Beautiful Graves

Ever flies home to San Francisco, where she is greeted by her dad and Renn. When they go out for dinner, Ever is recognized by the staff, and it feels like home. Rather than feeling hurt by old memories of her mother, she feels bittersweet joy.

Ever has a conversation with her father about why she left. She admits to feeling as though he and Renn blamed her for her mom’s death. However, her father explains that he looked at her differently because he wasn’t sure how to comfort her and Renn when he, too, was grieving. He tells Ever that embarrassment and shame are a part of life and that she cannot run from these feelings. He and Renn have fought for their family in the years since her mom’s death and won; all they were missing was Ever’s presence.

Ever’s father finally reveals the news that he wished to share with her a few months prior. He admits that he is dating a woman named Donna, whom he met eight months ago. She lives in the house, and Renn loves her. At first, Ever is appalled, but she warms up to the news when she sees how content Donna has made her father and learns that Donna is a widow herself and doesn’t seek to replace her mom.

For the next two weeks, Ever slowly gets to know Donna. Eventually, Renn invites her to go surfing with him and his friends as a distraction from her grief over Dom’s death. Ever agrees, and the activity gives her an unfiltered joy for life. When the clouds begin to part and she believes that she will soon overcome her grief, she decides to apologize to Joe. She sends Joe text messages, updating him on her time in San Francisco. She also asks about Joe’s well-being and apologizes for the way she left things. In response, she receives a simple text that claims that he forgives her.

Eventually, Ever opens the text messages from Pippa and calls her old friend. Pippa answers as if no time has passed, and Ever invites her to lunch to chat. When it is clear that Ever is nervous before the lunch, Donna shows confidence in Ever’s ability to weather any conflict that might arise, just as Ever has handled everything else in her life.

At lunch, Ever discovers that Pippa is now a web designer for a secondhand designer apparel site and lives with her newest boyfriend, Quinn. Ever reveals everything about the past six years, including the most recent events with Dom and Joe. Afterward, Ever explains her silence with Pippa and apologizes. She reveals that moving to Salem was a form of self-punishment and that she was too ashamed to speak to Pippa or field her questions.

Ever stays in San Francisco until spring, spending time with Pippa and with Renn and his friends. Nora reveals that she saw Joe in a local Walgreens with a brunette whom she believes is a girlfriend. The news hurts Ever, but she continues moving forward with her life. On her 25th birthday in June, she celebrates with family and friends in San Francisco. Communication with Joe is sparse throughout these months.

On the first week of August, Ever visits her mom’s grave. She speaks to her mother and gives updates on her life. After returning home, Ever calls Joe and Dom’s mother, Gemma, to chat. The conversation motivates Ever to rekindle her contact with Joe, so she reaches out by email daily. Though she does not receive any answers for a while, he eventually replies. They form a tentative agreement to write and sketch a little every day.

Weeks pass, and Ever and Joe continue to exchange art and words. Eventually, Joe calls Ever to demand that she board the BART train where her mom died. He believes that if she faces her demons, she will finally be able to heal. Though she really doesn’t want to, Ever agrees. After the call, Ever speaks to her dad about replacing her mom’s headstone with one that she has designed herself. Her father agrees.

On Wednesday, Ever travels to the BART. She takes a selfie at the platform to provide the proof that Joe asked for, and she eventually works up the courage to board the train. At the last moment, she decides that she can’t do it and turns to leave, but Joe arrives and convinces her to board with him.

After riding the train, Ever takes Joe to Twin Peaks, where they share beers and chat. Joe reveals that he plans to stay in San Francisco for one week and write every day. Throughout the week, they visit each other every evening. Joe finishes his book during the trip and plans to start revisions over the next few weeks. When it comes time for Joe to return home, Ever admits to loving him, and he returns the sentiment.

Ever returns to Salem with Joe. She breaks her lease and researches colleges in the area. Ever also visits Joe’s parents and returns Dom’s engagement ring to Gemma. During the visit, Gemma takes Ever to the attic. She admits to going through Dom’s stuff after his passing in order to reminisce, and she eventually went through Joe’s old things as well. Among his belongings, she discovered a polaroid from six years ago in Spain—a polaroid that he took of Ever during the beach party. Gemma admits to knowing that Ever is the woman whom Joe couldn’t stop talking about during this time period; Gemma believes that Dom knew as well. She gives Ever permission to pursue a romantic relationship with Joe without fear of judgement if she wishes to.

In Salem over the next few days, Ever sleeps with Joe. Eventually, Joe tells Ever about a man named Curt Richter, who did experiments on rats in the 1950s. Joe compares himself to the rats who were thrown into buckets of water and Ever to the researcher who would periodically pull them to safety just as they were about to give up swimming. Just as they felt relief, Richter would throw the rats back in. Joe believes that Ever keeps taunting him with the hope of a future together and then running away just as he starts to believe it. He believes that at some point, he will have had enough, just like the rats, and will drown.

Fear over causing Joe unintentional harm prevents Ever from pursuing a relationship with him even though they stay sexually intimate during her Salem visit. However, her fear gets the best of her one night, and she decides to leave while he is sleeping. She leaves behind a note, apologizing and claiming that he deserves better. She then heads for the airport.

At the airport, Ever begins to believe that she has made a horrible mistake. She believed that Joe would chase after her, but he does not, and she realizes that this is because she should be chasing him. She sends him multiple texts explaining her mistake but receives no answer before her flight leaves.

By the time Ever’s flight touches down in San Francisco, she has decided to fly immediately back to Salem to win Joe back. She pays an exorbitant amount for the last available plane ticket on the next flight.

Ever tries Joe’s apartment first, but he isn’t home. Next, she tries his workplace at Pickering Wharf Marina. At the wharf, Ever makes a public apology and declaration of love to Joe. Though he is initially indifferent to her efforts, she eventually manages to convince him that she is serious about pursuing their relationship this time. They reconcile.

One year later, Joe and Ever attend his book release dinner. His literary fiction, titled For Ever, will be released the next day. The novel is dedicated to Dom in order to symbolize the acceptance and forgiveness that came after the initial grief regarding his brother’s death.

Joe and Ever move to San Francisco to live in a tiny studio apartment. Ever attends Berkeley and studies art and design. She then starts an Etsy shop in which she sells custom sketches. Joe has quit his job as a longshoreman and works from home as an author. One day, he leaves a note for Ever saying to visit her mom’s grave at the cemetery. When she arrives, he asks her to be his forever, his wife, and the mother of his children. She accepts.