Aimee is essentially living in the Garveys’ house; Kevin, though he is often made uncomfortable by the revealing clothes she wears, appreciates her presence, as he doubts he could have lived happily alone with his daughter. Each evening when Aimee and Jill go out with friends, Kevin goes to a local bar called the Carpe Diem. At the bar, Kevin meets with his friends Pete Thorne and Steve Wiscziewski to discuss the softball team for adult men they plan to begin the following spring. Kevin goes to the restroom, where there is a memorial for the Carpe Diem’s previous bartender, who was lost in the rapture. Kevin “just didn’t think it was healthy, being reminded all the time" (89) of the rapture.

On his way out of the bathroom, Kevin bumps into Melissa Gilbert, a woman he tried to have sex with three months earlier after drinks at the Carpe Diem. At the bar that night, Melissa described the conflict she had with her ex-husband and his new wife before the rapture, when her ex-husband disappeared. They went to Melissa’s house, but, ultimately, Kevin couldn’t perform, feeling “as if his conscience were stuck in the past” (95), focused on the marriage vows he made to Laurie.