Top Five Scenes That Make Me Cry

This is the third in a series of blog entries about top five book moments. The previous two are Top Five Love Scenes and Top Five Sweetest Moments. (I envy those with blogging programs that allow them to categorize their entries--is it Wordpress?--because I have to look up these entries each time.)

These scenes are in no particular order and spoilers abound, so consider yourself warned.

Inner Harbor by Nora Roberts
This is the third book in the Chesapeake Bay series. Sybill, Seth's aunt, has come to find out more about him. Summarizing the story to this point would take too long, but suffice it to say that Sybill's family has led her to become reserved and aloof. When her emotions break through, they do so in a big way. In the scene before the one I excerpt below, she abruptly leaves Seth's birthday party and Phillip comes after her:

"I can't stand it. I can't bear it." Her hands gripped his shoulders, fingers clenching and unclenching. "She took him away. She took him away. It broke my heart."

She was sobbing now, her arms tight around his neck. "I know. I know it did. That's the way," he murmured, and simply picked her up, sat on the grass, and cradled her against him. "It's about damn time."

He rocked her while tears that were hot and desperate flooded out of her and soaked his shirt. Cold? he thought as the firestorm of grief whipped through her. There was nothing cold in her but the fear of emotional pain.

A brief quote doesn't do justice to the moment, but the story builds to it and makes it incredibly powerful.

This Is All I Ask by Lynn Kurland
This Is All I Ask is one of the best books I've ever read. It's about a woman who was subjected to terrible physical abuse by her father and the gruff medieval warrior who wins her heart. I don't cry at the drop of a hat, but my eyes filled with tears several times as I read this book. In this section, Christopher thanks Gillian and she asks why.

"For enduring a foul-tempered old dragon with enough sense to wed you and found himself a treasure in the bargain."

"Treasure? My lord, surely you jest. My dowry--"

Christopher chuckled and lifted his head. "I spoke of you, not your dowry."

She was silent for so long that he feared he'd said the wrong thing. He lifted his hand and searched her features gently. Her cheeks were wet.

"Me?" she whispered.

There are so many wonderful moments in this book when Christopher helps Gillian see how precious she is to him.

Bodyguard by Suzanne Brockmann

Brockmann writes amazing heros; Bodyguard's Harry O'Dell is particularly complex. For the past few years, he has been living to get revenge on the man who killed his ex-wife and son. His vendetta has alienated him from his two remaining children, however. In one heartbreaking scene, he sees his daughter running toward him and thinks that she's calling him Daddy. Then he finds out that he was actually calling to Allie, and she runs past him as if she never knew him. He gets in his car and drives away, leaving Allie to believe that she'll never see him again. Then she comes home after work and sees him waiting for her.

"You told me to, um, just to . . ."

His gaze met hers, and for the briefest split second she could see beyond his flip facade, his tough guy, foul-mouthed, don't-care attitude, to the very naked, very lost man inside.

"Just to let you know if I needed you," he finished in a barely audible whisper.

He forced his gaze up again, forced himself to look her directly in the eye despite the fact that now more than just his hands were shaking, despite the fact that tears were brimming in his eyes. "I need you, Al," he whispered. "I really, really need you."

It's so touching that he finally opens up to her and finally decides to do what he needs to do to get back with his family.

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

I devoured When He Was Wicked in one sitting. It's such a good story, and Quinn uses one of my favorite plot elements: unrequited love. Michael has loved Francesca for years, even while she was married to his cousin. She has been widowed for some time now, and while she wants Michael, she feels conflicted about marrying him. He finally tells her how he feels and sends her away.

He'd held this inside for six years, scrupulously kept his feelings off his face when he watched her, never told a soul.

Six years he'd loved her, and it had all come to this. He'd laid his heart on the table. He'd practically handed her a knife and asked her to slice it open.

Oh, no, Francesca, you can do better than that. Hold steady there, you can easily make a few more cuts. And while you're at it, why don't you take all these pieces here and dice them up?

Whoever had said it was a good thing to speak the truth was an ass. Michael would have given anything, both his bloody feet, even, to have made this all go away. But that was the thing about words. He laughed miserably. You couldn't take them back.

Spread it on the floor now. There you go, stamp it down. No, harder. Harder than that, Frannie. You can do it.

Six years.

The letter excerpts and the epilogue in this book are also incredibly moving.

Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb
This installment of the In Death series requires Eve to investigate Feeney and one of his former partners without Feeney's knowledge. When he finds out about it, he tells her "You're good, Dallas, but you're cold. To hell with you." When she gets home, she breaks down and tells Roarke what happened. Later that night, Roarke pays Feeney a visit.

Roarke: "She made herself what she is, and you helped. She'd go to the wall for you; you know that."

"Cops back up cops. That's the job."

"I'm not talking about the job. She loves you, and she doesn't love easily. It's difficult for her to feel it, and to show it. Part of her may always be braced for betrayal, for a blow. You've been her father for ten years, Feeney. She didn't deserve to be broken again."

Roarke stood, and saying nothing more, walked out.

Alone, Feeney raked his hands up over his face, into his wiry red hair, then let them drop on his lap.

Well, this ends another long blog entry. Have you read any of these scenes? If so, let me know what you thought of them. I'd also enjoy hearing about books and scenes that made you cry.

Alyssa