Chapter 17 Summary

As Brad nears the cabin, he regrets asking Tracy to leave Winfield with him. In his mind, she becomes a traitor, who impeded his progress and anticipates gloating to Jamie that he had found Mindy. He imagines how he will offer Jamie a chance to live at the cabin with him and Mindy. Brad envisions how he will impress Jamie with the number of trout he catches and thinks about how they will live with the little girl, who has become Mindy in his mind. Brad also thinks of how he wanted to take Mindy back to his mother, but now thinks that Laura Brummer does not deserve to see the child. He classifies his mother as "unsupportive, uncooperative and uncaring."

Julianne wakes up, asking for breakfast and Tracy, but Brad says the restaurant they left had bad food that would have made...