Driving through Nevada, Mad sees alfalfa fields and asks Tom to film them. They stop for gas outside Reno. Trista gave Mad $500 for Tom’s expenses, but she sets a $10 snack limit. Mad and Rube discuss being close to finding their father in Woodside, California.

Inside the store, Tom stands outside a room with slot machines. Being underage, Tom begs Mad to gamble his $10 on the Diamond Doves machine. Encouraged by Pep and Tom, Mad reluctantly agrees while Tom films. Mad plays max credits, wins a bonus spin, and hits the $4,000 jackpot.

The teenage cashier says the store lacks sufficient cash for the payout. After Pep insists, the cashier calls someone. Twenty-five minutes later, a man arrives with the money in a bank pouch. Mad fills out tax forms as the man counts out $4,000 in $100 bills while Tom films. The siblings run to the car laughing, thrilled with their fortune.

As the siblings drive toward Reno, Mad distributes $1,000 to each sibling. Mad reflects on the magical, improbable moment and realizes that, despite the risks ahead, they must continue their quest.

Mad feels empowered knowing she is near her father, who is unaware of their approach. They arrive in Woodside, a very wealthy area. The address Rube has from the PI leads them to a mansion with a gate. A woman in her forties meets them at the door and confirms their father is not there but gives them a new address where they might find him.

The siblings drive up a winding mountain road to Dardanelle Ranch. Last night, Mad asked Rube about his murder plan, fearing he’d lash out during the reunion; he confirmed he no longer intended to kill their father. The siblings arrive at a modern glass-and-wood cabin but see no one inside. Mad experiences an anxiety attack as the reality sets in. Her siblings comfort her with physical touch, a rare moment of affection for her.

They decide to park out of sight and explore on foot. After hiking, they discover a tunnel built into a hill, leading to an octagonal wooden structure. The tunnel walls have slatted wood that creates shifting patterns of light. Mad recognizes the precise yet wild woodworking as characteristic of the work her father did on their farm.

As they exit the structure, they encounter their father. He has long white hair and a beard and carries a toddler in a backpack. He greets them, and Mad’s anxiety disappears, replaced by readiness.

Rube confronts their father, demanding to know why he left. Charles suggests they talk at his cabin, where he introduces the toddler as Rooster, age two. Rooster’s full name is Reuben, shocking Rube. Charles explains his own father abandoned him before he was born, and his uncle—whose middle name was Reuben—raised him until his death when Charles was seven.

Charles offers to make grilled cheese for everyone but then slips off to the bathroom; Mad catches him trying to escape through the window and forces him back inside. While they cook, Mad confronts Charles about abandoning them and failing to stay in contact. Charles apologizes, saying shame kept him silent; he tried to believe they were better off without him.

Over lunch, Charles outlines his current situation for his children. Rooster’s mother, Lucky, and her sisters, Haze and Moon, are wealthy Chelmsford heiresses who own the ranch and are transforming it into an artist colony; Charles works as the groundskeeper. At the sisters’ request, Rooster was conceived via his sperm donation—they wanted an heir and shared custody. Charles then describes the decisions he made to leave each of his children’s families. He explains that he would feel trapped, vividly imagine a new life until it seemed more real than his own, and then leave to reset his identity.

The siblings share their adult accomplishments with Charles and agree to stay overnight in a guest cabin so each can have private time with Charles. Pep goes first, accompanying him on ranch work and returning emotional but composed. Mad rides with Charles to buy groceries; during the drive, she tells him how his absence created deep loneliness and hampered her ability to form relationships. He apologizes again, admitting he should have stayed in touch.

At dinner, Rube asks for one specific memory of each child. Charles recalls Tom eating candy off hot asphalt at a parade, saving Pep when she fell backward into a ball pit at a fair, giving Mad a barbecue trophy every morning she woke up early, and defending Rube from a neighbor who complained about his childhood horse-racing game. Afterward, the four siblings clean the kitchen as a team while Charles watches with an unreadable expression.

In the guest cabin, Mad and Pep affirm they want to remain in each other’s lives. Late that night, Rube wakes his sisters: Charles has an early-stage degenerative neurological condition similar to Parkinson’s and is dying, though the timeline is uncertain. He asks them not to tell Tom yet. Mad then reveals her secret, that Charles is not Tom’s biological father. They agree Tom is still their brother. Rube decides to stay at the ranch for a while to spend more time with Charles, and Mad and Pep accept his decision.

The next morning, Charles makes pancakes for his children. Rooster shares a syrupy bite with Mad, who realizes Rooster will need his siblings when their father dies. Then she announces that she and Pep are leaving after breakfast. Tom becomes upset, fearing he will never see their father again. Rube agrees to stay with Tom and drive him back to Salt Lake City when the time comes. After a phone call between his mother and Charles, Tom arranges to stay at the ranch a while longer, with plans to return for the summer to work on his film. Only Mad and Pep will leave.

Mad and Rube have an emotional goodbye in the guest cabin, comparing their journey to The Wizard of Oz. They hug and affirm they are family and will always have each other, no matter what happens. Mad says goodbye to her father with a nod of mutual acknowledgment instead of a hug. She says goodbye to Tom.

Mad and Pep get into the car and drive away as their family waves. The long drive back feels dreamlike to Mad, as if she is suspended between experiences. She drops Pep off at her dorm in Oklahoma and then drives the remaining distance alone. When she finally arrives at her farm in Tennessee, she sits in the car, still feeling suspended in time.

Finally, Mad walks toward the chickens and sees her mother. She decides to fully reenter her life. She mentally lists the members of her family—Rube, Pep, Tom, Rooster, her mother, and her father—feeling anchored by these connections. She opens her eyes and knows she is home.