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Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Eleanor meets a hungover Raymond for lunch. He confesses he was out late with Laura. Eleanor asks if Lauran is his girlfriend. Raymond says he doesn’t want to see Laura again because she’s too high-maintenance.
After Eleanor shares pictures of Glen on her phone, Raymond nervously admits that he has researched the fire. He offers to show Eleanor what he’s learned whenever she’s ready. Eleanor becomes irritated and tells him he has stepped over the line. Realizing she has hurt his feelings, she begins to cry, and he reaches for her hands. They apologize to each other in unison and begin to laugh. They each say sorry for offending the other and part ways. Eleanor buys cat food on the way home and considers how the happy burden of caring for Glen has helped her stop drinking.
Dr. Temple increases the frequency of Eleanor’s sessions to twice per week. She asks Eleanor to recall a happy memory from before the fire. She recovers a memory of a picnic with her younger sister, Marianne, a person she had forgotten. Dr. Temple commends Eleanor on her progress in therapy and tells her more memories will come in time.