At Meredith’s suggestion—relayed through Selma, who arranged the logistics—Katie arrives at Meredith Bradford’s Hamptons estate. Meredith gives her a warm welcome and a tour of the opulent home, which features a great room, a state-of-the-art kitchen, and multiple wings. Katie is assigned a luxurious suite with a private deck overlooking the pool and ocean. Meredith asks why Katie chose not to stay with her parents, and Katie gives an evasive answer. Meredith tours Katie around the vast grounds, pointing out a distant carriage house. She forbids Katie from ever going there, explaining it is her private writing space. As they look out over the ocean, Meredith wistfully calls her home “the loneliest place on earth” (115).

Tyler grows worried when he doesn’t hear from Katie after she arrives in the Hamptons. She finally calls him via FaceTime after walking to Fowler Street to get a signal, explaining that Meredith’s house has no internet access. Tyler is incredulous and says that the lack of technology and Meredith’s eccentricity are signs Katie is in danger. Katie dismisses his concerns, describing the estate’s beauty and comparing Meredith to a “Gatsby” figure. Tyler grimly reminds her that Gatsby was found dead in his pool.

With their manuscript stalled at 121 pages, both Katie and Tyler are suffering from writer’s block. They agree to take the upcoming Fourth of July weekend off in the hope that a break will restore their creativity. Katie plans to visit friends in Montauk, while Tyler attends a picnic in Central Park. There, he confides in his friend Pedro about his creative struggles, complaining that the collaborative process has been derailed since Katie left town. He dismisses the romance novel as formulaic and easy, prompting Pedro to tell him that his real problem isn’t writing, but his ineptitude at love.

On Monday, Katie is still unable to write. When Meredith finds her frustrated, she assumes Tyler is failing to do his part. Katie clarifies that the problem is her own writer’s block, which began when she left the city. She explains that she and Tyler had found a creative flow and suggests she should return to New York. Meredith rejects this idea and instead insists that Tyler must come to the Hamptons, declaring him “the missing piece” (125). Over Katie’s objections, Meredith arranges for a car to bring Tyler to the estate, where he can stay in the cottage.

In the fictional narrative, Henry gets an eviction notice and, with nowhere else to go, moves into a room at the inn. He had agreed to work for Willa’s father because he was behind on rent. He is shocked to discover that Willa is living just two doors down the hall, establishing the “forced proximity” trope for their story.

Tyler arrives at Meredith’s estate and is greeted by Katie. He presents her with a set of pink walkie-talkies he has brought along, explaining he thought she would be more likely to use them if they were cute—and adding that they will need them when the murders happen. After a tour of the house, they eat a comically oversalted lobster potpie Katie baked. On the beach, she tells him about the off-limits carriage house, which only fuels Tyler’s suspicions. He points out how their situation is a real-life instance of the “forced proximity” trope they just wrote into their book. After Katie teases him about his conspiracy theories, Tyler asks, “Would you like me to care about you less, Katherine?” She quietly replies, “No” (130). They both shift a little closer on the sand before Tyler promises, “Okay then. I won’t” (130).

A flashback reveals a night 11 years prior on Long Island. From his bedroom, Tyler sees Katie dancing in her room and gets her attention by throwing a stress ball at her window. He then climbs out, crosses into her yard, and scales a lattice to her window. He coaxes a hesitant Katie to sneak out with him, promising that he will never let anything bad happen to her.

In the present, Katie reflects on her charged moment with Tyler on the beach, trying to convince herself they are just friends. Her thoughts are interrupted when Tyler contacts her on the new walkie-talkie, introducing himself as “Nick Carraway for Daisy” (133). They joke about The Great Gatsby before Tyler quotes, “I have this familiar conviction that my life is ‘beginning over again with the summer’” (133). Katie walks to her window and watches Tyler’s silhouette pacing inside the cottage, just as he always has. When his light finally goes out, they exchange a quiet “Good night, Tyler” and “Good night, Katie. Over” (134).

The next morning, Tyler finds Meredith in the kitchen, who informs him that Katie has gone to town. Meredith then leads him upstairs to the library, where they discuss writing philosophies; Tyler defends the literary value of exploring pain, while Meredith counters with the belief that she has suffered enough and doesn’t need to multiply ugliness in her writing. Later, Tyler and Katie reread the first act of their manuscript from beginning to end, hoping to identify where the story lost momentum. Instead, they realize that nothing is fundamentally wrong with the novel and that the chapters they recently doubted are exactly where they should be. Reassured that they had simply lost confidence, they decide to move forward with the “forced proximity” plotline.

Tyler and Katie establish a productive daily routine: They bike into town, conduct location scouting as Meredith suggests, and write together on the veranda. Their creative partnership flourishes, and the manuscript progresses rapidly. At night, they chat on their walkie-talkies. On Thursday, Meredith encourages Tyler to stay for the weekend to better understand the setting for his character, Henry. Katie teases Tyler about the models he must be missing in the city. Meredith leaves fresh towels in his cottage.

