Lillian noted that Ryan had been sober for twenty months. Over the past year they had navigated therapy, difficult conversations, and reconciliation without alcohol present. Though they still lived in separate apartments, Ryan spent most evenings at Lillian’s home for dinner, welcomed by both Lillian and Jet.

Lillian contrasted her rekindled feelings with the signs of aging, observing how desire persisted even as her body changed. She likened their present to the early days of their romance in the bungalow with the blue ceiling, sensing the possibility of a new beginning.

Jet, now fourteen, asked what Lillian had been like at her age. This led Lillian to recall a formative friendship with Lisa Ballard that ended when Lisa drifted toward Susan O’Malley’s social circle and asked Lillian to leave her alone. Devastated, Lillian turned to her mother, Georgia Wright.

In a rainy backyard, Georgia carved “GW + LW” into a magnolia tree and told Lillian that while it was fine to grieve, there would be other “Lisas.” Georgia emphasized that beginnings are not blank canvases; they are where one starts and then chooses whom to need next. She called herself Lillian’s “first love,” framing family as the starting point from which Lillian could make her own choices.

Lillian remembered the ritual peppermint her mother offered and accepted the lesson: she would choose other people over time. She later lost touch with Lisa and did not know the fate of the magnolia, but she concluded that love is time shared and not predetermined to be with any one person. Returning to the present, Lillian told Jet she had been “delicate” and “loyal,” teasing Jet when Jet resisted the label.

Shauna arrived to take Lillian to a Saturday lunch to review matron-of-honor duties for Shauna and Michael’s long-delayed wedding, finally scheduled after two busy years balancing medical careers and Kendi’s school life. Before leaving, Lillian mentioned a headache and checked in on Jet, who was writing a paper. Lillian suspected something was going on between Jet and Kendi but chose not to pry, offering only the advice to keep friends close as Jet returned to her headphones.