Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, animal death, addiction, and substance use.

One of Charlie and Garrett’s college friends—Brig—has suffered a stroke, so the friends decide to get together. They arrive, wives in tow, at Charlie’s lake cottage. During the drive, the narrative alternates between Garrett’s and Cece’s perspectives, revealing the tension in their marriage: Though it is their 24th wedding anniversary, neither feels particularly close to the other. Garrett goes through periods where his voice is nearly gone—a result of spending too much time outdoors during times of bad air quality due to forest fires. Lana is 23 and lives in Los Angeles, where she is pursuing an acting career. It has been seven years since the night of the Gail Tippler reading when Cece and Charlie had sex. Jasper, also 23, is in rehabilitation for a second time.

At the cottage, Garrett is taken aback by how old his friends have gotten. He is certain that many of them harbor anger toward him because of his marriage to Cece. Despite the poor air quality, the group ends up in the lake in the hope of escaping the heat.