Opening
In these chapters, [Louisa Clark] reclaims her agency. When [Lily Houghton-Miller] confides a dangerous secret, Lou teams up with [Sam Fielding] for a daring sting, then helps reconnect Lily with [Camilla Traynor]—all while grappling with the shadow of [Will Traynor]. As Lily finds family and direction, Lou faces the choice she has avoided since Will’s death: risk her heart and future, or stay safely stuck.
What Happens
Chapter 21: The Sting
Lily sleeps off the fallout of her return in Lou’s flat while Lou learns she’s been officially fired from the Shamrock and Clover. On the third morning, Lou finds Lily on the roof and, to build trust, shares her own story of a past sexual assault. The honesty breaks Lily’s silence: a boy she liked, Peter, took an explicit photo; when she turned to her stepfather’s colleague, Mr. Garside, he seized the phone and began blackmailing her. Lily ran rather than submit.
Lou calls Sam. Together with his paramedic partner, Donna, they set up a trap: Lou texts Garside from Lily’s phone, offering what he wants in exchange for the device. When Garside arrives at the flat expecting Lily, he walks into uniforms and quiet menace. Sam bluffs about a lethal, untraceable drug—“dihypranol”—and the threat lands. Garside hands over the phone, Lily deletes the image, and Sam smashes the handset. When Garside sneers, Lou punches him and he bolts. After, Lily finally exhales. Lou and Sam kiss, and Sam admits he invented “dihypranol” on the spot.
Chapter 22: The Photo Album
At her Moving On Circle, the week’s theme is “faith in the future.” Members unveil five-year plans. Lou admits she was fired and turned down a New York job because she felt obliged to care for Lily. The counselor, Marc, and others bristle, pushing Lou to examine whether she’s hiding behind responsibility to repay Will.
Sam drops by, tight-lipped. A disciplinary hearing looms: CCTV caught his ambulance outside Lou’s flat during the Garside sting. The air cools between them. He leaves a package addressed to Lily—an heirloom photo album from [Camilla Traynor]. Inside: Will from boyhood to muddy rugby glory, with Camilla’s handwritten notes that restore him as joyful, mischievous, fully alive. Lily sees herself in those images but isn’t ready to meet Camilla. That night, Lou emails to formally reject the New York offers, doubling down on her choice to stay.
Chapter 23: An Adventure
Lou returns her uniform to the Shamrock and Clover. Her boss, Richard, insists she pay for the wig. Lou unleashes a blistering takedown of his mismanagement and storms out—only for Richard to chase her down the concourse, confess his misery and pressure, and admit she’s too good for the job. Needing income, Lou asks for it back. They strike a truce and a more respectful dynamic.
Life steadies. Lily lands a shop job; on the fire escape, she confesses she still feels lost. Lou admits she does, too. Lily offers a crucial insight: Lou doesn’t need to be sad to stay connected to Will. The next day, Lou’s mother, Josie, arrives alone—her first solo train trip in decades—declaring she wants an “adventure.” They see a West End show and take tea at a hotel. Josie vents about Lou’s father resisting her newfound independence.
In the bathroom, Lou reveals she turned down New York to look after Lily. Josie is aghast: Lou is repeating the family habit of getting stuck. Fight for the job, she urges. That night, Nathan emails Lou to say Will would have been proud of her for helping Lily.
Chapter 24: Beef Cheeks
Lou arranges a lunch for Lily and Camilla at a country hotel. It’s stiff until Lou accidentally orders “joues de boeuf” and realizes she’s eating beef cheeks—an icebreaker that loosens the table. Camilla drops the small talk and apologizes—fully. She explains the paralysis of her grief, asks for another chance, and admits she longs to be a grandmother.
Lily accepts. They hold hands. She agrees to stay the night with Camilla. Untethered without Lily, Lou drives to Sam’s field. Lying in the grass, they finally name the rift: Sam says Lou keeps part of herself walled off, still in love with the ghost of Will, and he won’t waste time on something that isn’t going anywhere. Lou can’t promise what he needs. They part on uneasy terms. The next day Lily returns, bright and relaxed, the new bond with Camilla taking root.
