54 pages • 1-hour read
Between Sisters
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Chapters 8-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence and physical abuse.
After May and Dale’s divorce meeting, Meg checks in with May. Dale is there with his lawyer and hurls insults at Meg. Meg threatens to take his kids from him if he hurts May again. Afterward, Meg takes May to lunch. May mourns the loss of her marriage, still wishing things could work between her and Dale. Suddenly, Dale bursts in with a gun. Meg tries to talk him down, but Dale blames her for ruining his marriage. Meg stands between him and May to protect May. Dale fires the gun at Meg.
On his 43rd birthday, Joe wakes up in the woods feeling sick. He cleans up and heads out of the woods, realizing he can’t “live like this anymore” (91). He calls his sister, Gina, to check in, and she urges him to come home. He doubts anyone in the area will forgive him for what he did, but Gina suggests otherwise.
Meg returns to work immediately after the shooting. Dale’s bullet just barely missed her. She works on a few cases but feels detached. That afternoon, her partner, Julia, calls her into her office.
After work, Meg wanders through Pike Place Market and considers going to the Athenian. Instead, she tries calling Elizabeth but remembers she’s overseas. She breaks down and calls Harriet; they meet up in her office. She tells Harriet that Julia confronted her about taking time off work. She doesn’t know where to go or what to do with herself. Harriet suggests she visit Claire. Meg leaves, frustrated that Harriet still thinks she is upset about the past.
Chapter 9 Summary
Joe hitchhikes back to Hayden. He walks through town to Gina’s, still afraid people will see him and ridicule him for what he did three years prior. Everywhere he looks, he’s reminded of Diana. Then he arrives at Gina’s. She welcomes him, thrilled that he’s home. She tells him about the Bluesers’ trip, too, and how much they all miss Diana. When she mentions her divorce, Joe realizes how much he’s missed being away.
Meg packs up her things at the office and chats with Julia about her leave. Julia assures her that everything will be fine in her absence. Back at home, she’s overwhelmed by the quiet of her condo. She turns on the television, and an episode of Mama’s old show, Starbase IV, is on; it reminds her of the past. She tries dismissing the memories, uninterested in remembering Mama leaving her and Claire “alone in that dirty trailer…or the changes that [came] afterward” (115). Mama calls, interrupting her thoughts. She announces she’s doing a Shakespeare show. Then Claire calls to say she’s getting married to Bobby Jack and wants Meg to come to the wedding next week. Meg is immediately skeptical because Bobby is broke, and they only met 10 days prior. However, she insists on coming to Hayden to meet him the next day. Off the phone, she realizes this is a perfect way to spend her leave—saving Claire from Bobby.
Chapter 10 Summary
Claire hangs up the phone and curses Meg for making her doubt her feelings for Bobby. She’s in love with him but starts to wonder if Meg is right, if she’s moving too fast. She remembers all of Mama’s boyfriends and worries she’s doing the same thing to Ali. Outside the office, she runs into Bobby, and her fears dissipate. That evening, she asks Ali how she’d feel about having Bobby in her life. Ali’s enthusiasm makes Claire feel better.
Then she calls Gina and asks her opinion. Gina urges her not to take Meg’s opinion to heart and reminds her that she’s allowed to be in love. Off the phone, Claire studies the tin foil ring Bobby made her and feels overwhelmed by love. She walks over to Bobby’s cabin in the dark. He plays her a song, and they profess their love. She then tells him about Meg’s fears and impending visit. Bobby assures her everything will be fine and promises never to abandon her.
Chapter 11 Summary
The next day, Claire anxiously awaits Meg’s arrival. She has a stress headache but tries to ignore her concern by talking to Ali. However, her mind keeps drifting to memories with Mama and Meg. Finally, she calls Mama to tell her about the wedding but only gets her voicemail.
Meg visits Harriet and tells her about Claire’s phone call. Harriet encourages her to be gracious with Claire, reminding her she doesn’t have to protect her the way she once did. She thinks the wedding might be an ideal time for them to heal their differences. The conversation shifts to Eric. Meg gives in and admits that Eric broke her heart. She loved him, but Eric ultimately left her because she couldn’t invest in him. The memories reaffirm her belief that she has to save Claire.
On her way to Hayden, Meg plans out what she’ll say to Claire. The town unleashes more memories of the past. She arrives at the resort, where she encounters Sam. They have an awkward exchange while Meg waits for Claire. (She still hasn’t forgiven him for kicking her out years prior and accusing her of being just like Mama.)
Meg reunites with Ali and Claire. She meets Bobby, too. The adults sit outside and discuss Claire and Bobby’s relationship. Meg protests and recommends signing a prenuptial agreement. When Claire gets upset, Meg meditates on the situation and realizes Claire is in love. Then she bites her tongue and offers to plan the wedding for Claire, promising to make it simple per Claire’s request.
