Out of the Woods

In the present, Sarah and Caleb stand on an outcropping of rock with a pool of clear water below them. They agree to dive in together. After they surface, Sarah embraces Caleb, pressing their bodies tightly together. Sarah takes in his obvious care for her and is overwhelmed with desire. Sarah tries to persuade Caleb, “We fuck really quick and then do our homework, just like old times” (188). Caleb swims away, insisting they complete their assignment from Helen.

Sarah and Caleb journal and discuss their goals for the next decade. They agree they still want to be married, and Caleb raises the idea of a smaller house so they will be in more proximity to each other. They agree that they still want to live close to Win and her growing family. 

Sarah remembers Marcie reading her Sylvia Plath and telling her not to be afraid. She tentatively says that she wants to pursue writing and a university degree. Caleb says he would like to restructure his company to focus on equity and charitable donations. Sarah is relieved and overjoyed that Caleb is focusing on his true values and not his father’s obsession with wealth. 

Caleb continues reflecting, remembering that his father missed his high school graduation and wrote him a check instead. He compares it to Marcie and June attending the ceremony and cheering for him. He castigates himself for seeing money as the solution, promising Sarah that he wants a future rooted in connection, not profit. The serious mood gives way to laughter when Caleb declares, in a similarly grave tone, that the two of them should get a dog.

In the past, Sarah and Caleb sit outside an elegant restaurant. Neither of them is eager to leave the car and celebrate their anniversary. Both are devastated, as Marcie’s doctor has indicated there are no future interventions to attempt. Sarah begins to cry, and Caleb comforts her. He produces a ring from his pocket and proposes marriage. Sarah tries to protest that it is too soon, and his parents will not approve, but Caleb insists he is ready. 

Sarah decides she cannot accept if he proposed only because her mother will die soon. Caleb assures her he bought the ring six months before. He tells her he has no doubts and wants to have the wedding soon so Marcie can attend. Sarah feels more able to face what comes next knowing Caleb is fully committed to her.

Caleb and Sarah continue the journaling exercise, completing their goals list. Sarah feels newly optimistic, realizing, “[W]e’re going to be okay, and we have been before” (200).

As they leave for camp once more, Sarah feigns nonchalance and assures Caleb that he is right to follow the abstinence rules. She walks with an intentional sway to tease him, only to trip on a rock and fall. Caleb makes her a tourniquet and agrees to carry her back to camp. Sarah is overcome by this display of physicality, realizing that “it’s like seven of [her] favorite horny book scenes all rolled into one” (205). 

They find Jai near the campsite, clearly planning a rendezvous with Nina. Sarah assures Caleb she did not mean to pressure him into sex. He responds with an intensely passionate kiss. After he breaks it, Caleb assures her, “[W]e have the rest of our lives to fuck each other’s brains out. I’m here to get your heart back first” (208). Sarah laughs as she realizes her knee injury is minor and walks back to camp on her own.

In the past, Caleb and Sarah arrive at his family’s lavish home. Both are nervous, as they are about to inform Caleb’s parents, Cyrus and Michelle (“Chellie”), of their engagement. Caleb explains Marcie’s prognosis, and Sarah sits silently. Caleb’s mother begins imagining a lavish wedding, while his father asks repeatedly who will give Sarah away, ignoring that her mother is her only parent. Sarah feels intensely judged and unwanted.

In the present, Nina and Sarah discuss their successful romantic afternoons. Libby emerges from her tent in search of company. Sarah asks Libby about her hobbies. Libby explains she is an avid dancer. Sarah and Nina convince her to teach them a routine. Sarah, Nina, and Libby perform for the others later that night. Sarah feels joyful.

Caleb and Sarah sit by the fire, and he tells her that he finally has the answer to what he is proud of in her: “[I]t’s how you show up for people, the way you give them your all” (217). When Sarah tries to tell him her capacity to do this comes from him and Marcie, Caleb insists that Sarah herself is more than enough. He promises that she will go on to do remarkable things, whatever is next. He gently tells her that watching her dance was like seeing her reconnect with her younger self.

After hours of talking by the fire, Sarah and Caleb are back in their tent. Sarah does her best to clean herself with baby wipes and strips naked, eager to seduce her husband. Calen returns and Sarah takes in “the desire in his eyes that threatens to burn [her] alive” (220). Sarah orders Caleb to undress, taking in his nude body. She begins to masturbate, and Caleb tells her he will only watch. When Sarah complains he is not participating, Caleb tells her to take her pleasure, to remember that her body belongs to her. Afterward, Sarah falls blissfully asleep.

In the past, Sarah is with her mother in the hospital. Marcie is close to death. She wakes long enough to look at Sarah and Caleb’s wedding album. Sarah compliments her mother’s appearance. She reflects, “I’m glad the last words she might have heard were someone calling her beautiful” (228).

In the present, on the next day’s hike, Sarah walks with Libby. The others are in sessions, and Caleb is talking business strategy with Kieran and Henry. Libby brings up her mother, specifically that she misses crawling into her mother’s bed. Sarah has a similar memory of Marcie. Libby cautiously says she knows Sarah has also lost her mother, and Yvonne suggested that they talk. Libby explains her mother died in a random workplace tragedy. She often realizes how much her life has changed when she wakes in the morning and briefly imagines going to find her mother.

Sarah tells her she has similar feelings but assures her that with time, “we get stronger, I think. We have to keep trying to get stronger” (222). Sarah realizes that she deserves to follow this advice herself and find a new and healthy relationship with her own grief. She hopes that Libby will avoid the mistakes she has made but realizes that resilience matters more than success. The two of them keep walking, sharing stories about their mothers.

Later that day, the group gathers around the campfire to share their latest journal entries. They are discussing the core values they will not compromise. The group members share, with Sarah stating that her only uncompromising value is around not having children. She notices that Caleb is increasingly uncomfortable. He sheepishly explains that he has written a list of values, but they are mostly about his pop culture preferences. The group soon dissolves into laughter. After he and Sarah return to their tent, Caleb suggests they go for a walk, implying he is ready for sex.

Sarah and Caleb’s sexual tension gives way to other frustrations as Caleb struggles to use a compass to find a waterfall for their romantic interlude. Sarah lays down on a rock, assuring Caleb she is content to stay there. They kiss heatedly. Caleb confesses that he imagined their marriage was over and pictured Sarah having sex with other partners. After they have sex, Caleb tells Sarah, “I think heaven might be real. I think it’s you” (251).

As Sarah searches for her clothes, Caleb bursts into laughter when he sees a chipmunk nesting in her bra. They find the waterfall, rinse off, and begin walking back to camp. Caleb begins monologuing about their recent sexual encounter, and Sarah wonders why he is so anxious to dissect the details. Caleb insists that he only wants to ensure all future encounters are that powerful for her. Sarah assures him that the renewed passion is likely due to their renewed bond. Sarah hopes the ease between them will last after they return home.