Late at night, Tova shops at Shop-Way and notes a new, careless bagger. Ethan Mack rings her up, recalls her loyalty number from memory, and chats about the dreary weather. He notices the octopus sucker bruise on Tova’s wrist and offers condolences for her brother Lars’s death. Tova acknowledges they were not close and privately recalls how their relationship cooled after Erik’s death, eroding over missed holidays without a single blowup.

Changing the subject, Ethan jokes about her aquarium job and scallops, and Tova flushes at the teasing. Irritated by the poor bagging, she rearranges the groceries herself. Ethan scolds the new bagger, Tanner, and quips that everyone needs direction. Tova leaves with a polite farewell.

At home, Tova squeezes her few items into a refrigerator already packed with condolence casseroles. A scratching on the porch startles her; outside, a thin gray stray cat stares up with yellow eyes. After shooing fails and feeling its ribs brush her ankles, Tova relents, names it Cat, and feeds it Mary Ann’s leftover ham-and-cheese gratin, planning not to mention the true diner when returning the dish.

From the den, the channel four news hums. Tova predicts the anchors’ banter and suspects an office romance, but doesn’t wait for the forecast—more gloom is certain. The evening closes with Tova’s neat routines, fresh grief over Lars, and the small comfort of having fed a desperate animal.