A year passes after Patch says goodbye to Grace and decides to stay with Charlotte. During that quiet year, Patch settles into the routine of being Charlotte’s father, walking her to school and measuring time by the changing seasons and the clothes she wears.

In January, Patch, Charlotte, Saint, and Norma gather at the Mad House to watch the 49ers defeat the Chargers at Joe Robbie Stadium. Later, Charlotte finds an old football in the attic and practices throwing in the frozen yard until she can hit Patch in the cherry tree end zone. When Charlotte says she might want to be a football player, Norma warns that contact sports will leave her barren, and Charlotte casually replies that she may not want children and might be lesbian like Norma.

Over the following months, Patch and Charlotte build small family rituals. On the last Friday of each month they go to the Alamo Theatre, share popcorn, and watch movies together, including New Nightmare, which frightens Charlotte even as she insists it is suitable.

In spring, the Oklahoma bombing breaks into their quiet life and deeply affects Charlotte. Troubled by the deaths, especially the nineteen children, Charlotte cannot sleep, so Patch sits outside her door until sunrise. The next morning they join others at St. Raphael’s to bow their heads and light candles.

Charlotte then reads about a mother who feared her daughter had died in the rubble, only to be reunited with her after seven hours when the girl is pulled out alive. The widely shared image of that reunion gives Charlotte a frame for hope amid catastrophe. Moved by the story, Charlotte asks Patch the next day about the missing girls, bringing the old wound of his search back into their life.