Chapter 12 Summary
Two days after returning to Hayden, Joe feels restless and leaves Gina’s. He comes upon Smitty’s Garage and reconnects with the owner, Smitty. Smitty welcomes him back to town and offers him a job and a place to stay.
Meg wakes up late at Claire’s house. She pads around the house, studying Claire’s photos. Then she realizes she’s late to meet Claire and the Bluesers for wedding dress shopping. On her way, she stops in town and finds the numbers of a few wedding planners. Then she runs into Claire outside the bridal shop. They have a brief, awkward exchange before going inside. Meg chats with Gina, who is the friendliest Blueser. Her mood changes when she sees the dresses Claire is trying on. Claire asks her opinion, and Meg answers honestly, offending Claire. Giving up, Meg dozes off. When she wakes up, Gina urges her to take Claire out for some one-on-one time while she and Sam care for Ali.
Chapters 8-12 Analysis
In Chapters 8-12, Meg’s, Claire’s, and Joe’s life changes instigate their Pursuit of Forgiveness and Reconciliation. Because all three primary characters are still in conflict with the past, they have yet to forgive themselves for the mistakes they’ve made. Meg is reluctant to travel back to Hayden to make amends with her sister because she doesn’t think that reconciliation is truly possible; her guilt lingers and keeps her from owning her mistakes and asking Claire for forgiveness. Claire is also reluctant to have her sister stay with her at the resort because she doubts that she and Meg can heal their differences. They have “never really been sisters since” they parted decades prior and are both skeptical of their ability to change this dynamic (115). Claire’s sudden and impending wedding alters the parameters of the sisters’ relationship and forces them to confront their past conflicts. The wedding is a narrative device that functions similarly to Joe’s return to Hayden. Being back in his hometown compels Joe to confront his heartbreak and regret more tangibly; being in Hayden also challenges him to forgive himself and reconcile with those he believes he has wronged. For Claire and Meg, the proximity of the wedding naturally creates tension between the sisters, which will force them to address the past.
Throughout Chapters 8-12, the author uses various narrative settings to pressurize the characters’ internal worlds and usher them toward forgiveness. In particular, the Hayden backdrop compels Meg and Claire back into the same physical sphere. For Meg, returning to Hayden is the only way she feels capable of saving her sister from what she perceives to be a bad decision. Just before leaving, she tells Harriet that while she and Claire “have nothing in common,” that “doesn’t mean [she] want[s] to see her throw her life away” (140). Traveling to Hayden is her way of taking control and proving to herself that she does love Claire and can protect her—she’s desperate to do so because she still feels guilty for leaving Claire with Sam years prior. At the same time, returning to Hayden immerses Meg in physical reminders of the past. The way the narrator describes the Hayden scenery on Meg’s drive offers insight into Meg’s fraught relationship with the place: “The road immediately telescoped down to two lanes bordered on either side by towering evergreens. The mountains were jagged and cruel-looking. Even in the summer months, snow lay atop their inaccessible peaks” (145). Use of diction like “telescoped,” “towering,” “jagged,” “cruel,” and “inaccessible” affects an ominous mood that reflects Meg’s emotional response to the setting. She sees Hayden as a threat to her well-being; reentering the town is thus her way of physically confronting her fear. She doesn’t yet know what will happen between her and Claire while she’s here, but returning to Hayden proves that she unconsciously wants forgiveness and reconciliation with her sister.
Joe’s response to Hayden provides similar insight into his emotional journey toward healing. Joe has been reluctant to go back to his hometown since Diana’s death because he’s convinced the townspeople won’t accept him after what he did three years ago. This mistake has yet to be revealed on the page, a narrative withholding that enacts Joe’s reluctance to meditate on it. At the same time, being on the road by himself has tested his nerves. He therefore experiences conflicting emotions being back in Hayden. When he first arrives in town, the narrator says that it “hadn’t changed at all. It looked precisely as he remembered, a pretty little collection of Western-themed buildings dozing peacefully beneath this warm June sun” (105). This vivid imagery enacts Joe’s attachment to the place. The town also feels peaceful to him, which suggests that he might find belonging here again. Moments later, however, Joe starts to feel “people looking at him; it beat him down, those looks that turned into frowns of recognition. Whispers followed him, nipped at his heels” (106). This imagery evokes notions of guilt and culpability. Joe has the sense that people are talking about him because he’s convinced himself the townspeople won’t forgive him for the past. However, in the next passages, Joe can suddenly “breathe again” as he turns toward Gina’s home. His vacillating emotions convey his simultaneous desire for and fear of reconciliation. He wants the town to take him back, but because he hasn’t forgiven himself, he anticipates rejection and ridicule. Joe’s internal conflict continues to thematically develop Personal Growth via Facing the Past, as he must confront the past to heal in the present.
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