Two weeks before Charlotte is due to leave for Boston, Saint loads the truck and takes her on a road trip. Saint has already promised herself that she will keep visiting Charlotte, and the trip is framed less as a mother-daughter obligation than as time shared by two people who have survived a great deal together.

As they travel through Nashville, they laugh, eat hot chicken, and enjoy the freedom of the drive. In the Cherokee National Forest, the mood turns more reflective. While Saint takes nature photographs and thinks about making another album for Theodore, Charlotte finally revisits her earlier rejection of Saint as a mother and tells Saint that Saint is "everything"; Saint accepts the apology and understanding, and the moment deepens their bond.

The trip also has a quiet purpose. Because the mysterious jar of purple honey carried a label, Saint and Charlotte follow that lead to Hillcrest Farm. There, Saint takes the risk of showing a photograph of the man they hope to trace to a young woman behind the counter, but the woman does not recognize him. The failed lead crushes Charlotte's hopes, and afterward Charlotte withdraws, fearing that the person they are seeking may be dead.

Saint tries to reassure Charlotte by suggesting that he may instead be staying away to protect her, but the uncertainty weighs on both of them as they keep driving across North Carolina. Their silence begins to break only when they notice repeated OBX bumper stickers on the road and turn it into a small point of curiosity.

At a remote truck stop, Charlotte asks a large man what OBX means. He explains that it stands for North Carolina's Outer Banks and points out the pirate image as Blackbeard, Edward Teach, who once hid there. Charlotte repeats the name in a whisper, and the explanation lands like a possible new direction, turning a stalled search into the hint of another trail.