Pictures of You

Drew never felt he could explain to Evie why he stood her up the night of the formal. He knew she would not return his feelings, and so let her draw away, feeling that it was for the best. His mother, after her panic attack over the picture, told Drew that his father was “the whirlwind romance of [her] life” (218). He was obsessed with her, showered her with gifts and attention. But then he got angry, jealous, and critical. When she tried to leave, Annie hints, he sexually assaulted her, and that led to her pregnancy. When Annie told him of her pregnancy, he had already met Oliver’s mother. She signed an agreement never to reveal what happened in return for financial support. Drew is with another woman, Esther, who tells him to forget about high school, but he’s worried he’ll never get over Evie.

Bree notices that Oliver seems surly after flying Bree to Italy from London. Evie says he’s got a lot on his mind, but she realizes that she makes excuses for him often. When he’s unhappy, Oliver goes silent, and Evie is left floundering, “trying to work out what it was [she did wrong] and how to fix it” (223). Bree tries to suggest that Oliver is jealous, the way he was over Drew. Evie is still hurt over the way Drew ditched her. Evie gets defensive and decides to try harder with Oliver.

Evie’s parents let her and Drew stay the night. Evie sits with Drew, trying to remember him. As she stares at him, for a moment, Evie thinks, “[I]t doesn’t feel like it’s only the past that I’m reaching for. It’s whatever comes next” (228). Drew tries to recap their friendship, telling Evie, “You pulled me back into life. Maybe that’s why I’m here. Because it’s you who needs to be pulled back into your life now, and I owe you” (229). Evie asks if there was ever anything romantic between them, and he says no.

Feeling the need to protect himself from falling for her again, Drew tells Evie he’s taking the job in New York. He reflects that what he feels about Oliver is a complicated grief. Evie helps Drew make up his bed. He hugs her but then steps back.

Evie, seated at her graduation ceremony, feels nervous and unhappy. Oliver gave her a huge diamond engagement ring. She doesn’t want to accept his proposal, but he pressures her to wear it. She realizes she’s lonely and wonders what she’s doing with her life. She’s surprised to see Drew taking pictures at the ceremony and texts Bree. She thinks, “I am snared on the path I’ve chosen with Oliver and can’t seem to pull myself free” (237).

Drew, at the ceremony to support his friend Meg, feels torn when he sees Evie, whom he hasn’t spoken with in five years. Evie has garnered several awards, but when she walks across the stage, Drew thinks she looks completely despondent.

For Evie, seeing Drew “feels like a natural measure of how far [she’s] fallen” (242). She has a brief fantasy of Drew carrying her away from all this. They speak, and he introduces her to Meg, who is friendly. Oliver is condescending to Drew. When Drew walks away, Evie feels she has lost sight of herself.

Oliver has booked a table at an expensive restaurant to celebrate. He orders their meals, and Evie protests when he decides for her how her steak should be cooked. She realizes that Oliver has pressured her about all her friendships, even work colleagues. She decides, “I can’t keep this up. This being on edge all the time. All this explaining” (249). She asks for a break and takes off the ring. Oliver begs her to tell him how to fix this. Evie reflects on how he tries to control or influence her every choice and says she’s done.

Evie feels like a guest in her parents’ home. She’s sure “[her] lost memories are just beyond a veil. So close. They’ll push through soon, rushing in and swamping [her]. The anticipation is torture” (253). She watches Drew through a window and thinks her teenage self must have had a crush on him. She has a dim memory of a younger Drew looking at her in a kitchen, completely torn, and she wonders what he’s been through. A beautiful, stylish blonde woman comes through the door and hugs Drew. Evie is struck by jealousy until she recognizes the newcomer. Bree hugs her, and Evie knows “instantly, just from this one, desperate embrace, just how much trouble I must really be in” (256).

Drew is relieved to see Bree. He can see her trying to be tactful as Evie asks about her life. Bree is the first chair violinist with a symphony orchestra, her lifelong dream. Drew thinks both he and Bree are treating Evie like a bomb that might explode.

Drew visits his house and finds his mother sitting on a bench in the garden, very still. He calls emergency services, and they instruct him to administer CPR, even though he knows she is already dead.

Evie arrives when Drew calls. She feels sorry not just for his mother for but her silence. Annie’s body lies on the gurney while the responding personnel investigate. Drew shows Evie the photo of his mother with his father, and Evie recognizes Anderson Roche.

Evie helps Drew tend to Annie, washing the dirt off her hands, and Drew feels the intimacy and bonding of the gesture. As they look in her closet for clothing, he’s sure he feels a hand on his shoulder. He thinks, “it’s just the three of us. Me, and the only two women I’ve ever loved” (272).

After the responders leave, Evie tells Drew that she and Oliver broke up. She asks about Drew and Meg. She guesses that Oliver doesn’t know Drew is his half-brother. Drew says Anderson was a controlling narcissist. He specified how Annie was to raise his son, and he ruined things when Annie met a man she could love. Annie was once young and vibrant, and Anderson made her anxious, depressed, and paranoid. Evie hugs Drew, offering support.

Evie promises to help Drew through his mother’s funeral. She orders Thai takeaway and thinks about how much Oliver had “been planting doubt in [her] mind, convincing [her] to let everything go, piece by piece, while he replaced the discarded parts of [her] life with larger and larger pieces of himself” (279). Drew finds a message on his laptop that his mother wrote him that morning.

Evie guesses that the letter is a form of suicide note. Anderson Roche comes to the door asking for Annie. Drew refuses to be intimidated and replies coldly that Annie is dead. Anderson asks if it was the cancer, and Drew says it wasn’t.

Drew is convinced that Anderson must somehow be responsible for his mother’s death. He feels she had shriveled recently. Evie holds Drew. They kiss, but then she pulls away.

Evie is dressing for the funeral at her apartment, which she now has to herself, when Oliver knocks on the door carrying flowers. He refuses to accept her desire to end their relationship. When he asks why Evie doesn’t want to be with him anymore, she tells him that he criticizes her constantly, and Oliver replies that he’s seeing a therapist and working on himself. He hasn’t had good role models for relationships. He begs Evie for a second chance and says she’s everything to him. Evie feels like she’s drowning and he always finds a way to pull her back under. Oliver insists he needs her, can’t face life without her, and will do anything. Evie has a vision of another body on a gurney and “a soul-deep knowing that, if nothing changes, the body will be [hers]” (291).

Drew’s mother’s funeral is painfully difficult, and Evie doesn’t show. Anderson comes to the church, and Drew says he’s not welcome. Drew believes that Anderson is a classic case of narcissistic personality disorder and that his cruel behavior wore Annie down. Drew realizes that Anderson has always chosen and protected Oliver. Anderson asks Drew to stay away from Evelyn as she and Oliver are working things out. Drew feels his entire world crumbling. He gets a text message from Evie asking him to pretend they never met.