The island learns the reason why Aaron ran off when Mrs. Coombs finds a Post-It note in the music book that reads, “Go home! Oops, you can’t. Right, orphan?” (111). Eben left the cruel note and is ordered to mow the cemetery’s grass as punishment.

The next day, Aaron comes down from his room and joins Tess in scraping paint off her boat. When he begins damaging the wood, she takes the tool from him and tells him that she and her family are trying to help him fit in. He voices his hurt at the fact that he’s only there because the state threatened to close the school. She argues that everyone gets something out of their good deeds, even if it’s just a pleasant feeling, and this doesn’t make the deed itself meaningless or selfish.

Tess describes her fears of having to leave the island and start over in a new place, and he demands, “You mean like what happens to me every time I have to move?” (114). Aaron reveals that he plans to use Tess’s skiff to run away once the boat is finished because he wants to live with his mother. When she says that she can’t keep his plan a secret, he accuses her of betraying their friendship and storms away.

Tess hurries toward the house to tell her mother about Aaron’s plan to run away. She overhears Mrs. Brooks soothing Libby after the boy declines to play with her. The woman explains that Aaron is dealing with major changes and says that being able to see his mother might be good for him because he’s likely built up an idealized version of her in his mind.

Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Tess runs around the porch so fast that she scrapes her elbow on the wood. She hopes that a meeting between the Brooks family and Aaron’s mother can be arranged so that Aaron will want to stay with them. When she goes to Aaron’s room, she discovers that all his belongings are gone.

Tess races to the beach and finds Aaron waiting for the ferry with his trumpet and a packed suitcase. He declares, “No one’s going to decide things for me anymore. I’m getting off this island and going home—even if I have to swim!” (121). Tess finds a button on the beach and gives it to him as a good luck charm, but he discards it. He wishes that he had been able to stay with his mother when he was five and says that he would be able to help her now.

Aaron gathers up a pile of mussels and throws them back into the water so that the seagulls won’t kill them, and she helps him. Convinced that Aaron will only give her family and the island a chance if he realizes that his mother isn’t prepared to care for him the way that he envisions, Tess suggests that she invite the woman to watch him perform in the Bethsaida talent show, which is open to the public. Aaron is nervous that his mother might get into trouble for an unauthorized visit, but Tess assures him that they can keep it a secret.

After several attempts, Tess writes a letter to Ms. Spinney, in which she explains that Aaron is living with her family and invites her to the Bethsaida talent show, to be held on August 15. She also praises the boy’s musical abilities. Although she feels angry toward the woman for the ways she’s hurt Aaron, she tries to maintain a pleasant, welcoming tone. Under the stamp, she writes, “Please come.”

The narrative moves forward in time to the end of July. Three weeks have passed since Tess sent the letter to Ms. Spinney, but she hasn’t received a reply. On a stormy day, Mr. Brooks isn’t able to go fishing, so Tess plays Monopoly with Libby instead. When Aaron expresses tentative interest in the game, which he’s never played before, the sisters invite him to join them and explain the rules. As the children have fun playing together, Tess feels almost “afraid to let [her]self be happy” (134), in case the ease and joy between the three of them ends as quickly as it came. Then, a letter for Tess arrives. She’s certain that it’s from Ms. Spinney because there’s no return address. The message inside says only, “I’ll try.”

The narrative moves ahead to early August. Tess suggests that Libby make bees the subject of her act for the talent show because the insects are a lucky omen that a visitor is coming. She frequents the post office in the hope of receiving another message from Ms. Spinney. Mr. Moody asks her if she’ll be in the talent show, prompting her to reflect on how she and Amy used to perform together. Her friend hasn’t responded to her letters for some time, and she thinks that she’s the only one who still cares about their friendship.

Since learning that his mother might visit him, Aaron is both more excited and more short-tempered. Tess advises him to act calmer around her parents so that her mother won’t become suspicious. When he expresses a desire to photograph the beautiful view from his attic window, Tess says that he can stay with them. He answers, “Every time I thought I could count on people—the time came when I was in a car going to another house. I can’t keep doing this” (140). He shows Tess photographs of his mother and grandmother and shares that playing music helps him feel connected to his mother because she used to love playing the piano. Libby overhears them talking about Ms. Spinney coming to the talent show.

Tess and Aaron make Libby promise not to tell anyone that they invited Ms. Spinney to the talent show, but she shares the news with her friend Grace, who tells her foster sister, Jenna. One evening, while Libby and Grace are rehearsing their act for the talent show, Jenna confides to Tess that she sometimes struggles with having a foster sister. Although she loves Grace, she doesn’t fully think of her as a sister because she’s aware that her biological mother will likely regain custody. Jenna also confirms that Grace told her about Ms. Spinney, and she worries that Tess’s plan might backfire.

When Jenna asks Tess if she’d consider singing with her at the talent show, Tess surprises herself by agreeing. Eben interrupts the rehearsal and taunts Aaron, and Libby and Grace chase him away. Tess feels a “troubled twist in [her] stomach” as she worries that the bully might spoil the talent show the way he ruined the picnic (146).