From 1982 to 1985, Ryan and Lillian grow the Sundance Gallery (the SG) in Fort Worth’s new Sundance Square, with Lillian managing books and publicity while Ryan focuses on art. Their early married life is happy and full of shared routines—seaside trips, fairs, evenings with Elise, and gallery events. At home, Ryan paints a teal-toned chapel scene featuring a contemplative man in wind.

One evening Ryan surprises Lillian with cowgirl boots and takes her to Billy Bob’s Texas, where Ryan reveals he is an adept dancer, a skill he learned from his mother, Elise. He gently leaves early when Lillian develops a headache, and the couple continues returning to the honky-tonk with friends like Matteo and his girlfriend, eventually becoming strong dancers together.

Their professional milestone arrives when they sell Arjun Anand’s large photograph, Khan Market, to Mrs. Patel, who arrives decisively with cash and a baby in tow. Holding the smiling baby overwhelms Lillian with a visceral reaction that blends tenderness and nausea. Ryan, buoyed by the sale and the moment, quietly suggests they should have a baby, which Lillian deflects.

Over subsequent dinners, Ryan raises the topic again, while Lillian admits only that she is not ready and withholds her deeper fears. Months later, she relents, uncertain whether her motive is desire, love for Ryan, or guilt, and she moves their condoms to the back of the drawer. Ryan responds with unguarded hope, embodying his belief that they have passed beyond the reach of pain, in contrast to Lillian’s conviction that pain has no limit.

Four months after trying, Lillian is late and two home tests turn positive, awakening a small, surprising joy amid her fear. Three weeks later, she begins spotting that quickly becomes heavy bleeding and cramping while she is alone, and she realizes she is miscarrying. She cannot bring herself to flush the toilet and lies on the bed holding her abdomen, imagining the child Ryan would have lifted to place the Christmas tree topper.

When Ryan arrives, Lillian pleads to be blamed, but he refuses. Ryan flushes the blood while they hold each other up; he offers the comfort of a “new day,” which for Lillian rings hollow as she longs for a different yesterday. In a looping, fragmented stream of sensation and memory, she relives the sequence from Mrs. Patel’s baby to the positive tests and the loss, ending with an existential doubt about whether she was ever truly pregnant. Their shared happiness now stands shadowed by grief and uncertainty about the future.