On Monday, July 21, Alice wakes at the cottage to Nan showing her a full-page newspaper ad for Alice’s upcoming show, which Elyse must have paid dearly for. The sight makes Alice dizzy and guilty about planning to drop out without telling Elyse, and she ignores Heather’s excited texts urging shopping and toast practice.

After finishing curtains with Nan and seeing Nan head out for a walk, Alice brings her camera and binoculars to the dock to clear her head and texts Charlie. From across the bay she watches Charlie grin, strip off his shirt, and backflip off his dock, then invites him over because she has something to tell him. He motors across, tense and concerned about her feelings after the previous night, and she immediately reassures him that she had the most fun she has had all year and does not regret it.

Charlie takes Alice for an exhilaratingly fast ride toward the open end of the lake; she photographs small details, and they share light teasing. Back at his dock, Charlie proposes teaching her a backflip to check off her summer list item number eight. They swim to his floating raft, and he gives careful, serious instruction, first on backward dives; when he demonstrates a full backflip, Alice refuses to try, and he steps back, distant and frowning.

Alice, sensing the change, asks why Charlie wants to spend time with her given their differences, and he insists his job, car, and neighborhood are not who he is—he is “just a guy on a raft” trying to figure things out. When Alice asks if he regrets last night, Charlie says he does not but admits he has been having a hard summer.

Charlie opens up about thinking of his late father, who died at thirty-five in the spring, and the weight of being back in his parents’ house using his father’s things. He reflects on what he would leave behind at the same age and acknowledges that the tree house may be about legacy. Alice comforts him, reminding him he is alive and that the tree house is a good thing, not arrogance, and she offers to distract him.

Charlie responds by tossing Alice playfully into the lake, and they splash, wrestle, and then kiss underwater. They climb onto the raft and make out intensely, enjoying the simplicity of being together. The moment is cut short by the sound of metal clanging, and they look over to see Nan across the bay, ringing what Charlie calls Alice’s dinner bell.