Avery’s Care for Strangers

Avery’s earlier intervention at the pier reveals her instinct to listen to people in danger and becomes a key to both Erik’s possible fate and Cameron’s return.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Woman on the Pier

A Moment of Crisis A Stranger in Distress While paddling, Avery finds a woman at the pier railing speaking about a terrible night and an accident. Listening Instead of Leaving Avery talks with her and stays until the woman can come down safely.

A Private Memory

A Story Shared The Past Surfaces Avery tells Cameron about stopping a woman from jumping, without knowing what became of her. Care as Attention Her account reveals that she approaches distress by listening rather than by claiming to have an easy answer.

The Son Who Needs Support

A Different Kind of Help Cameron’s Confession Cameron tells Avery that his mother left him with Jeanne and never came back. A More Generous Interpretation Avery suggests his mother may have believed that leaving him with someone capable was best, offering a possibility he had not considered.

Avery Looks for Cameron

Concern at the Aquarium Searching After Work Avery sees the aquarium lights and finds Tova at the pier, worried because Cameron has not answered her calls. A Misunderstanding Explained Tova tells her that Cameron believed she had ghosted him, and Avery learns that he had tried to reach her.

The Importance of Saving Her

A Life Mattered Tova Recognizes the Woman Tova understands that the distressed woman Avery saved was Daphne, though she does not claim to know every detail of that night. Gratitude Across Generations She tells Avery that the rescue mattered, connecting Avery’s past compassion to the grandson she has just found.

Several years before the main story

Mid-summer, during Avery and Cameron’s paddle date

During the same paddleboarding conversation

The night Cameron leaves Sowell Bay

Near the ending, after Avery tells Tova what happened