- Their routines change because Joe and Mr. Grayson spend all day—from morning until cocktail hour—off and talking business.
- Bev and Evie dress up every morning and sit in the lobby or out by the pool until Peter drops by in his convertible and takes them out. They don't tell Joe where they're going, and he doesn't pay attention.
- They go all sorts of places or just drive around and listen to music. Evie and her mom both sit up on the front seat and Evie gets to sit in the middle—right next to Peter.
- One day, they go out to a deserted beach to swim and Peter tosses Evie in the water playfully. She surfaces and sees her mom laughing and running toward the water—Peter picks her up and throws her in too.
- Peter also starts giving Evie driving lessons in the blue convertible, and slowly, she learns how to drive.
- They stop at a filling station and Evie sees that there are two water fountains—one for Whites and one for Coloreds. Evie doesn't like the segregation; it makes her uncomfortable.
- Then Evie and her mom do the rhyme they always say to each other about how they're going to stick like glue to each other. When Peter asks about it, Evie tells him that it got them through the bad times, and he says that he can't believe that they ever had bad times.
- Evie and her mom jump in to explain that things weren't always so great for them before Joe came along; they had to fend for themselves in the big bad world and make ends meet, and they only ever had each other to lean on.
- Her mom starts to take golf lessons too, and comes back to the hotel tanner and blonder with orange petals all over the car.
- But then things start to turn somehow—Joe begins drinking more and has drinks before he even goes down to cocktail hour. And he and Grandma Glad get into shouting matches over the phone because she doesn't want him to start a business in Florida.
- Evie's also starting to feel discontented; she doesn't want to drive around with Peter and her mom anymore. She wants to see him alone. And why hasn't he kissed her again?
- Then she thinks about how she's always been told that "squandered virtue" is a sin, but she doesn't care as much as she used to. She decides that Peter must be waiting for her to let him know that she's ready to take the next step in their relationship.