¿Cómo puedes ser tan duro y tan tierno a la vez? - Si no fuera duro no podría estar vivo, si no fuera tierno no merecería estarlo. - Raymond Chandler

Such a nice escort, Mr. Cobb. So attentive. You should see him sober. I should see him sober. Somebody should see him sober. I mean, just for the record. So it could become a part of history, that brief flashing moment, soon buried in time, but never forgotten — when Larry Cobb was sober.

When I left Merle was wearing a bungalow apron and rolling pie crust. She came to the door wiping her hands on the apron and kissed me on the mouth and began to cry and ran back into the house, leaving the doorway empty [...] I had a funny feeling as I saw the house disappear, as though I had written a poem and it was very good and I had lost it and would never remember it again. (p. 262)

We were very much in love — the wild, mysterious, improbable kind of love that never comes but once.