a kid?’ He sounded shocked."
"‘I’m fine, thanks. Please forgive me for oversleeping. I guess I’m not used to late hours and champagne.’"
"‘Don’t be such a party pooper, Millie,’ Ruth said. She tugged at the cuff of her friend’s gauzy long-sleeved jacket. ‘Come on. You’ve got to be suffocating in this thing.’"
"It was more like an incremental loss over the years."
"You’ve got an uphill battle ahead of you."
"I didn’t suddenly lose her eighteen months ago."
"But she’s still razor sharp and full of piss and vinegar."
"I’ve been thinking maybe I should slow down my work schedule."
"It’s beautiful. Just as I remembered it. Untouched. Unspoiled."
"It’s a murder, but actually, nobody really knows what happened to the guy."
"Why should we go back to the house? Let’s stay out all night."
"That’s the whole point of champagne. It’s tickly and bubbly, and it makes you feel giddy."
"I’m dying. The doctors did scans, and there are new tumors everywhere."
"We used to do this all the time when we were at boarding school."
"He saw what was happening and made Russell stop."
"If you’re up to making some phone calls and writing some letters."
"I guess you could try the Happy Wanderer."
"She’d get frustrated and was so easily agitated."
"This’ll probably be the last time we get to do something like this."
"Josephine’s an unusual woman. Very conservative, politically, but on the other hand, she’s deeply concerned about the environment and keeping Talisa from being developed."
"What’s Felicia like? Very smart and polished. She’s a PhD, teaches African American studies. A little prickly, maybe."
"Josephine feels genuine affection for Varina. But there’s something else, something she obviously feels guilty about in her relationship with all these women."
"Josephine Warrick is not somebody who easily relinquishes her secrets."
"I’ve never seen her so mad. She said I had no cause to go messing in her private business and calling her doctor behind her back."
"She has empathy for others, which is a quality you were seemingly born without."
"Josephine pressed her lips together and said nothing."
"She was all wrong for Millie. A dreadful man. We tried to get her to break it off."
"Russell Strickland was a monster. He’d been shot. He didn’t tell us who did it, and we didn’t ask."
"The four of us, we all agreed not to ask any questions. And never to tell what had happened. And we didn’t."
"Josephine Bettendorf Warrick had been living in this house full-time since the war was over. That’s nearly seventy years."
"You’d better believe I’m billing Josephine if I have to spend the night."
"I need to see her body. But as her attorney, I think I need to see her body."
"You didn’t notify law enforcement? At all. Are you able to close off that bathroom?"
"I was just about to start the process of letting the others know. My mom’s still sleeping. But I’m glad you’re the first."
"Josephine, she was the last of the line. All the Bettendorfs, all of them, Miss Elsie, Mr. Samuel, Mr. Gardiner, and now, Josephine. All gone."
"If none of us inherits everything, who does? Josephine didn’t have any family, right?"
"She was walking back toward the living room when she heard scratching and whining from behind another door."
"Josephine Warrick was a pretty unusual woman."
"I reckon that’s about as close a kin as you can get."
"She’ll live. But there won’t be any more surprise pregnancies, I’ll tell you that."
"Who knew a twelve-year-old Winnebago could do sixty on a dirt road?"
"Please let me know if you have any questions, and of course, I’d appreciate it if you could notify me when the death certificate is ready."
"I don’t need a bag of hair to tell you that."
"I’m sorry. We have strict privacy rules. Those records are only open to the actual children who were placed in the home and their biological mothers."
"That’s a shame," Debbie said. "Where are you ladies from?"
"Anyway, the three of us, we’re at that time in our lives, we really need some answers. For our peace of mind, and of course, to find out about our family medical history," Lizzie went on. "You can empathize with that, can’t you?"
"Who is this?" Debbie looked from Felicia to Lizzie, obviously puzzled.
"You still have all the records though, right?" Felicia said eagerly.
"He only recently shared with us the story of how his mother left him—abandoned him, actually—in a church here in Savannah."
"We might have been nuns, dear, but we weren’t dummies," Sister said tartly. "We did wonder what Father Ryan did to deserve such a splendid gift."
"I’m quite sure he was named that because Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of the lost. And that poor baby was definitely lost."
"You’re going, right?" Marie said. "I’ll see you in the morning."
"But we need to clean up your corpse before we bury you. A hot shower is your first step to salvation."
"I mean, I stopped barfing, so I guess that’s something."
"I adore you, or I did until I drove back here like a maniac last night after you didn’t call."
"This is my life now, Gabe. Are you really sure this is what you want?"
"I hope to God Gabe Wynant is the other injured party."
"Never trust a man who hollers at the help."
"The people we think we know the best are the ones with secrets we can’t even fathom."
"There’s a little felon in the best of us."
"One deft swipe across her wrist would surely do the trick, wouldn’t it? But the mess. How inconsiderate."
"I suppose." She looked at the sheriff. "Do you know how he figured out where we were?"
"It’s easier to walk around with love in your heart than with hate."
"You got salt water in your veins, and it pulls you back here just as surely as the moon pulls that tide."
"It’s just up here. See that break in the trees? Stop there."
"Don’t you know that about me? Do you think so little of me that I would resent you or our child?"