Feeling anxious over her approaching dinner to meet Luke’s mother, Sophia seeks out her roommate to share her feelings. Marcia cautions Sophia that she might be taking her relationship with Luke too seriously too soon after her breakup with Brian. Rebound relationships seldom end in anything but disaster. Confused, Sophia heads to Luke’s ranch. Luke’s mother Linda welcomes Sophia warmly.

As Luke grills the steaks and Sophia watches Linda finish the dinner prep in the kitchen, she is reminded of her own mother and how much she misses her family. Linda tells Sophia that missing her family only means that they are close. Over dinner, Linda shares embarrassing stories of Luke when he was a boy. Sophia feels all over again the rightness of where she is despite what Marcia said. When Luke intuits that something bothers Sophia, she shares with him Marcia’s warning, but quickly dismisses it: “spending time with Luke not only was easy, but it felt indefinably right” (184). After dinner, Sophia watches Luke expertly carve a pumpkin. He invites her to help, hands her the knife, and then lovingly guides her hand. Although it crosses Sophia’s mind to spend the night with Luke in his cabin, she does not stay, “hungry [for the] promise of the future” (185).