Lara’s story resumes. Lara flew to Michigan, and was picked up at the airport by a member of the Tom Lake crew. She found out that, beyond their trouble with the actress cast to play as Emily leaving, there was another issue: Albert Long, who played the Stage Manager, was misusing alcohol and had become unpredictable onstage. Albert Long was the production’s most famous cast member, as he had been on a long-running television show as Uncle Wallace, which is how the rest of the cast now think of him. As they drive from the airport, Lara can’t take her eyes off the cherry trees.

Lara learned that she would also be playing Mae in Fool for Love, even though she hadn’t read the play. The previous actress had been cast in this second role.

Tom Lake was a compound consisting of the theater, an amphitheater, tennis courts, administrative buildings, and housing. It ran along the lakeside. The nearby town supplied their needs and was dependent on the tourists that the theater attracted. As Lara unpacked, she thought about her peers back home, who had families and children now.

A young man came to her room with the rehearsal schedule.