Inside the box, Ruth finds Diana’s first camera, which contains a partially used roll of film. She also discovers an envelope filled with photos of her mother, Maggie, and a young Diana. An inscription on the back of one photo indicates it was taken by “Lynnie.” 

Another envelope contains a typed letter from Diana, in which she confesses that she and Maggie were in love one summer on the island. Maggie, then a talented painter, had planned to move to New York with Diana but backed out. The letter also explains that Diana was too scared to tell Ruth that she had terminal cancer. A final note directs Ruth to the studio loft, where she finds a bin of Maggie’s paintings. As she takes in this new information, she hears Charlie and Nadia arguing. Nadia confronts him about his hesitation to get married, asking if it is because of Ruth. After Nadia leaves, Charlie knocks on the studio door.

Charlie enters the studio, looking defeated after his argument with Nadia. Ruth shows him the photos of her mother and Diana, and he remarks on Maggie’s beauty and resemblance to Ruth. They share a quiet moment over the pictures, and Ruth observes, “It looks like love” (169). The moment is broken when Charlie’s mother calls. As he steps outside, Ruth packs up the box. As she prepares to bike away, she calls out to Charlie and takes his picture with Diana’s camera. On the ride home, Ruth feels renewed anger at Diana and Maggie over the secrets they kept.

Back at her cottage, Ruth calls Joel and confronts him with the new information she learned from Diana’s letter. Joel admits that Maggie was never in love with him. He explains that they had a brief relationship before Maggie told him she loved someone else and was moving away. A month later, she called to tell him she was pregnant. He proposed immediately, excited to become a father. 

This revelation devastates Ruth, who now believes her existence prevented her mother from pursuing a life of art and love with Diana. Joel says Maggie eventually told him about Diana, whom she continued to pine after, but when Ruth asks why Maggie stopped painting, Joel says he does not know what she is talking about. After the call, feeling numb, Ruth sends a text to Charlie, asking him for a favor.

Ruth waits anxiously for Charlie’s reply, fearing Lynn will discard her mother’s paintings. She goes to her shift at the restaurant, which is extremely busy. That evening, Charlie texts back, and Ruth calls him from the bathroom, urgently asking him to help retrieve the paintings from the studio that night. He reluctantly agrees. 

After Ruth finishes a stressful shift, Lucy, arrives and invites her for a drink. Ruth declines, saying only that she is not going home and will explain tomorrow. This annoys Lucy. Ruth leaves work and tries to contact Charlie, but he doesn’t answer. As she waits, her adrenaline fades, and she is overwhelmed by the fear that she was the cause of her mother’s unhappiness. This anxiety is amplified by her own fears of being pregnant, and she sits on the dark beach feeling utterly alone.

The next morning, Ruth receives a text from Charlie apologizing for not being able to meet her. Feeling numb, she goes to a bagel shop where she finds Lucy, who is cold and critical. Their tense conversation is interrupted by a call from Ethel, who is checking on the article’s progress. Ruth lies and claims it is going well, feeling deep shame. 

Afterward, Louis sits next to Ruth and begins asking about her plans for the following night. Before he can finish, however, Charlie and Nadia appear walking together. Under social pressure, Charlie invites Ruth, Lucy, and Louis to their Fourth of July party at Diana’s house, adding that Lynn will be out of town.

The following day, Ruth goes to the studio but is unable to write. She looks at her mother’s paintings again, but this time they make her feel more distant. As she leaves the studio, Nadia approaches and again insists she come to the party, explaining she wants to get to know Charlie’s friends. Though wary of Nadia’s motives, Ruth agrees.

On the day of the party, Ruth is unable to work on the article. She rereads Diana’s letter and feels consumed by the idea that she ruined her mother’s chance at happiness. Charlie calls, sounding distressed, and asks if Ruth thinks he is rushing into his marriage with Nadia. He admits to having dreams about Ruth, but abruptly ends the call when he hears Nadia returning home. 

That evening, as Ruth and Lucy walk to the party, their tension culminates in a fight. Lucy accuses Ruth of wasting the writing opportunity Diana gave her and of being stuck in a “rut” since her mother’s death. She also criticizes Ruth’s fixation on the engaged Charlie. They are interrupted by the arrival of Louis, and the three proceed to the party together.

At Diana’s house, Ruth is dismayed to find it has been redecorated with gray paint and new furniture; even the familiar front door is gone. She feels alienated, realizing she is the only one who wants to preserve the house as Diana left it. Lucy deliberately praises the changes, deepening the rift between them. 

Ruth recognizes two of the guests as Peter and Ellen, Charlie’s friends from his college days, whom she met during a disastrous visit to see Charlie in New York. The memory fills her with shame. Ellen, who doesn’t recognize Ruth, reveals that she introduced Charlie and Nadia and calls them a perfect couple.