Chapter 25: Moving On
Lou confronts a core belief: love equals loss. At her grandfather’s 80th, a fight between her parents explodes—sparked by a store-bought cake but rooted in deeper fears about change and gender roles. Her sister, [Katrina 'Treena' Clark], admits she feels stuck at work, too.
Back home, Lily announces she’s moving in with Camilla and transferring to a boarding school near her grandmother. She’s thrilled. Lou feels both bereft and freed. At the station, Lily leaves Lou with one last gift: moving on doesn’t mean loving Will any less. Lou emails Mr. Gopnik in New York to explain her earlier refusal and ask to be considered for future roles.
Chaos arrives: Josie shows up, having left Lou’s father; Treena and their dad appear soon after to force a reconciliation. Lou bolts, races to the ambulance station, and catches Sam as he heads out on a call. She jumps into the ambulance, begging five minutes to say what she should have said long ago as the sirens flare.
Character Development
These chapters pivot characters from paralysis to choice, showing how love, obligation, and grief reshape their paths.
- Louisa Clark: Shifts from reactive to proactive—engineering the sting, confronting her boss, facilitating Lily’s reunion, and finally choosing to pursue both career and love rather than hide behind duty.
- Lily Houghton-Miller: Moves from secrecy and flight to confession and rebuilding—erasing the blackmail image, accepting Camilla’s care, taking a job, and choosing school and stability.
- Sam Fielding: Draws a firm boundary around his own needs—risking censure to help, then refusing a relationship defined by comparison to Will.
- Camilla Traynor: Transforms grief into action—curates Will’s life for Lily, apologizes without defensiveness, and embraces the role of grandmother.
- Josie Clark: Rejects resignation—claims independence, challenges family patterns, and pushes Lou not to mistake obligation for identity.
Themes & Symbols
The pull between duty and desire centers on [Family and Responsibility]. Lou has long defined herself through caretaking—first Will, then Lily—but the sting, the lunch, and the final ambulance leap show her choosing when and how to carry others, rather than being consumed by them.
Grief softens from fixation to forward motion in [Grief and Moving On]. Lily’s plainspoken wisdom reframes Lou’s loyalty to Will: love endures without perpetual mourning. The photo album is the key symbol—replacing a single tragic narrative with a mosaic of joy, pranks, and grit so Lily can know her father as more than his death.
Finding agency runs through [Finding a New Purpose and Identity]. Lou quits, then renegotiates work on her terms; reaches out to New York; and confronts Sam. These choices mark the start of an identity not tethered to crisis.
Romance tests courage in [New Love After Loss]. Sam’s ultimatum forces Lou to look past the “ghost” of Will. Her sprint to the ambulance embodies the risk of loving again: messy, urgent, and brave.
Key Quotes
“You don’t have to be sad just to stay connected to him.” Lily names the trap Lou’s been living in—confusing grief with devotion. The line frees Lou to honor Will through living, not self-denial.
“Moving on doesn’t mean you loved my dad any less.” As Lily leaves, she seals the book on guilt. The statement becomes Lou’s permission slip to pursue work and love without betraying Will.
Sam: he doesn’t want to “waste time on something that isn’t going anywhere,” and Lou is still in love with the “ghost” of Will. Sam articulates the emotional stalemate. His boundary reframes the relationship: progress requires clarity, not caretaking.
Sam admits he invented “dihypranol” on the spot. This confession undercuts the macho bluff and restores moral balance to the sting. It highlights Sam’s protective instinct while keeping the trio on the right side of the line they refuse to cross.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
This sequence is the hinge of the novel. The Garside sting converts Lou’s anger into decisive protection, proving she can act rather than drift. The album and Camilla’s apology repair a family, allowing Lily to step toward a future and releasing Lou from surrogate-mother duty. With Lily settled, Lou can finally confront her own stalled life: the New York email, the confrontation with Sam, and the ambulance leap show her trading paralysis for pursuit. The Clark family’s blowup and the Traynor thaw echo the book’s thesis: change is painful, but staying still hurts more.