Calisa initially thinks that Auntie Zee is angry about the damaged porch and offers to repair it. However, Zee dismisses her abilities and reveals that she doesn’t want help, comparing Calisa unfavorably to Mom-Kate (Zee’s biological niece), who also failed to assist the inn in her youth. When Calisa insists that she needs to stay, Zee demands the truth. Calisa confesses that she caught Ethan with his hand up another girl’s shirt and needs to escape Brooklyn.

Appreciating the honesty, Zee acknowledges that the inn has always been a refuge for those needing escape but still refuses to let Calisa stay the summer. She relents slightly, granting a three-day trial.

In the lobby, Zee refers to the grimy mirror as pessimistic and consults a leather-bound logbook at the reception desk. She assigns Calisa to room 2, emphasizes that all guests deserve privacy, and then vanishes along with the logbook.

Jack returns, relieved that Calisa has spoken with Zee. He explains that his employer is very particular about room assignments and has consistently refused to hire additional staff. Calisa admits that her stay is only a three-day probation. Jack offers to teach her how to repair the porch, and they agree to meet outside. Before leaving, Calisa notices the stone statue in the yard and speaks to it, feeling as though she’s being watched.

Calisa retrieves the key for room 2, noting a red “X” painted above the door. Inside, she finds the room charming despite its age and wear, with a canopy bed, mountain views, and a working fireplace. After changing into dry clothes, she calls her mothers to report her safe arrival, omitting details about the inn’s poor condition and her precarious arrangement.

Outside, Jack explains the term “petrichor” for the rain-scented air and begins teaching her carpentry. As they repair the porch together, he reveals that he and his father, Thomas Jones, live at the inn because Auntie Zee needs them. In his father’s absence, Jack alone handles all cleaning, laundry, meal service, repairs, and guest needs. His mother died when he was born.

When Calisa asks why Zee refuses to hire additional staff, Jack says that she simply doesn’t want to and then abruptly ends the conversation and asks her to find a broom.

While searching through a hallway of supply closets, Calisa opens one labeled “Alligator feed.” When she opens another door, she encounters total darkness, a blast of wind, and a howling scream. Zee slams it shut and then reopens it to reveal an ordinary broom closet. Dismissing Calisa’s shock as fatigue, Zee states the inn’s first rule: Never open doors without permission. The only other rule, she adds, is not to ask questions.

Outside with the broom, Calisa attempts to rationalize her experience with the closet. Jack finds her and offers a benign explanation: The old building’s faulty wiring creates strange sounds and lighting effects. Sensing that Auntie Zee may be listening, Calisa changes the subject and volunteers to make breakfast pancakes.

As they pass through the lobby, Calisa sees another flicker in the grimy mirror. Jack abruptly says goodnight and retreats upstairs, leaving her confused.

Alone in her room, Calisa can’t sleep in the unfamiliar quiet. Reflecting on Ethan’s betrayal, she reassures herself that she knows what she saw—a certainty that parallels her conviction about the closet incident. After hearing noises, she investigates and finds a thin, theatrical man dressed entirely in black. He introduces himself as Mulligan, a regular guest, and invites her to join him in making hot chocolate, which he frames as a remedy for heartache.

As they prepare and drink the remarkably comforting beverage, both share that they’re nursing heartaches—Calisa from her breakup and Mulligan from regret and failure in love. Mulligan mentions obtaining the ingredients from a Night Market and carefully pours a small amount of hot chocolate into a tiny vial with a silver stopper. Through the kitchen window, Calisa sees the stone statue now standing beneath the apple tree in the backyard and wonders how it moved from the front.

Feeling better, Calisa returns to the broom closet and opens it one final time. It’s completely ordinary.

Birds wake Calisa at dawn. In the shared bathroom, she again hears distant murmuring whispers but finds the hallway empty when she investigates.

In the kitchen, Jack is arranging specialty maple syrups. He tells her that three guests are staying but that only two will eat breakfast; a third is expected soon. As Calisa cooks, Jack prepares elaborate room service trays and explains that guests prefer to eat in their rooms. He mentions that Mulligan only emerges at night. Upon looking outside, Calisa no longer sees the statue beneath the apple tree.

Jack reveals that the inn is experiencing a slow period, with many regular summer guests not yet returned. After breakfast, he declines her offer to help repair the roof, explaining that the structure can’t safely support two people. Calisa decides to deep-clean the sitting room to impress Auntie Zee.

As she scrubs, she imagines erasing memories of Ethan’s lies with each motion. While removing dust-covered sheets, she discovers beautifully carved furniture, including a couch shaped like a conch shell. While taking dirty linens to the laundry, she overhears Zee welcoming a new guest named Kendra. In the kitchen, she sees Zee closing a cleaning supply closet door just as Kendra appears, making it seem as though the woman emerged from it. The elegant, intimidating woman with white hair catches Calisa staring and curtly says that she dislikes being watched.

Startled, Calisa flees. When she returns to the sitting room, the teapot she just cleaned is steaming with fresh tea, and a fire is burning in the previously cold fireplace.

Calisa calls up to Jack on the roof to ask if he made the tea and lit the fire. He offers straightforward explanations: The teapot must be battery operated and she accidentally triggered it, while Auntie Zee likely lit the fire.

They discuss restarting the inn’s tradition of afternoon tea service. When Jack enthusiastically asks if she can bake cake, Calisa learns that Zee has permanently banned him from cooking after he nearly burned down the kitchen the previous year. Despite his embarrassment at sharing the story, Calisa finds it amusing.

Upon returning to the sitting room after starting the laundry, Calisa finds Kendra already there with a cup of tea. The elegant woman criticizes Calisa’s lack of training but acknowledges that the tea is acceptable—then adds a generous amount of salt to her cup and declares that it tastes exactly as she remembers. When Calisa politely inquires where Kendra is from, the woman sharply rebukes her, reinforcing Zee’s rule against personal questions.

Kendra leaves to finish her tea in private. Alone, Calisa notices that the fire has extinguished itself, leaving an unburned log, while the teapot continues to rattle and steam on its own.