As winter settles hard over Monta Clare, Saint walks past the neglected Macauley property in the heavy shearling coat her grandmother bought her from Goodwill. Saint no longer cares about looking strange or being mocked by other children; grief and obsession have made those ordinary humiliations feel small. The decaying house and overgrown yard show how far the Macauleys have fallen since Callie vanished.

Saint has stopped going inside the house, partly because Ivy Macauley is unraveling and partly because the family is collapsing financially. Saint knows from her grandmother that the landlord, Kim, is trying to reclaim the house because Ivy is no longer paying rent. Ivy appears at an upstairs window looking skeletal and defeated, and when Saint waves, Ivy comes to the door in a dazed, sickly state and tells Saint she is too young for this, underscoring how the loss has destroyed her.

After leaving the house, Saint goes into the woods and finds Misty sitting on the frozen ground by the water. Misty is preoccupied with Patch and says people are still talking about him, including the possibility that he is dead. While other girls are still focused on ordinary teenage concerns, Misty is consumed by fear that Patch might be somewhere cold, alone, and suffering, and her panic and anger break through in a burst of profanity.

Saint sits beside Misty and listens. Misty admits she is trying to remember something even though her parents are paying someone to help her forget, then asks Saint to tell her something about Patch. Saint realizes that trauma has forced both of them abruptly out of childhood, and although she feels she has no clear claim on Patch and knows little about him, she finally begins to speak. By choosing to share her memories, Saint lets her private feelings surface and gives Misty the comfort of hearing Patch remembered as a person rather than as a rumor or a victim.