As Bitsy and King arrive at Denise’s graduation party, Bitsy reflects on how solicitous King has been since he returned. While he was contrite and considerate, and she made efforts to forgive him, a part of her is still angry at him for not outright apologizing and admitting that she was right.

The Bettys and their husbands congregate at the party, wondering where Charlotte and Denise are amidst the crowd. Tony congratulates Walt on having a celebrity writer in the family, but to Margaret’s anger and astonishment, Walt dismisses her work, calling it a “jobette” that only brings in pin money. Understanding Margaret’s hurt, Viv takes her and Bitsy away from the men.

Charlotte is on the phone with Ahlgern, trying to secure an introduction to a museum curator. She is interrupted by her mother Patricia, who instructs her to hang up the phone. Patricia doesn’t believe that nothing is going on between her and Ahlgren; she reveals that Charlotte’s father had her followed in New York and knows she met Ahlgren. She threatens Charlotte, saying that if she doesn’t fall in line, they will take her money and her children. She says that a judge would not see her as a fit mother because of her “history of instability” (201), and then she orders Charlotte to join the party.

Denise has been gifted a camera as a graduation present by her grandparents. Eager to avoid the crowd at her party, she takes candid photographs instead. She looks for Charlotte in the gardens, wanting to take a photograph of her mother; instead, she finds Howard and another woman in an intimate embrace in the bushes and secretly takes photographs of them.

All the way home, Margaret and Walt fight about his comment about her job. Walt refuses to apologize, and Margaret refuses to back down. When they get home, however, they are interrupted by their daughter Beth, who tells them about an urgent phone call from Walt’s mother. Walt’s father Jerry has had a stroke, and Margaret immediately rushes to help Walt pack for the journey. The argument is forgotten, but Walt half-apologizes before he leaves, telling Margaret he loves her.

Jerry passes away, and Walt stays on to handle affairs. He calls Margaret every night, and their conversations are brief but loving. Eventually, he says he is coming home, and Margaret promises to be ready with a hearty breakfast for him. Meanwhile, Denise leaves for Oxford, and Margaret makes good on her promise to the young girl, checking in on Charlotte every day; so far, Charlotte seems to be doing well.

That night, Margaret has her nightmare again: She walks through a sparkling clean house, the one she grew up in. She opens the refrigerator, which is filled with enough meals for the next week. She climbs the stairs in search of her mother, and when she eventually opens her parents’ bedroom door, she cries out. She is woken up by Walt, who has arrived home in the middle of the night; nevertheless, she cannot shake the grief of having found her mother, who died by suicide. She still feels guilty, as she had promised her father she would watch over her mother, and she believes she failed.

Walt holds her and reassures her, beginning to apologize for what he said at the party. Margaret silences him and pulls him into bed.

In the morning, Margaret makes Walt a homecoming breakfast as promised. As he eats, Walt reflects on how his father was an “angry, bitter, controlling, critical, miserable man” (218), and he worries that he is turning into his father, especially when he drinks. Walt promises to cut back on the alcohol and apologizes again for what he said at Denise’s party. He admits he is jealous of Margaret because she has found a job she loves. Margaret is surprised to discover that Walt hates his job and only does it to provide for his family.

After Walt heads to work, Margaret contemplates how curious, fun-loving Walt eventually settled on a major and a career back in college to fulfill his promise that he would take care of her once they were married. She thinks about an earlier conversation with Viv, in which the latter claimed that some women, like single parents forced to work, were left out of the conversation in The Feminine Mystique; Margaret realizes that this also applies to Walt, who is just as trapped as she is. She suddenly has an idea for a new, meaningful column for the magazine.

At work, Viv meets Earlene Jackson, a patient who reveals that she is a nurse and served in the Army Nurse Corps during the war, just like Viv. However, because she is Black, she wasn’t allowed to be deployed overseas and served at segregated camps in North Carolina, treated injured Black soldiers and German prisoners of war. They discuss how rewarding their work is, but that it is also hard to do while raising kids.

Mrs. Graham brings a friend of hers, Alice Brennan, a professor at University of California Davis’s school of veterinary medicine, to meet Bitsy at the stables. Impressed by Bitsy’s management of Delilah’s laminitis, Alice instructs her to apply to the program. She knows that being a woman in the profession can be lonely and wants to uplift other women with her established presence in the field. Overwhelmed, Bitsy notes she cannot attend veterinary school at the moment because she is pregnant. Alice gives Bitsy her business card in case she reconsiders in the future.

