That evening, Gage surprises Zoey with a birthday cake cruise on the Tiki Barge with Hazel and his entire family, telling her he wanted to lend her his family since hers had failed her. The celebration is joyful, with disco ball decorations and Laura and Hazel pushing Cam into the lake. Afterward, Gage reveals he had Zoey’s unreliable car serviced and its roof mechanism repaired while she was recovering from the earlier ordeal.

Overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness, Zoey insists on having sex in his office rather than going upstairs to her apartment. Gage sweeps everything off his desk, and the desk cracks under the force of their encounter. The chapter ends with a text from Declan asking if he should call the police about the apparently ransacked office.

At three in the morning, Gage finds Zoey frantically searching through paperwork for an envelope containing nearly four hundred dollars in cash meant to pay the Reader Weekend band. He offers to help, telling her that her problems are his problems. During the search, he discovers her missing driver’s license and learns she must keep important items visible or her brain will forget they exist entirely. He eventually finds both the cash and the license wedged under a table.

As Zoey celebrates with relieved kisses, Gage tells her he believes they have a future and that he is falling for her. Zoey is shocked and immediately raises her inability to have children as an obstacle. Gage reassures her there are multiple ways to build a family, then challenges her to stop hiding and show him her true self. When she lists her recent disasters as evidence of inadequacy, he counters by listing her strengths and tells her that even a lifetime with her would not be enough for him.

On the first morning of Reader Weekend, Zoey coordinates volunteers from a welcome booth with Opal. Felicity arrives equipped with baked potatoes as potential weapons against Dominion interference. At the lake, they find Nina Vampic with fourteen animal crates, claiming a shelter emergency requires Story Lake to house the animals temporarily—though a minion lets slip that Dominion accidentally flooded their own shelter while rehearsing fireworks. The animals are all seniors requiring constant medication. Darius agrees to take them for a substantial daily fee.

Zoey feels immediately drawn to a silver pit bull among the crates. Opal suggests the senior residents at Story Lake Haven could help care for the special-needs animals, and Zoey organizes a last-minute adoption fair there. As Gage and Levi build temporary enclosures and residents volunteer to help, Zoey decides she wants to stay in Story Lake permanently and plans to tell Gage with a grand gesture.

A massive crowd gathers for Hazel’s book signing at Stories. Before the event, Zoey pulls Hazel aside and reveals her decision to stay in Story Lake for a future with Gage. Hazel is overjoyed, and they agree to keep it secret until Zoey can tell him that night. The signing sells out and requires additional book orders.

An hour in, while retrieving inventory from the back room, Zoey accidentally cuts her leg with a box cutter. Gage quickly arrives with medical supplies and bandages the wound while gently scolding her. After the signing concludes, Hazel tells Cam about Zoey’s decision, and Cam gruffly warns them both not to ruin their relationship.

At the Saturday night bonfire, Gage reflects on Reader Weekend’s success and, watching Zoey with Buttercup the pit bull she has adopted, decides he will marry her. Then he spots Valerie—the woman responsible for Miller’s death in a car accident—sitting with Laura, and grief overtakes him.

Suddenly, Zoey spots Audrey’s abusive ex-husband Gerald grabbing Audrey on the beach and runs toward them. Gage yells for Cam and Levi and instinctively calls for Miller. Zoey tackles Gerald; he gets on top of her and winds up to punch her, but she strikes him first. Gage pulls Gerald off and beats him until others intervene. Levi arrests Gerald and discovers a knife; Zoey has been cut on the arm.

Consumed by fear and rage, Gage calls Zoey’s actions stupid and selfish and tells her he cannot be with someone so reckless. Zoey flatly responds that they are definitely done and walks away. Later, his mother Pep visits and tells him he has spent his life trying to be perfect to prevent bad things from happening—a coping mechanism rooted in childhood trauma. She reassures him that while he made a mistake, he is good enough.

The next morning, Zoey wakes in Hazel’s bed, emotionally devastated. They agree to call Gage “Shithead McCrapFace.” Hazel suggests the breakup may be temporary, but Zoey insists he revealed his true nature. Cam brings her breakfast and sympathizes. Zoey admits the worst part was freezing during the confrontation instead of defending herself, and concludes she cannot stay in Story Lake after being humiliated publicly. After Hazel and Cam leave for brunch, she checks her phone to find Gage has not contacted her, then receives news that Hazel’s first-day book sales were exceptional.

