Content Warning: The section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death,  substance use, and mental illness.

Adrian is never home and has become distant. Vanessa tries to convince herself he’s just catching up on work, but she feels “Like he was working himself to the bone, to fill the void, mourning me, and I wasn’t even gone yet” (306). Since Brent is working on his business and her father got a job, Vanessa is mostly alone. To distract herself from not thinking about Adrian, she finishes her end-of-life planning by making her funeral arrangements, appointing Drake in charge of scattering her ashes in the ocean and booking her entire family a cruise after her death. The last remaining task is planning for Grace, but Annabel is still in rehab and won’t return Vanessa’s calls.

Vanessa books a night for Adrian and herself at a bed and breakfast for New Year’s and arranges for Grace to stay with Gerald. Having heard little from Adrian, she sends him the details and heads to the B&B. Adrian calls to say he can’t make dinner because his client, Garcia, was arrested in Wisconsin. Vanessa is angry and accuses Adrian of pulling away from her because he can’t handle the situation and using work as an excuse.