Viv arrives home to find her oldest daughter Andrea in tears; Jenny, Viv’s five-year-old, has climbed the roof and is preparing to jump, convinced by her brothers that she can fly. After chastising her sons, Viv convinces Jenny to “fly” into her arms instead and extracts a promise to never attempt this again.

Margaret and Walt’s relationship improves substantially after Jerry’s death and Walt’s epiphany. He drinks less, is more attentive and present with Margaret and the children, and is vocally and sincerely appreciative of her job. However, Margaret gets a phone call from Mr. Clement, who berates her for her latest piece: Inspired by her realization about Walt’s life, she penned a light-hearted yet meaningful piece about gender roles. Mr. Clement threatens to fire her if she writes another piece like it.

Margaret remembers an argument between her parents in which her mother said she felt a lack of purpose, and her father, not understanding what more she could possibly want, admonished his wife for her dissatisfaction. Her mother became depressed and died by suicide, leaving no note. Margaret contemplates how the satisfaction she feels from seeing her name in print is too valuable to risk angering Mr. Clement.

Later that night, Margaret gets a call from Charlotte, who is drunk and somewhere in the city. Margaret manages to track her down in a bar, and Charlotte reveals that she met with Ahlgern earlier that day. Ahlgern lured her to his hotel room under the pretext of introducing her to an important curator, but Charlotte refused to sleep with him, even for the sake of her career.

Margaret suggests that Charlotte divorce Howard, but she insists that she cannot, as she will lose her money and her children. She points out that the men in her life hold all the power because they have all the money, and there is nothing she can do. Infuriated, Margaret calls Charlotte out for her cowardice, claiming that her talk about rights and quality is just a thing she plays at, like her painting. She says that Charlotte puts more effort into complaining about the unfairness of the art world than she actually does into painting something original. When she urges Charlotte to take herself more seriously, Charlotte points out that this is hypocritical coming from Margaret, who wants to be a serious writer but never writes anything meaningful. Charlotte steps out to find a cab, spitefully refusing to let Margaret take her home.

Three days after their fight, Margaret calls Charlotte to apologize, but Charlotte cuts her off mid-apology, claiming she doesn’t have time to talk. Two weeks pass with silence between them. This worries Margaret, but Viv assures her that Charlotte is all right and just needs time to get over her anger.

Margaret meets with Beth’s school principal and convinces him to allow Beth to play the trombone in the school band, despite his reservations that the instrument is too masculine.

Viv resigns from the clinic, bringing Earlene on as her replacement. Viv and Dr. Giordano share a teary goodbye, with the latter hoping that Viv will return someday. At present, Viv wants to savor the last summer she has with all her children at home as her oldest, Vince, plans to enlist after high school.

Charlotte visits Nikolai Fedorov, an elderly Russian gallery owner in Philadelphia. Years ago, she showed him her work, and he hadn’t dismissed it, instead telling her that she was not yet ready. Now, Charlotte intends to show him her work again—the argument with Margaret opened her eyes, and Charlotte had gotten to work painting in the weeks after their argument.

Fedorov examines Charlotte’s work and claims that although she is more serious and has worked hard, she is not talented enough. He takes her around the galley and shows the work he displays, claiming that, like her, he doesn’t have the talent to create, but he can sense it in others.

At home afterward, Charlotte contemplates how she now better understands Denise’s desire to flee to Oxford. Having recently read Virginia Woolf’s work of the same name, she reflects on the need for “a room of one’s own” (265). At home, Charlotte finds an envelope on her doorstep filled with photographs of Howard and another woman caught in a moment of passion.

King tells Bitsy that he is leaving her. He reveals that in the days following their big fight, he met and had a brief affair with a server named Sally Ann. Although he ended it, Sally Ann has told him that she is pregnant. He wants to do the “right thing” and packs his belongings to leave right away, telling Bitsy she can stay in the house for now. The Bettys arrive for book club, and when King suggests Bitsy tell them it is canceled that day, she retorts that his days of telling her what to do are over.