Chapter 10

On June 14, ten years earlier, Fern and Will finish a graffiti walk, trading light confessions that lead to food. Will calls his sister Annabel after a fight with their father, revealing family tension but plans to see her the next day. Fern chooses a Vietnamese spot, and their easy rapport grows over banh mi, kimchi fries, and playful teasing.

As they walk through Chinatown, Fern explains Whitney is her lifelong best friend and recounts how Fern once defended her from Cam in school. She admits Whitney’s recent visit was awkward because Fern tried to make her love Toronto. Will’s protective manners and small gestures keep drawing Fern in, even as she deflects.

Pressed gently, Fern confesses she doesn’t want to move back or run her family’s resort and never wanted business school—expectations driven by her mother. She’s been hiding this from everyone, including Whitney. Will withholds judgment and shifts the moment by taking her to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

At the AGO, they visit a subdued Patti Smith photography exhibit, joke about art-world decorum, then enter the Galleria Italia, where the architecture makes Fern feel both urban and close to the woods. In the Canadian collection, discussions of Emily Carr, the Group of Seven, and Tom Thomson culminate in Fern tearing up at landscapes that evoke home and memories of her mother.

Will comforts Fern with empathy and gentle trivia, validating her tenderness rather than dismissing it. Sensing what she needs next, Will suggests they leave the gallery together, their trust and intimacy notably deepened by the day’s revelations.