The section opens in 2013 as Hurricane Kathy approaches the coast of the Eastern United States. In New York City, 28-year-old Sally, now a freelance writer, discusses the strange coincidence of the hurricane’s name with her therapist. At the suggestion of her fiancé, Ray, Sally is secretly in therapy to decide if she wants to have children. During the session, her mother calls repeatedly. The therapist suggests that Sally has “no center,” prompting Sally to end the session early and return her mother’s call.

Susan frantically urges Sally to come home to Connecticut because her father, Richard, intends to cut down two large, dangerous maple trees before the storm hits. Susan explains that Richard refuses to hire the local tree service because it is now run by Billy, whom Richard still blames for Kathy’s death. Sally is shocked, believing Billy to have taken his final vows to become a friar years ago. Susan corrects her, revealing that Billy now runs his family’s business, Bill’s Tree and Garden, and has a neck tattoo. Sally initially declines to come home, telling her mother she has a work event with Ray. After the call, Sally recites a mantra to herself—a technique recommended by her therapist in which she repeats truths out loud to herself: “My sister, Kathy, is dead. And Billy is not a friar” (275).

The news about Billy triggers a series of flashbacks. Sally recalls her mother’s increasing dependence on medication and suicidal ideation during Sally’s college years. She remembers her father dismissing Susan’s claim that she wants to die by telling her to “go ahead.” Sally reflects on finding a pamphlet for Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy (ECT), researching its history, and later witnessing her mother undergo the treatments, which resulted in severe memory loss. Another flashback recalls an encounter with Billy in a liquor store after his father’s death; he was dressed in the white robes of a novice. They discussed her mother’s ECT, and Billy told her he would soon take his final vows and adopt the name Gabriel Thomas, a name Sally refused to use. She also remembers traveling through Europe after graduation, having several fleeting relationships with men.

Back in the present, Sally returns to her apartment to find Ray, who informs her that Susan called him and that he already promised they would both come to Connecticut. Sally flashes back to her early relationship with Ray, remembering his warning never to lie to him, the fact that they dated for six months before sleeping together, and his eventual marriage proposal. That evening, Sally and Ray attend his law firm’s party on a corporate boat, where she argues with a dismissive partner named Kurt. On the train ride back to their apartment, Sally looks at Facebook and discovers that Billy is in a relationship with a woman named Lisa—the lifeguard on duty when Sally nearly drowned in the pool as a child—and is indeed running his family’s business. Sally packs a bag and tells Ray she is going to her parents’ house by herself. She stays up late looking at Lisa’s profile, learning she is a veterinarian.

The next day, Sally arrives at her parents’ house to find Richard preparing to cut the trees down himself, having learned how from a Google search. Sally drives to Bill’s Tree and Garden, where she and Billy reunite. He agrees to come to her parents’ house the next morning to handle the trees. That night at dinner, Richard insists Billy is not welcome and later tells Sally he will shoot Billy with his BB gun if he sets foot on their property. Sally texts a warning to Billy, but he is undeterred. Susan mentions she suspects Billy has been leaving flowers on Kathy’s grave for years. Sally watches as her father’s attempt to fell a tree goes wrong; the trunk falls and crushes the family’s old swing set.

The following morning, Billy arrives. Richard greets him sheepishly and allows him to assess the situation. Billy determines the trees are too dangerous to fell whole and must be dismantled piece by piece by building a ladder up the trunks. He leaves for supplies, and Susan gives him a grocery list for a lobster dinner she plans to make to “celebrate” the hurricane. Sally goes with Billy to the store. In his truck, he reveals that seeing her years ago at the liquor store made him realize he missed her, and he decided not to take his final vows. He explains that his relationship with Lisa is casual and that he has found purpose in running his father’s business. When Sally asks why he never called her again, he says he felt he had already caused her enough pain.

Back at the house, Billy builds the ladder and begins cutting the trees down, branch by branch. As evening falls, Susan invites him to stay for the lobster dinner, and Richard offers him a beer. During the meal, Richard makes a toast to “Hurricane Kathy.” Just then, Ray arrives unexpectedly, having driven from New York out of concern for Sally. Ray meets Billy, and the dinner becomes tense as Ray questions Billy about his neck tattoo. After dinner, Ray tells Sally that it’s obvious Billy is still in love with her. Sally admits that she and Billy were in love after Kathy’s death, and Ray correctly senses that she still has feelings for him.

As the hurricane’s intensity grows, the power goes out. Ray apologizes for his jealousy and soon falls asleep. Sally receives a text from Billy saying he is coming over. She goes outside into the storm and meets him in the driveway. Billy confesses that he loves her, and Sally tells him she loves him, too. They stand together in a moment of profound calm as the eye of the hurricane passes directly over them.

The next morning, a weatherman, Rick Stevenson, reports on television that Hurricane Kathy has weakened and is moving north. Sally reflects that Kathy’s essence is now part of the air they all breathe.