On July 10, Geneva reflects on the exhausting niceness required to run a hotel. Shortly before sunset, guests Todd and Michelle inform her that they abandoned the inn’s two bikes in the nature preserve. Geneva recalls buying the bikes with Chris, who left her a year later. She tells the guests that she’ll send someone to retrieve them, planning to retrieve them herself. Edie offers to accompany her, but Geneva insists that she go home before the gathering storm, knowing that Edie fears bad weather. Lo overhears and volunteers to help. Geneva notices Edie’s cold reaction to Lo and makes a mental note to ask her about it later.

As they walk down the beach, Lo remarks that she left St. Medard’s Bay because everyone thought she was a “murderous whore.” She points toward the ocean, saying that a shipwreck is there, where Landon once took her snorkeling. Geneva corrects her, explaining that Hurricane Peggy moved the wreck in 1998. Lo questions why the town suffers so much destruction while the Rosalie Inn always survives. Geneva shares that her mother used to joke that the inn might be blessed.

Lo recalls that she, Ellen, and Frieda used to call themselves “The Witches of St. Medard’s Bay” (117). Geneva asks what Ellen was like when she was young. Lo describes her as quiet, smart, and funny. Geneva admits that she and her mother weren’t close. Lo reveals that her own mother died of COVID and that she stayed away because returning felt overwhelming. They retrieve the bikes, and Geneva asks about Lo’s friendship with Ellen and Frieda. Lo explains that they grew apart after her affair with Landon began and that Frieda never forgave her for what happened during Hurricane Audrey. When Geneva says that she doesn’t know anyone named Frieda, Lo reveals that Edie is Frieda.

Frieda Mason recounts the last night she saw her family, May 5, 1977. She notes that the last thing she told her mother was a lie: that she was spending the night at Ellen’s house. She describes her childhood friendship with rebellious Lo and sweet Ellen. On the night of May 5, with Hurricane Audrey supposedly heading west, school was canceled, and Lo proposed a sleepover. Frieda convinced her parents by lying and saying that she would be at the safe Shipwreck Inn (later renamed the Rosalie Inn) with Ellen.

On the beach, Lo revealed that they had all lied to their parents. She led them to a tent in the nature preserve and declared them the Witches of St. Medard’s Bay. That evening, while they played in the tent, Hurricane Audrey unexpectedly intensified and turned toward St. Medard’s Bay.

A falling pine tree awakened them. They fled into the deadly storm, linking arms as they struggled through chaos to reach the Shipwreck Inn, where Ellen’s father pulled them inside. They rode out the storm on the second floor as the lobby flooded.

While the girls were missing, Frieda’s parents and five-year-old brother, Sam, got in their car to search for her. Their vehicle was swept into floodwaters, and all three drowned. Frieda reflects that while Lo wasn’t directly to blame, she could never see Lo’s recklessness as fun again, only as selfish and careless.

The next morning, Geneva confronts Edie on the porch about her hidden identity and past friendships with Lo and Ellen. Edie explains that she left St. Medard’s to escape her past, but the town pulled her back. Geneva grows emotional, pointing out that Edie never mentioned knowing Ellen during three years of working together.

Edie reveals that she kept her identity secret because she didn’t want the pity associated with being the girl whose family died in Hurricane Audrey. She admits that she should have told Geneva when she took the job but wanted to help Ellen’s daughter; later, she felt that too much time had passed. Geneva recalls Lo recognizing Edie by an old saying. Edie clarifies that her animosity isn’t about being recognized but about Lo and August dredging up the past with their book. She accuses Lo of being motivated by boredom, poverty, and desire for the spotlight rather than a genuine need to clear her name. Edie warns Geneva not to be fooled by Lo’s charm, stating that she and Ellen both knew Lo was lying in 1984 and that she had killed Landon, who died from a severe head wound.

In an excerpt from her memoir’s manuscript, Lo discusses how the prosecution focused on Landon’s gifts as evidence of motive for murder. She describes the beach house that Landon bought for her as a place where he could escape being the governor’s son. She recalls a Southern Living article where Landon’s widow, Alison, discussed his political ambitions, making Lo wonder if Landon showed different sides of himself to different people.

