The Summer Pact

Tyson is tired from traveling and impatient with Lainey. All three friends are impressed with how beautiful Capri is and squabble and tease each other in their typical fashion as they progress to their hotel. Lainey teases Tyson about noticing a beautiful woman.

Their hotel is “an enchanting oasis tucked between the sea and a lush garden of pink bougainvillea and pomegranate trees” (179). Hannah is beginning to realize that Grady really wasn’t the right person for her. As they enjoy a drink on the terrace, Tyson quotes the French author Alexandre Dumas. Hannah checks her messages and confesses to Lainey that she’s talking to Olivia. Lainey is furious and thinks that Hannah is risking Lainey being rejected again. Hannah apologizes for making Lainey upset.

Lainey makes dinner arrangements with Alessandro, the concierge, and Tyson teases her for flirting. They enjoy their dinner and conversation. Hannah admits that she misses Grady, or at least who she thought he was, and worries that she won’t find someone she can have a family with. 

The three discuss what they loved about Summer, including how tender hearted and high achieving she was. Lainey admits that she felt that Summer never judged her. They wonder what Summer’s life would have been like if she’d become a doctor and a mother, as she wanted. Tyson says that he can feel Summer in Capri, but Lainey reflects that death is simply the end of the line, a blackout. Deciding not to dwell on grim thoughts, she orders another glass of wine.

The next morning, Tyson feels lazy about sleeping in. As they regard their view, Tyson tells the others the names of the rock formations below. Hannah comments that Summer would have loved the romance of this place. Tyson worries that Hannah is uncomfortable with knowing that there was something between him and Summer. 

They decide to walk down to the sea from Augustus Gardens, where Tyson once again tells them about the place. Lainey keeps asking people to take pictures of them as they walk, and she is very specific about her instructions. They arrive at a popular but crowded restaurant, and Lainey calls Alessandro to arrange a table for them.

Hannah points to the place where the sirens are said to have enchanted Odysseus in The Odyssey and recalls that that was the book Summer was reading on the night they all met. At Hannah’s hinting, Lainey guesses that Tyson and Summer were hooking up and says that Summer always had a crush on him. Tyson recalls how he and Summer used to share novels they’d read and once talked about being high school English teachers but thought the job wasn’t ambitious enough. Tyson wonders now if they both were focused on the wrong goals. Seeing him become emotional, Lainey takes Tyson’s hand, and he doesn’t pull away.

Hannah feels content and realizes that, now that she’s not with Grady, she can travel. She is learning more about Olivia but doesn’t know her relationship status. At the bar, she starts talking with a handsome man they noticed earlier. He is Scottish, and his name is Archie. Hannah enjoys their banter and the chance to try her rusty flirting skills. Archie tells her that he and his friend will be at a piano bar that evening. 

Lainey jokes about Archie’s friend being a sloppy sidekick but claims, “I can work with just about anything” (208). Tyson goes to work out, and the girls discuss if Summer might be the reason why none of Tyson’s other relationships have been successful. When Hannah talks to him later, Tyson admits that he still feels guilty that he didn’t protect Summer by staying over that night. He fears that he might have broken her heart and admits that he was worried about messing up their foursome. When she died, however, Tyson realized that he’d been worried about the wrong things.

As they get ready to go out to dinner, Lainey’s agent, Casey, calls to say that Lainey is the producers’ first choice to be cast in the movie she was going to audition for. Lainey can’t quite believe that she is being offered the role. They want to start filming the following week, and Lainey says that she can’t since she is traveling with friends and will be in Paris. 

Hannah protests, and Tyson steps in to tell Casey that they will all come to Buenos Aires for filming. They are both excited for Lainey, and she is pleased that Tyson seems proud of her. They discuss the plot of the movie, The Pigeon Girl, and toast with champagne. Lainey realizes that Tyson looks the way he did when he cheered Summer on at her races, “with pure respect and intense admiration” (220). She notices how handsome Tyson is and feels affection for him. They share laughter over an inside joke, which Hannah doesn’t quite get.

Tyson is proud of Lainey, whom he believes is talented, and he “also hopes that this will be the catalyst she needs to start taking her life a little more seriously” (223). As they head to dinner, Tyson notices Alessandro admiring Lainey and feels protective of her. Lainey jokes about getting together with Archie’s friend, and Tyson teases her for being shameless. 

After dinner, before they visit the piano bar, Tyson reminds the women to watch their drinks and turn on their Life360. They meet up with Archie and his friend Ian, who shows immediate interest in Lainey. Lainey apologizes to Tyson for being insensitive during their conversation at lunch. She realizes that her actions after Summer’s death, like not meeting Summer’s parents and instead going to Myrtle Beach, might have hurt Tyson, too.

Tyson enjoys the evening. Lainey makes sure that he meets the beautiful woman he saw earlier, whose name is Amore. Tyson notes how everyone does what Lainey says and thinks of it as “the Lainey effect” (231). She tries flirting with him and then leaves Ian, Hannah, and Archie to follow Tyson to their room. Tyson feels an energy between them.

Hannah, making out with Archie in the back of a van, thinks about going to his hotel. She wonders if she’s been sexually inhibited in the past because of how she was raised. She and Archie go out for another drink, and Hannah reveals her situation with Grady. As they approach a restaurant that reminds her of a children’s book, The Wind in the Willows, Hannah feels a pang as she thinks about her mother. Then, Hannah sees a text from Olivia, suggesting that Olivia could visit Capri the next day. Hannah is excited and no longer wants to spend the night with Archie.

Lainey feels drawn to Tyson and jealous of Amore. Tyson looks out for Lainey at the bar, making sure she drinks water. When they return to their hotel, Lainey realizes that she would rather be with Tyson than the others. When Tyson takes a shower, Lainey steps into the shower naked. She’s flustered by their eye contact. Tyson brings her to stand under the hot water.

Tyson suspects that Lainey is baiting him, but he’s struck by her vulnerable expression. Worried about crossing a line, Tyson gets out of the shower. They both confess that they are attracted to one another, and they cuddle together on the bed. Hannah returns, and Tyson goes to his cot.