- It's the beginning of summer fifteen, and Cadence and her mom arrive at Beechwood a week later than everyone else. They had lots of shopping to do back in Vermont, what with replacing every object her dad ever gave them.
- Johnny and Mirren meet them at the dock, along with "the littles"—a.k.a. her younger cousins Will, Bonnie, Liberty, and Taft.
- Cadence goes to Red Gate looking for Gat. She sees him through the screen door and has the old familiar heart-fluttering.
- He's packing dried beach roses into an envelope, and she's sure they're for her, until he pulls out a roll of stamps.
- Heartbroken, she runs to the perimeter of the island before he sees her, then she tears all the roses off a bush and throws them into the sea.