Summary

William focuses on “eradicating the bullshit and secrets from his life and taking care of Sylvie in any way he could think of” (310). He examines a photograph of Caroline (taken from his parents’ home after their deaths) and realizes that he had given Alice up, in part, so that he “couldn’t lose a little girl” (311). He asks Cecelia to paint a portrait of his sister.

Julia surprises Sylvie at the Lozano Library. Sylvie “[feels] everything” (318) in the presence of her sister, and comprehends her approaching death in a new way. Julia and Sylvie visit a bar that Charlie once frequented. They begin to reconcile, each feeling that—because no one else knows about their meeting—they have “found a loophole… which meant this time meant nothing, which meant everything” (325).

In New York, Julia tells Alice that Sylvie is dying and that she...