In the present time, Kate and Hugh’s plane is still experiencing turbulence in the air. Kate is frightened enough to take Hugh’s hand and is startled by the touch. She tells Hugh about the notes Cam would leave her and digs in her purse to show him the note Cam wrote her before her interview with Hugh’s office. Hugh always keeps her at a careful distance, but Kate is panicked enough to hug him, and she feels his heart racing. Kate tells him she wants to be friends again and asks what happened between him and Cam. He won’t say. Kate imagines kissing Hugh and wonders if her libido is reawakening.

The plane lands in the town of Ballina due to a storm that has grounded planes all along the East Coast. Hugh, as usual, is capable, making all the decisions, and Kate is grateful to have someone “to step into my life and take the reins, for even a second” (164). Their cab driver asks if she is in town for the writer’s festival, but Kate isn’t ready to identify herself as a writer. Hugh tells Kate she is fragile and should take this as a break; Hugh has been present for other breakdowns and has asked Kate before if she has thought of hurting herself.