With a tropical storm named Darcy a week out, Jo picked up sandwiches and coffee for a planned writing session with Sebastian. On Main Street, she spotted Sebastian swarmed by tourists outside Cool Beans. Hearing his anxious thoughts through their link, Jo intervened by calling him “Sasha,” posing as his acquaintance, and deflecting attention by joking he only “looked like” Sebastian Fell. She extracted him and brought him to the Revelry, where they traded the coffee and sandwich each had intended for the other.

They settled at the piano but stalled, unable to define the song’s purpose. Sebastian named Jo’s state as burnout and gently urged grace, prompting Jo to confess the depth of her creative emptiness and fear that her spark might never return. Sebastian countered by praising “Joni Lark’s” reputation and shifted into playing her song “If You Stayed” with a tender yearning that resonated with Jo in a new way. Their mutual desire surged through the telepathic link; Jo halted it, insisting intimacy would be too messy and could jeopardize Sebastian’s comeback. He argued it might fuel their work, but when Jo asked “what after,” he avoided planning ahead. She firmly declined, and he respected the boundary.

Before leaving to clear her head, Jo outfitted Sebastian in a garish lost-and-found Hawaiian shirt to help him blend in. On the boardwalk, Jo tried to distract herself from thoughts of Sebastian but literally ran into her ex, Van Erickson. After brief awkwardness, she suggested ice cream. They reminisced and caught up: Jo described work consuming her time; Van admitted to a grind in Boston and offered condolences about Wyn, which Jo declined to discuss. Their easy rapport returned during a stroll along the pier, and Van proposed dinner the following Wednesday, which Jo accepted. He kissed her cheek and jogged off.

Through their link, Sebastian noted Jo’s smile. Jo then noticed him nearby on a bench, disguised in the Hawaiian shirt with empty Italian ice cups—he had followed after she left. They exchanged light banter about the shirt and his “Sexiest Man Alive” prospects before Sebastian proposed taking the next day off from writing. After he left, Jo realized he must have trailed her to the boardwalk and wondered why.