On January 2, after delaying the service to accommodate relatives, Samantha attends the funeral dinner for her grandmother. She reflects on the past nine days, during which Xavier became the family’s backbone: organizing food, managing household tasks, caring for Lisa, taking the boys out, signing for deliveries, tending plants and pets, and even serving as a pallbearer alongside Dan, Tristan, and her great-uncle. His calm presence repeatedly diffused tensions and helped the family function through grief.

Despite the comfort, Samantha dreads Xavier’s imminent return to Minnesota that night and feels the weight of financial strain and caregiving responsibilities. She cannot travel due to costs from the funeral and a lost roundtrip ticket, and she fears the void Xavier’s absence will leave, especially with Lisa’s dementia and Dan returning to work. Samantha wishes Xavier could stay but recognizes the impossibility given his clinic and financial stakes.

At the restaurant reception, Xavier arrives in travel clothes with his duffel, subtly reins in the boys, and gives Samantha a bracelet he found under a laundry room washbasin—Lisa’s lost heirloom from her twenty-fifth birthday. Tristan confirms its significance but then points out Lisa’s overdone makeup. Samantha sees that Lisa is heavily made up by cousin Debbie and prepares to intervene.

Xavier notes his Uber is close and suggests Samantha stay with her family rather than drive him, observing that Jeneva appears unwell and checked out while Dan seems disengaged. Samantha reluctantly agrees, handing Tristan her purse to fix Lisa’s makeup, and walks Xavier outside.

Outside the entrance, Xavier gives Samantha new earbuds he already linked to her phone and mentions a playlist. They embrace, and Xavier vows to try to return in February, even by working overnights, though Samantha worries about his well-being. When she asks about his thoughtful stare, Xavier quietly says he is in love with her and has loved her “from a different lifetime.”

As the Uber arrives, Samantha, stunned, tells him she loves him too. Xavier looks pained but gets into the car and leaves. Samantha is left balancing love with the reality that she and the weather are the only obvious reasons for him to relocate, underscoring the ongoing long-distance stakes and her family’s immediate needs.