Content Warning: This chapter section references domestic violence.

Before Waylay heads off for a sleepover at a friend’s house, Naomi delicately brings up the subject of her mother and that Tina was spotted in town recently. Waylay gives no sign that she knew or saw her mother.

On Friday night, the Honky Tonk is busy and rowdier than usual. Naomi is puzzled when she sees the red-haired man from the library sitting alone at the bar. Then, Warner Dennison III, Naomi’s ex-fiancé, comes into the bar. His nostrils flaring, he demands Naomi come home with him, saying that she made her point and he is willing to forgive her. Naomi insists they are finished. When Warner puts his hand on Naomi’s wrist, Knox comes up behind him: “Take your fucking hands off her. Now” (368). In the ensuing fight, Warner takes a beating while the bar cheers. After he departs, Knox turns to Naomi, his face a “thousand shades of pissed off” (369).

Knox assures Naomi that the bar can be a safe place for her if her ex-fiancé returns. He tells Naomi to knee him in the groin and then kick his head when he doubles over. He also gives her the security code to get into his office in the back.