In March 2014, Addie sits in a leather chair in Henry’s bookstore, The Last Word, listening to a cat purr nearby while she watches customers gravitate toward Henry with easy laughter, affection, and flirtation. Seeing it up close makes Addie notice the pattern of Henry’s bargain everywhere, but she finds she isn’t jealous; instead, Henry’s occasional looks toward Addie feel like brief, warming bursts of sunlight.

Addie reads a book of poems and wears newly stolen thrift-store clothes, keeping her paint-splattered boots as a tangible reminder of the previous night. When Henry closes the shop, he helps Addie out of the chair—warning it “eats people”—and they step outside. Addie asks where they are going, and Henry’s restless energy shows, especially as dusk approaches and time passing seems to press on him.

Henry suggests the Ice Cream Factory, then rejects the idea when he realizes Addie has already been there; Henry wants to give Addie something new. Addie admits there must be places she hasn’t been, but she hasn’t found them yet, and Henry takes the challenge seriously. He grabs Addie’s hand and leads her away.

An hour later they arrive at Grand Central, and Addie points out she has been there before, like most people. Henry, grinning, brings her down to the station’s lower level, weaving through the evening crowd to a tiled intersection of arches. He positions Addie facing the wall, tells her to stay and listen, then runs to the opposite side and speaks into the corner.

To Addie’s shock, Henry’s voice comes through clearly as if he were beside her: a whispering gallery created by the curve of the arch. Addie is delighted that, after three hundred years, she can still discover something new. Henry asks Addie to talk to him through the wall, and then invites her to tell him a story.