As both half-sisters demonstrate their emotional responses to rejection, the link between their adult relationships with men and their respective relationships with Hank becomes abundantly clear. Lucy, as the “second-best” daughter, is still haunted by her internalized belief that she is somehow inadequate. Even when she goes on a date with Harrison, she ruminates about Patrick and is ashamed of the fact that she still “feel[s] married.” Her wistful feelings about Patrick make her feel that she is once again waiting around for crumbs of a man’s attention and affection, just as she once did with Hank. Likewise, Vivian ruminates about Oscar, alternately missing and blaming him, and these ambiguous emotions mirror her relationship to her father when he was alive. Vivian remembers how “[Oscar] fidgeted with his wedding band, which Vivian always tried to ignore” because “[i]t looked like Hank’s” (164). Thus, each woman is plagued by The Impact of Parental Secrets and finds herself replaying a relationship dynamic in her adult life that echoes the one she shared with Hank. However, neither sister makes this connection at this early stage.

Even so, both Lucy and Vivian are becoming aware that their behavior is no less flawed than Hank’s was. When Lucy talks to Harrison about tourists moving into the old homes at the lake, tearing them down or renovating them past recognition, she reflects on her own feelings about the potential money from the cabin and is forced to realize her own hypocrisy. After losing her job and home, the money that she could conceivably get from the sale of that home would drastically help her situation, but it would also contribute to the very pattern of tourist invasion that she loathes. Vivian, for her part, tries to avoid heavy emotional moments, preferring to evade discussion of difficult subjects. To this end, she tells Lucy, “Sometimes, it’s just easier to […] just not get into stuff,” but when Lucy says, “Dad would agree” (189), Vivian is forced to recognize her own similarities to the father she continues to resent. Vivian punished her father for 16 years because he tried to avoid uncomfortable truths, and now, she realizes that she does precisely the same thing. As she confronts this harsh reality, her unspoken revelation highlights the role of Grief as a Catalyst for Personal Transformation. Both Vivian and Lucy are developing an awareness of their own flaws rather than simply thinking of themselves as victims, and this new awareness foreshadows the development of greater satisfaction in their lives in the future.

In the meantime, however, Lucy continues to feel that she was unfairly deprived of Hank’s time, energy, affection, and financial care, and this conviction feeds her secret fear that she is unworthy of love. When she learns how little Vivian knew about her, she is devastated by the idea that Hank “shielded” Vivian from his life choices but did not spare Lucy. She cannot understand why her feelings mattered less to him than Vivian’s did. Vivian tells Lucy that she confronted Hank “point-blank” on the day he died and that he denied having a second family. This statement leads Lucy to ask, “He was that ashamed of me?” (188), but Vivian offers a new perspective when she points out that he might have been “[a]shamed of himself” (188). Even so, Lucy cannot understand his motives or choices, and her confusion emphasizes the impact of her parents’ secrets on her own adult sense of identity.