Summary

The section begins with another of Sam’s letters, Claire and Lydia’s father, to Julia. He tells her that “through the days and weeks and months and years after your disappearance, I understood that I did not cherish you enough. I never told you that I loved you enough. I never held you enough. I never listened to you enough” (221). He recounts his immediate dislike for Paul when Claire returned home for the Georgia-Auburn football game, that “There was something about the way this man touched my youngest child that set my teeth on edge…His hand stayed at her back as they climbed the stairs. His fingers laced through hers as they walked through the door…His hand literally never left her body…confident that every single word that comes out of his mouth is not just correct, but fascinating” (223). He...