In a flashback to 11 years earlier, Tyler takes Katie to a diner and asks seriously about the book she is writing. When she accuses him of only feigning interest when he’s intoxicated, he insists he genuinely cares, which makes her emotional. He then reveals that he is also writing a story and proposes that they spend the summer writing together on the beach after his morning tutoring sessions. Katie eagerly agrees.

In the present, Tyler decides to stay for the weekend. On Friday afternoon, he asks Katie to get dinner with him, but she stiffens, revealing she already has plans to see Danny, who has a share house nearby for the month. Tyler is visibly disappointed. When Katie apologizes, Tyler tells her, “You never did anything wrong” (147). After she leaves, he reflects on the reasons he chose to let her go years earlier.

Unable to sleep, Henry has a vivid nightmare about Willa. He imagines her in a canoe on dark, still water with the landscape architect. In his dream, the architect is intimately touching and kissing her, and Henry feels powerless to intervene. The nightmare culminates in Henry’s tormented realization that he is to blame for this situation, believing that he set these events in motion many years ago.

Tyler jolts awake from the exact same nightmare about Katie and Danny that he just wrote for his character, Henry. Disturbed and needing air, he leaves his cottage and wanders through the property’s woods until he finds the forbidden carriage house. He sees a family’s handprints stamped onto the top step of the porch. Suddenly, a thick sea fog rolls in, causing him to become disoriented and lose his glasses. Following the sound of the ocean to get his bearings, he emerges onto the beach. He sees Meredith weeping while standing knee-deep in the waves.

On Saturday morning, hungover and emotionally withdrawn at Danny’s rental, Katie calls Lola. Lola is critical of Katie’s tendency to date men like Danny, whom she calls “shields,” because they know nothing truly important about her, including the death of her brother, Mikey. Lola urges Katie to go back to Meredith’s and “figure this shit out with Tyler” (154).

Tyler wakes on Saturday to find his lost glasses mysteriously returned to his nightstand. He spends the day unsettled, eventually calling his sponsor, Arthur. He recounts the strange events: his dream mirroring the manuscript, the forbidden carriage house, and Meredith’s bizarre behavior. Arthur advises him to stop “sleuthing” and show compassion, reminding him that Meredith has an alcohol addiction, like him. That night, Meredith confronts Tyler—who fully expects to be fired for trespassing near the carriage house—but her actual subject is his sobriety. She reveals she knows he is in recovery and that she has struggled with sobriety for decades. After Tyler shares that he got sober at 18, Meredith offers to read and help him with his unsold literary manuscript.

On Sunday, Katie attends a spin class in Montauk with Danny but feels emotionally numb. After the class, she runs into Ingrid Miller-Pham, who was her late brother Mikey’s girlfriend in high school. Ingrid is there for her bachelorette party and is now in medical school. Katie notices that the charm Ingrid used to wear for Mikey is no longer on her necklace. Ingrid warmly suggests that she, Katie, and Tyler get coffee sometime. Katie is surprised that Ingrid and Tyler have been in touch. The mention of Tyler makes Danny jealous, and he accuses Katie of sleeping with him. Katie laughs off the accusation.

Tyler reflects on the journey of his manuscript, Body and Soul. He wrote the dark, speculative novel—about a grieving young man whose twin brother has died—after Mikey’s death. Although it secured him an agent, it was rejected by publishers as too bleak and unmarketable, and his agent eventually dropped him. This failure led him to accept Selma’s ghostwriting offer. After reading the manuscript, Meredith tells Tyler it is “fantastic” but agrees it needs significant revision. She says that he must give his protagonist a reason to live, even if the character still dies in the end.

Returning to the house on Sunday night, Katie overhears Tyler and Meredith engaged in a lively editorial discussion. She sees the kitchen covered in manuscript pages and realizes they are working on Tyler’s novel. As she listens secretly from the doorway, she is struck by how passionate and alive Tyler seems while receiving Meredith’s insightful feedback. She quietly retreats to her room.

Back in the fictional story, Henry and Willa resume their work at the inn. The unresolved tension between them has become palpable, and the narrative questions which of them, if either, will be the one to finally make the first move.

An awkward tension hangs between Katie and Tyler on Monday morning. Meredith interrupts, announcing she is taking them both to dinner on Saturday, pointedly asking if Danny will be joining. Katie hedges. Later, while working, they determine their manuscript is ready for the midpoint—the first kiss. Their discussion about how to stage the scene, including adding a “one bed” trope, becomes charged with their own unspoken feelings. Tyler notes that Henry is hesitant to kiss Willa because she keeps pulling away. Katie insists that Willa is afraid Henry hasn’t changed, while Tyler argues that Henry has to try anyway. When Katie asks, “Soon, right?” Tyler replies, “Yeah...As soon as he can” (180).