During the tense family dinner, Grant and Henry criticize Stewart’s San Francisco preservation project, the Kramer deal, for its low profitability. Henry openly questions Stewart’s leadership abilities, comparing him unfavorably to previous generations. Visibly upset by the confrontation, Stewart abruptly excuses himself from the table. Dolly finds him outside in the garden having a panic attack. To comfort him, she climbs into his lap and holds him, helping him regulate his breathing. Once calm, Stewart confides that his panic attacks are triggered by the specific fear of strangers one day touring his family home after a generational failure, a scenario his father invoked at dinner. They share a quiet, intimate moment in the vegetable garden where Stewart leans toward Dolly as if to kiss her, but she gets up to leave before he does.

Freddie insists she invite Stewart to a barbecue so he can properly thank him for helping with the roof. Stewart arrives with five bottles of wine and a small bouquet of herbs, and he charms the family with a story about accidentally bringing a skunk into Eight Oaks as a child, which makes them all laugh. He also admires the kitchen curtains, which Dolly made from one of her grandmother’s old dresses using the woman’s sewing machine.