Evvie Drake Starts Over

Evvie goes to see a personal counselor, Dr. Jane Talco, to get some wisdom about how she can be helpful to Dean. The counselor points out she can help people help themselves, but she cannot help Evvie help another individual. Dr. Talco tells Evvie, “That therapy is like a toothbrush. You can't really put it to use for anybody except yourself” (109).

When the doctor suggests that she deal with her own issues, Evvie is very resistant to talking about herself, concluding it would be a waste of time. 

Evvie and Dean sit side-by-side watching TV and drinking bourbon. They discuss the impending Christmas season. Evvie says she foresees her life as simply remaining in the big empty house and being nothing more than Tim's widow. She explains she doesn't want to spend any of Tim’s life insurance money because doing so would make her feel like she was going to be stuck with him for the rest of her life. Evvie says, “So he dies, and I keep the money, and that's how I stay alive, and I drift in and out of these rooms in this great big house and I get old and I'm just nothing—” (114).

Dean finally reveals his backstory, describing the misery of trying to recover his ability to pitch. Evvie asks if a woman was involved in him losing his ability to pitch. Dean says there was not a woman before, and there's not a woman now.

Dean loves pinball machines. He discovers there is a good old-fashioned pinball machine available several hours away down in Boston. He decides he is going to take Evvie with him to retrieve the machine.

On the way there, Dean and Evvie discuss his kissing her, since he does not want to surprise her. They have a back-and-forth about whether she's ready. Holmes describes the emotional conflict within Evvie, writing: “Her husband was not the only person she’d kissed, but he was the only person she’d had sex with” (127). Evvie and Dean establish a signal whereby, when she says go, it means she is ready to engage in romance with Dean.

Andy shows up at Evvie's house after discussing with his mother, Kell, the night Tim died. His mother believes that the suitcase with Evvie in her car was a sign of her intention of staying with Tim at the hospital. Andy knows that particular suitcase contains only memorabilia from Evvie’s mother. This means Evvie did not intend to stay at the hospital. Rather, the suitcase in the car meant she was planning to leave Tim. Andy confronts Evvie with this, and she acknowledges it is true. She has been dreading this conversation and the possibility of Andy realizing this ever since Tim died.

Evvie shares an honest description of her relationship with Tim, revealing that he was verbally and emotionally abusive. Even though he tries to conceal his feelings, Andy is devastated by the revelation that Evvie was going to leave Tim, their town, her dad, and Andy himself without saying a word. In describing the reality of her intentions, Holmes writes, “She could argue, but it was true: she'd been ready to walk away from all of them with no goodbye” (134). While Andy focuses on his sense of betrayal, Holmes reveals the true depth of despair and yearning for escape that led Evvie to make that decision. The author implies that Evvie was so desperate for relief from Tim that she was willing to turn her back on everything she had known.

Andy twice cancels his regular meeting time Saturday with Evvie. Despite what he says, she understands the underlying reason is his discovery that she deceived him about her relationship with Tim.

Evvie hears Dean playing pinball and goes to watch. They discuss a new online article about Dean that is much more favorable to him than the Esquire article. Holmes writes that Dean “showed the reporter a well-adjusted, super-relaxed Dean ‘They Named Choking After Me, But It’s Fine’ Tenney. The King of Chill” (140).

Evvie, who detested the yellow kitchenware Tim made her purchase before their wedding, systematically breaks all the plates, cups, and saucers. Eventually Dean begins to help her break the plates. Afterward, she announces to Dean she wants him to teach her how to pitch.