Lo recounts a night when Landon said they would have beautiful babies together. She dismissed the idea, pointing to his wedding ring, but Landon raised the possibility of leaving Alison. Lo admits that she played the role of sophisticated mistress rather than pushing for marriage. Landon revealed that he and Alison couldn’t have biological children due to her infertility. When Lo suggested adoption, Landon insisted that any child must be a biological Fitzroy. Lo reflects that this was the first time she saw the other side of Landon: the heir, the future politician, and the man with a destiny. A concluding note, dated August 3, 2025, states that the manuscript pages were found among August Fletcher’s possessions.

One week later, after a youth group checks out, August invites Geneva to lunch for an interview. At Shrimpy’s restaurant, August surprises Geneva by asking why Frieda Mason is going by Edie Vargas and then reveals that Edie was the prosecution’s star witness at Lo’s trial. She testified that she saw Lo and Landon fighting hours before Hurricane Marie hit and that she had heard Lo threaten to kill him.

Geneva asks why Lo is suddenly writing the book. August speculates that it began as a cash grab but evolved into something more serious. When Geneva asks if he thinks Lo is guilty, August lists the many inconsistencies. August concludes that he doesn’t know if Lo is guilty but that she certainly could be.

On their walk back, they encounter Lo, who cheerfully links arms with both but pointedly dismisses Geneva. Geneva observes Lo’s possessive grip on August and recalls an old article’s warning: “God help anyone who gets in her way” (155).

On July 25, steady rain falls all day. In the lobby, Edie yells at guests to get off the beach during a thunderstorm. Lo comes downstairs and has a tense exchange with Edie about people putting themselves in danger. Edie mutters about how everything always works out for Lo. Lo lashes out, recounting her time in jail and how Edie, her supposed “blood sister,” testified against her with lies that could have resulted in the death penalty. August’s appearance breaks the tension. Lo’s demeanor immediately shifts to cheerful, and Edie retreats to the office. Lo remarks that the rain is just like July 1984 before Hurricane Marie.

That evening, Geneva visits her mother at Hope House and wishes that she could ask her about Lo and her theory of Landon’s murder. Ellen’s hand suddenly spasms, and a single tear falls before she becomes still again. At eight o’clock, Geneva returns to the inn to find Edie’s truck still in the parking lot, long past her usual departure time. The night manager hasn’t seen Edie since six o’clock. Geneva can’t reach Edie by phone and notices that her walkie-talkie is still in its cradle. While calling again, Geneva hears Edie’s ringtone coming from outside. She follows the sound to a dark, unused side porch, slips on the wet boards, and falls. Realizing that the wetness is blood, she uses her phone’s flashlight and sees Edie’s hand. Geneva screams.

Geneva returns from the hospital at nearly three o’clock in the morning. Edie is alive but has a severe skull fracture from hitting a stone planter and is in a medically induced coma. The doctor says that the next 48 hours are critical. Geneva wasn’t permitted to see Edie because she isn’t family. She wonders why Edie would have been on the dark, unused side porch in the rain for no apparent reason.

August is waiting at Geneva’s trailer and comforts her. She invites him inside for a drink. After showering off the blood, Geneva finds August looking through her mother’s box of newspaper clippings about Lo. She voices her suspicion that Lo attacked Edie, noting the similarity of the head wound to Landon’s and questioning how a simple fall could cause such damage. August reveals that he last saw Lo around five o’clock that evening when she left to make a call and get food; he didn’t see her again until the ambulance arrived. Geneva tells August about her mother’s strange reactions to Lo’s name.

August comforts Geneva, and they kiss, but Geneva pulls away, remembering Lo’s possessiveness. August promises that they’ll get to the bottom of it if Lo was involved. He asks to borrow the box of clippings for the book, and Geneva agrees. As he leaves, Geneva asks why he needs outside articles for Lo’s memoir. August admits that Lo’s version of the story is no longer the book he intends to write.