The Night We Lost Him

Back in Liam’s timeline, Liam and Cory are together. Liam has just accepted a position at Hayes, giving up the chance at a lucrative role at the company where he interned. Cory is about to head to California for a graduate degree in writing. Liam does not want her to go and suggests that they get married. She laughs off his proposal, says that they aren’t ready, and reassures him that they will remain a couple despite the distance.

In the present, Meredith Cooper, one of the people who found Liam’s body, calls Nora. Nora asks about the mysterious jogger, and Meredith shares that he was white and wearing cargo pants; however, it was pretty dark, and she didn’t get the best look at him. She says that she might be able to recognize him if she were to see a photo. Nora and Sam head to Noone Properties to do more electronic digging. They are unable to find back-up information for Liam’s phone, and his computer is missing.

One of the employees who is helping with the search finds out that Liam’s phone last pinged a tower just a few weeks ago. They wonder why his phone is still active after his death and wonder where his laptop might be. They also find out that Liam’s laptop was not connected to company servers, nor were those of Joe and Noone’s other important executive, Grace. Grace died from a heart attack about a year ago, and her belongings, including her work laptop, were sent to her husband.

Nora and Sam head to Grace’s husband’s apartment. Nora is shocked to discover that Grace was married to Paul Turner, a famed photographer. They ask him about her laptop and are surprised at how evasive he becomes. Defensively, he questions their interest in his late wife’s personal property, and when Sam angrily notes that it was technically company property, Paul changes the subject. They ask about Cece, and Nora can see in his eyes that he is trying to hide his reaction. Paul becomes increasingly unwilling to talk but eventually admits that Joe took most of Grace’s work things shortly after her death. He tells them that this is also what he told Tommy. Sam is noticeably upset that Tommy also sought out Paul and asks what the nature of their conversation was. Jack then becomes even more defensive and tells Sam to talk to his brother himself. He also shares that Grace had the utmost respect for Liam but had told Paul that she did not trust his children.

Sam leaves an angry voicemail on Tommy’s phone. Sure that Tommy will not return it, Sam and Nora make plans to go see him in person.

Jack is still at work, and Nora arrives home to a dark and empty house. She recalls the last time her father came over. He brought champagne, and the two talked about a new commission that Nora was working on, a memory care facility with a biophilic concept that would ensure residents had access to natural light.

Nora heads outside, and a phone call disturbs her reverie. It’s Elliot, and she picks up right away. Elliot was Grace’s cardiologist and familiar with both her and Liam. Nora asks him when he last saw her father and finds out that the two had dinner a couple of weeks before Liam’s death. She asks for details and is disappointed to find out that they hadn’t talked about Liam much at all. When she goes back inside, Jack is already there, and she hangs up without saying goodbye to Elliot. The two begin talking about her trip, but she receives a series of calls from Elliot. Jack notices his name on the screen and is obviously upset, but he says nothing other than telling Nora to say hello to Elliot for him.

Nora and Sam head upstate to visit Tommy. They arrive at the Acres, a vast property with a working apple orchard. Tommy and his wife, Kira, live in one of its large houses. Nora asks again why Sam and Tommy aren’t getting along, but Sam gives little by way of explanation. Kira comes outside and greets them. She is not warm or welcoming. She is heavily pregnant and asks if Nora is also pregnant. Nora is not pregnant but responds to the slight with grace, recalling how intractable Kira has always been.

Sam and Nora locate Tommy. Sam instantly becomes combative, asking Tommy “what the fuck” he was doing talking to Paul Turner about Cece (164). Nora observes the two, thinking to herself that their relationship has always been complex, a mixture of love and resentment. The brothers calm down, and Tommy begins to share what he knows. He shows them a recent copy of Forbes that contains an interview with Cece in which she describes the house she is building for herself and her partner, whom she describes as an “old friend.” All three remark on how this could be their father, but then Cece notices that Paul was the article’s photographer and asks Tommy about it. Tommy shares that this detail was indeed why he sought out Paul, but Paul assured him that Liam was not her current partner. However, he did not assure Tommy that the article wasn’t referring to Joe.

In Liam’s timeline, Cory is just three months shy of completing her PhD when her mother’s illness forces her to return to New York. She takes a position at a friend’s marketing firm, devastated that she had to give up art and meaning in favor of a more practical career. Liam is about to marry Rachel and offers to call off the wedding. Cory tells him that he must get married but that they can remain close friends.

In the present, Sam tells Nora that he wants to show her something and drives her to a large farm. He explains that Noone Properties typically tries to acquire working farms for their luxury hotel sites. They offer the family a large sum of money for their land, but they also stipulate that they will preserve 80% of the property, set aside a small portion that will continue to be a working farm, and allow the family to remain in their home and manage that small farm if they would like. This particular farm never ended up being part of Noone Properties’ holdings, but its owner’s daughter, Taylor, became Sam’s girlfriend. The two split recently. Sam is now engaged to Morgan, but he desperately misses Taylor. He takes Nora to meet her, and Taylor clearly cares for Sam, too, although she is circumspect about their split. She tells Nora to be careful with him, and Nora cannot tell if she means that Sam is fragile or “tricky.”

Sam and Nora talk about Taylor. Sam confesses that although the two might still have feelings for each other, she got married two weeks ago. He thinks that she is happier with her new husband than she ever was with him. Nora gently tries to talk to Sam about the loss he’s gone through recently and how it might be clouding his judgment. She questions his choice to remain working at the company. He’d once been a baseball player, and Nora knows that real estate has never been his passion.

