Elizabeth Zott and Calvin Evans thrive as partners in work and love, their late-night talks fueling research and intimacy. Colleagues assume Elizabeth dates Calvin for his status, but their connection is mutual and sustaining. Their routine sets the stage for a deeper conversation.

As Thanksgiving nears, Calvin asks about visiting families, exposing how little they know of each other’s roots. He reveals he is from Iowa, an only child whose parents died in a train accident when he was five; his aunt, who took him in, died soon after, leaving him to a Catholic boys’ home he describes as rough and lonely.

Elizabeth shares that she grew up mostly in Oregon with parents who ran a religious con, staging “signs” with flammable pistachios; her mother made amulets. Though this introduced her to chemistry, she resents them. Calvin longs for a family to join, but Elizabeth explains her brother John, a homosexual, killed himself after their father’s sustained condemnation. She asserts that homosexuality is normal, and that belonging to a family is not guaranteed.

Elizabeth adds that her father is now imprisoned after a staged “sign” killed three people, and her mother fled to Brazil to avoid prosecution and taxes. Often left alone, Elizabeth became self‑reliant, relying on libraries for education. Calvin recalls telling himself “every day is new,” yet the memories weigh on him. They set the past aside for the night, choosing to face the holiday—and their future—together.