Allie Ray

“Some people said their mothers were the glue that held the family together; others called them the backbone. But Mama was the tendons. The nerves. The supple, giving fat---

Mama would not have liked the comparison. Dalton kept it to himself. And still, rather saw it as a compliment. Mama had softened the blows. Cushioned sharp bones from grinding into one another. Encompassed every strange and contrary part of their family like a warm blanket. Filled in the gaps.”
― Allie Ray, Inheritance

“Nothing good has ever come from knowing someone else's business before they do.”
― Allie Ray, Inheritance

“He was a man of peculiar reticence--habitually habitless. No newspaper was folded on the table at his side; no cigarette smoked between his calloused fingers. He didn't whittle or drink or figure jigsaw puzzles--at least not the kind other people could see. But some nights he sat just like this, frowning hard at problems only he knew--or created.”
― Allie Ray, Inheritance

“Everybody loves an easy girl," he said. "It's just a question of how deeply, for how long. And the answer to both--is not very.”
― Allie Ray, Inheritance