Later, Louis comforts Ruth. A sudden thunderstorm forces the party inside and causes a power outage. Knowing where Diana kept emergency supplies, Ruth offers to get candles from the attic, a place she and Charlie once considered their secret spot. As she heads upstairs, Charlie follows her.

In the dark attic, Charlie kisses Ruth passionately. Their intense moment is cut short when Nadia calls up to them from the bottom of the ladder. They pull apart, and Charlie lies that his phone died. After Nadia goes back downstairs, Ruth asks Charlie if he truly wants to marry Nadia. He is unsure and leaves Ruth alone in the attic. 

Back at the party, Lucy initiates a game of Never Have I Ever. When it is her turn, Lucy says, “Never have I ever… been in love with someone in this room,” (215) while looking pointedly at Ruth. Louis puts a finger down, drawing the room’s attention to Ruth; he later tells her in the truck he was only kidding and had been thinking of Lucy. Charlie hesitates until Nadia reminds him of their engagement. He awkwardly puts a finger down, and as the power returns, Nadia gives Ruth a sharp, knowing look. 

Later, Lucy confronts Ruth, urging her to move on from Charlie and deal with her grief for Diana. Seeing Charlie sitting alone and unresponsive, Ruth walks out of the party.

Outside, Ruth calls Joel. Overwhelmed by anger, she accuses him of being emotionally distant and of abandoning her by sending her to Diana after Maggie’s death. Joel hangs up. Crying and alone, Ruth recalls a time she failed to rescue a baby bird, a task her father completed with ease, and wonders if she has been unfair to him. 

Louis finds Ruth on the road outside the party and she asks if they can leave. In his truck, he hints at her “unfinished business” with Charlie. To change the subject, Ruth asks to go to a bar. Ruth drinks heavily and dances, but feels lonely. Impulsively, she asks Louis to take her to his boat. There, Ruth initiates a kiss and reaches for his shorts, but Louis stops her, saying he is too drunk and tired to have sex. They get into bed and she falls asleep to the rhythm of his breathing.

At work that night, Ruth feels overwhelmed. In the bathroom, she checks for her period but finds no sign, which heightens her anxiety. She deals with a table of rowdy, rude customers. The next table she serves is Nadia and her mother. Seeing them together fills Ruth with a painful wave of jealousy and grief. When one of the rude customers complains about his drink, Ruth deliberately spills the full martini into the man’s lap. She walks out the back door, where her boss, Whitney, follows and makes it clear she is fired. Ruth leaves her apron and walks away from the restaurant.

Feeling hopeless about her financial situation and her failed article about Diana, Ruth walks along the beach and experiences a mental health crisis, finally confronting the grief she has suppressed since her mother’s death. As she recovers, she notices a woman go for a swim in the rough ocean, leaving her toddler alone on the sand. When the woman gets caught in a riptide, Ruth impulsively grabs a stranger’s boogie board and swims out to save her. In the dangerous current, facing the real possibility of drowning, Ruth has a deep revelation: She realizes she has been hiding from her grief and not truly living. This new will to survive gives her the strength to fight for both their lives. She successfully brings the woman back to shore, where she is reunited with her child. Exhausted but changed, Ruth quietly gathers her things and leaves as a crowd helps the mother and daughter.

After the ocean incident, Ruth walks along the road in her underwear, feeling unexpectedly calm. She reflects on Maggie and Diana, momentarily imagining a world where they could all be together. Feeling renewed resolve, she decides she will try to write the article about Diana. 

Charlie drives up to Ruth in Diana’s truck, looking to talk. In the truck, Ruth takes Charlie’s hand, and he holds it as she falls asleep. Arriving at the cottage, Ruth uses the outdoor shower. Charlie watches her and confesses that he had tried to pursue her many times but believed she didn’t want him. Hearing their mutual feelings finally spoken aloud provides Ruth with a sense of relief. She helps him undress, and they embrace in the shower.

Once back inside the house in the light, an awkwardness settles between Ruth and Charlie. Ruth takes Charlie to Diana’s studio and shows him Maggie’s hidden bin of paintings. Looking at the art together, they have a vulnerable conversation about their relationship. 

Ruth admits she has always hoped they would end up together but can no longer envision a future, feeling she would be hiding from herself if she moved to Boston with him. Charlie confesses he feared she would get bored of him and confirms he loves Nadia. With a new sense of clarity, Ruth tells Charlie she loves him, accepting as she says it that they cannot be together and that he should stay with Nadia. Charlie says he loves Ruth too, but also confirms his love for Nadia. Ruth acknowledges that he and Nadia are a good fit. Charlie loads the bin of Maggie’s paintings into the bed of Diana’s truck and drives Ruth to the cottage. After a final hug, Ruth watches him drive away, understanding their romantic chapter has permanently closed.