Brummett is struggling despite therapy, but Lexie is mostly recovered and looking for a new place to live. Forney’s sister dies in a fire at the library. Forney moves into a hotel and spends a night of intimacy with Novalee.

While Forney is in Maine burying his sister, Novalee allows herself to admit she is in love with him. However, when she runs into a local woman who knew the Hull family well, she learns that Forney dropped out of Bowdoin College to care for his sister. When Forney comes back and talks so enthusiastically about Maine, Novalee lies to him and says she does not love him, because she can’t imagine him living an ordinary life in Sequoyah with her and Americus.

Novalee grieves for Forney for weeks after he leaves Sequoyah. He sends letters to Americus postmarked from many different cities, but none for Novalee. Novalee eventually figures out that Forney has settled in Chicago and tracks him down to a bookstore there.