A family group text reveals everyone is furious with Gage. Hungover, he tries calling Zoey but gets voicemail. At brunch, his family is cold, and Hazel throws orange juice in his face. Cam drags him outside and shoves him into a flower bed, furious that Gage broke Zoey’s heart. When Gage insists he only said some foolish things, Cam reveals Zoey had been planning to tell him she was staying in Story Lake that night. Devastated, Gage vomits in the petunias.

Back inside, Zoey arrives in a red dress and confronts him publicly, declaring that if she is too much for him, he should find someone else. She throws another glass of juice in his face, declares it feels like the end, and walks out to applause. On his way back to the office, Emilie Rump throws a baked potato at him. He goes to Zoey’s apartment, but she is gone.

For three days, Zoey avoids Gage while he becomes the target of multiple potato attacks. When Declan delivers notice that Zoey is breaking her lease, Gage spots her in Hazel’s car and runs into the street to stop them. Hazel deliberately bumps him with the vehicle. Zoey tells him he reminded her she can only count on herself and that while he thinks she is too much, he is simply not enough. Levi arrives and handcuffs him for blocking traffic; Gage notices suitcases in the car.

That night, his brothers reveal Zoey has taken Hazel on an impromptu book tour. Cam tells him he cannot argue his way to forgiveness, and Gage has a breakthrough understanding the difference between legal justice and personal forgiveness. Early the next morning, he goes to Valerie’s house and sincerely forgives her for Miller’s death—recognizing that a person should not pay for one mistake forever, a lesson he knows he must apply to earning his own forgiveness.

Gage sends Zoey a lengthy email apologizing and explaining that his outburst stemmed from fear and grief over Miller. Over the following days, he sends texts with updates, including news of a plea deal that eliminates jail time for Valerie, congratulations on Hazel’s bestseller success, and an invitation to dinner when she returns.

He finds Cam building a wedding pergola intended as a new family tradition. When he asks for help winning Zoey back, Goose the eagle flies over and drops Zoey’s long-lost sparkly pink bra at his feet. Taking it as a sign, Gage texts Hazel for assistance. The chapter ends with Zoey agreeing to dinner so she can tell him why he is a “shit waffle.”

Eight days later, Zoey returns from the book tour to find her clothes and decor missing and assumes she has been robbed. Cam and Hazel lead her to the sports court, where the townspeople have gathered and Gage declares his love publicly. Darius conducts a ceremony renaming the bingo free space the Zoey Moody Excellence in Public Service Free Space, with “sparkle” chosen as its official action.

Moved to tears by the town’s acceptance, Zoey sits with Opal afterward and reveals she has secured her a seven-figure book deal. Opal accepts and encourages Zoey to give Gage a chance, noting that mistakes need not define a person. When Gage asks if she is ready for dinner, Zoey agrees.

Driving to dinner at Gage’s house, Zoey stops to investigate a rattle and discovers an entire roll of dimes inside her car door—the Bishop family’s sign from Miller. Shaken, she continues to his house, where the deck is set for romance with disco ball string lights. Over dinner, Gage tells her he loves her, that her past hurts are not her fault, and promises never to make her feel like too much again. He has installed a giant disco ball in his living room ceiling and moved all her stolen belongings into his completed walk-in closet, with Goose’s returned sparkly bra displayed on a hanger. Zoey shows him the roll of dimes and tells him she loves him too. They discuss his plans to propose and adoption as a future possibility, he promises to build her a library, and they have sex on the closet counter.

A few months later, Zoey serves as maid of honor at Hazel and Cam’s wedding. She and Gage are engaged and planning a fall wedding at the Bishop farm. Her literary agency is thriving, and she works from a home office Gage built for her. She has adopted Buttercup, given away her old car, and she and Gage keep dimes in their vehicles for luck. They are happily discussing adoption, and her relationship with her parents has improved slightly through tentative communication. She is learning to manage her ADHD with new strategies and Gage’s support. Levi is considering sharing a manuscript with her, and Zoey anticipates Hazel will soon turn her matchmaking attention to him.