Sam seems receptive to part of what Nora is saying but closed off to much of what she suggests. He shares that their father had told him, after his breakup with Taylor, that we only get so many chances to fix the mistakes we’ve made. Both agree that it doesn’t sound like Liam and wonder if he was thinking about himself and Cece. There is much about their father that remains a mystery.

Back in the past, Cory tells Liam that she intends to get married. He is upset but responds that he wants her to be happy. Her husband-to-be does not approve of their friendship, and she suggests that they need to find a new “shape” for their relationship.

In the present, Nora arrives home after her long day with Sam. Jack appears to be sleeping, but she can tell from his breathing pattern that he is still awake. He sent a text earlier telling her that they need to talk, but she does not wake him.

The next morning, Jack tells Nora that he intends to help a friend open a restaurant in California. He will be gone indefinitely. Without rancor, he gently suggests that Nora figure out what she wants. Nora is crushed, but she understands that her own emotional withdrawal from Jack coupled with her inability to cut off communication with Elliot led to this moment. Teary-eyed, she contemplates how she will learn to live without Jack and wonders if the two will ever reconnect.

Nora is on the way to Elliot’s son Austin’s recital. She and the young boy are still close, and she promised to attend the event. She gets a call from a forensic pathologist to whom she forwarded her father’s police file. The woman thinks that the death was suspicious and that she would not rule out homicide. However, she tells Nora that there is little she can do without a body, since Liam was cremated, other than explore the area around Windbreak again to get real answers.

Back in the past, Liam shows Windbreak to Cory. He tells her that he wants to grow old there with her and that he hopes it will give her California back and offer her the opportunity to reclaim something of her lost life. She doesn’t say yes or no to his plan, but she smiles at how thoughtful he is.

At Austin’s recital, Elliot asks Nora out for a quick cup of coffee. She declines, and he asks if their friendship is causing her problems. She tries to figure out how to respond but ends up asking him about her father. She again requests information about Elliot’s last conversation with him, but Elliot is unable to tell her anything useful.

Liam has dinner with Cory. She is angry that he appears ready to leave his wife Rachel for Sylvia, whom Cory finds “awful.” Liam accuses her of keeping their relationship in a holding pattern because it is safer, and Cory claims that it is the only way the two can be happy; she doesn’t want to marry Liam because she thinks they would be unhappy. She leaves in a huff but invites him to go with her for another drink.

Back in the present, Nora stops by the house her father grew up in. It is near her own home, but she has never been inside it. She knocks on the door and asks the current owner if she can look inside. The woman agrees, and Nora heads inside. In one of the closets, she finds the words “Cory & Liam” carved into the wood.

Next, Nora takes a cab to her father’s apartment. She runs into his third wife, Inez. Although no longer together, the two remained friends. She asks Inez about Cece and whether or not her father was seeing anyone new. Inez starts to answer her but then pats her on the arm and tells her that it doesn’t matter and that she should let it go.

Nora shows up at Sam’s and asks why he did not return her call. He appears rested and fresh-faced and tells her that the investigation has been pulling his life apart. He no longer believes that their father’s death involved foul play, has pushed up the date of his upcoming wedding to Morgan, and has decided to re-focus on the company. Nora is angry with the about-face and realizes that she will have to continue looking into Liam’s death on her own.

Back in Liam’s timeline, Cory and Liam are hanging wallpaper together at Windbreak. He asks her if she ever thinks about the life they could have had together, but she dismisses him, saying that they are together “now” and for many other stolen weekends. She seems content. Liam is not.

In the present, Nora takes a last-minute flight to California to see what she can uncover at Windbreak.

On the beach, Nora runs into Ben King, her father’s longtime friend and neighbor. He offers condolences about Liam’s death. When she gets back inside, Nora looks at some old photo albums and finds a photo of her father, Cece, and Joe when they were young. She wonders what she is missing from their story.

Cory and Liam are arguing about Cece. Cece and Liam met and dated briefly in college before he reconnected with Cory, and Cory never liked her. At present, she objects to Liam not having told her about his plans to sell his company to Cece. She points out that they were supposed to be honest with each other but also that he adamantly refused to sell his company for decades and would hate what Cece’s corporate company would do to his boutique properties.

Cece calls Nora and asks if she’d like to meet the following day for dinner to talk things over. Clark, the property manager, interrupts their call to tell Nora that he’s turned everything on and is ready to go. She asks if Liam ever brought Cece to Windbreak, and he says no. He adds that the only woman other than his wives whom Liam ever brought was someone named Cory. Recalling the “Cory & Liam” written in her father’s childhood closet, Nora rushes back to Liam’s photo albums for clues to Cory’s identity.

Cory and her husband are about to go to Paris to celebrate their anniversary and work on their marriage. Liam is about to marry Inez. He takes her to a Broadway show before she leaves. She tells him that he should stop getting married. He tells her that she shouldn’t go to Paris.

Nora scours her father’s yearbook for someone named Cory without luck. She then finds his high school literary magazine. The editor is someone named Cordelia, and Nora is sure that Cordelia is Cory. She finds a photograph of Cordelia. Nora is taken aback: Cordelia is Grace, her father’s longtime business associate and Paul Turner’s wife, whom she has known for years and who died just a few months ago.