Genevieve doesn’t remember much from her time in the psychiatric hospital, but she does remember loneliness, hiding her pills so that she didn’t have to take them, and constantly being slapped, poked, and prodded. She also recalls being told that her voices were psychosis, though she never came to believe that. At one point, Genevieve had a roommate who taught her all about Southern manners and helped Genevieve work her way to the halfway house. From there, Genevieve escaped and wandered the countryside for weeks, hitchhiking from place to place. One college-aged man gave Genevieve a ride in exchange for sexual favors, which she learned could pay a hefty sum.

Genevieve was dropped off outside a circus, where she sought work from the owner, Madame Clara. Her timing turned out to be ideal, as the lady who tamed and danced with snakes was pregnant and needed a replacement. Genevieve took over the work, as well as several other positions at the circus, including tarot reader, psychic, and even trapeze performer. When the circus was sold to a new owner, Genevieve was directionless once again and found herself drawn back to Meema’s town of Columbus, Arkansas, where she met Mercer.

Genevieve’s family lived in Washington, Arkansas, for many generations, as did a massive magnolia tree that was planted there in 1839. Genevieve always craved the same sense of belonging and stability that her family had but only got to spend two years living with Meema there. She recalls how a particular flower, the jonquil, always used to bloom on her birthday.

Now, she goes with Mercer to the cemetery, where her Meema and mother are buried, and finds their graves. Genevieve can see Mercer’s ghosts watching them from nearby but says nothing. Her mother’s grave has flowers growing on it, but Meema’s grave is bare; Genevieve didn’t have time to plant anything before she was taken away. When she was sent to the hospital after the reverend’s death, she couldn’t speak or cry and was told that it was the result of trauma. Genevieve believes it was something else.

Mercer realizes that Genevieve is his cousin when he sees that her grandmother’s grave is also that of his great aunt. Genevieve explains that she didn’t know until she met Wreath. Mercer remembers Genevieve briefly staying with his family when they were young and the fight that his parents had over her leaving. Seeing Meema’s and her mother’s graves, Genevieve hopes to hear their voices but hears nothing.

Genevieve asks to go to the bayou, which Mercer finds strange, but he takes her there, and they get in a boat together. On the boat, Bigger Than You follows them, mocking Mercer for having a “lady friend” who is also his cousin. Mercer tells Genevieve that he found work as a mechanic with a friend named Gil and plans to rent a two-bedroom carriage house. He invites Genevieve to rent one of the bedrooms, and she agrees. He also warns Genevieve that his family will be expecting her to attend church with them on Sunday, and Genevieve admits that she has never been a churchgoer.

Mercer enlisted in the Navy after a particularly severe incident with his father led him to leave the family home. After Delilah discovered Mercer in possession of a book on mythology, she reported it to their father, who stormed into Mercer’s room holding the book. He hit Mercer with it, grabbed him, and told him to accept his punishment. Mercer decided that he was through being abused and attempted to fight back, but his father overpowered him. Wreath attempted to intervene, but John Luther swatted her away and had Delilah help him tie down Mercer. He whipped Mercer several times and forbid anyone from helping him afterward. Mercer left to stay with a friend whose wife was a nurse and then enlisted shortly after.

He was trained as a medic and sent to Vietnam, where he met the man known as Bigger Than You. Bigger just happened to grow up near Mercer and even shared his last name, and the two became fast friends. Mercer went out on recon missions, refusing to carry a gun and tending to the wounded along the way. He recalls the threats of snakes, heat exhaustion, and an enemy that could never be seen.

Genevieve goes to church with the family despite her intuition telling her otherwise. She borrows an old dress from Delilah and manages to look beautiful despite the garment’s ragged appearance. During the service, John Luther calls out his wife by name and tells the congregation that she disobeyed him and, thus, God. Wreath hangs her head as he goes on about her “sinful” ways and then crawls toward the altar claiming repentance. Her younger daughters are horrified, but Delilah simply nods in approval. Genevieve cannot bear to watch and leaves the church in a fury, with Mercer following behind her.

Mercer and Genevieve settle into the carriage house and develop a routine. Genevieve finds work as a cemetery groundskeeper, studies for her GED, and takes care of Mercer, who works as a mechanic but also frequently falls into long bouts of mental unwellness. He often drinks to cope with these episodes but never takes it out on Genevieve.

Wreath manages to come over with the younger girls often, despite John Luther’s protests, and Genevieve starts to see a new side of her. Wreath admits that she has often thought of leaving her husband but feels tied to her children and believes she has nowhere else to go. Genevieve feels like she is part of a family again and finds that she has no reason to leave. Mercer detests Genevieve’s concern for snakes and her handling of them, as she often carries rattlesnakes out of the well house. He considers them to be satanic, but Genevieve argues that something as evil as Satan would only ever take a human form.

When Mercer mentions a snake-handling church that he once attended, it brings back difficult memories for Genevieve, who ends up telling Mercer all about her past, the church, and her time in the hospital. The next day, Genevieve invites Mercer to go with her to Meema’s property. They find that it is totally overgrown and that most of the evidence of a house existing there has long since been destroyed. Genevieve finds some bricks that remain from where the chimney used to be and collects a couple of them to take home. Seeing the storm shelter brings back memories of the tornado, and Genevieve takes it as a sign to leave. On the way out, Bigger explains to Genevieve that Mercer carries the ghosts of those he could not save in the war.

Mercer’s unit was sent to ambush a platoon of Vietnamese soldiers but ended up being ambushed first. The entire event happened in a fog, as Mercer battled between tending to his own wounds and those of others while also combatting the elements and his own terror. One of the soldiers was in such a state of terror that he fended off Mercer as he tried to help him and was killed moments later.

Mercer managed to save only some of his fellow marines and ended the ambush filled with regret. He received a Purple Star for his work in saving lives that day and was sent out to Japan to have surgery on his wounds. When he returned, Bigger was shocked to see him again, but Mercer felt that he had a duty to fulfill. All the while, he tried to get the others to take malaria pills, but many of them refused, including Bigger.

On one particularly rough night, Bigger and Mercer sat in a hole with a sniper named Tak as rain poured down overhead. Bigger told a story about his uncle who married a woman who turned out to be a witch. Bigger’s uncle found out one night when she shed her skin and flew away on black wings. Hearing the story gave Mercer shivers, but the three men were soon laughing at the absurdity of their situation.