The part about Fern ends unhappily. As Charlie is so unstable in his affections, Fern is willing to forget him, and she wants to focus on James, her fiancé, who is coming at the weekend. However, Charlie comes to her, telling her that he has left his Spanish girlfriend because he wants to be with her. They have a passionate night, and Charlie tells him to come with him to Oxford as he has to go to a party in his sister's college. Fern can't go because James is due to arrive that day. Fern and James spend a good weekend but Fern can't stop thinking about Charlie.
After James leaves, Fern tries to distract herself, counting the hours until she will see Charlie again. The young man arrives and goes straight to Fern's. From their bed they hear the phone ringing, and Fern wonders who will be calling at that time of the night. Early in the morning the police come and arrest Charlie, and Fern is totally confounded. When the phone rings and Fern answers, her mother cries, saying that her cousin, Elise, is dead.
Elise Landreth is the person who connected Charlie and Fern even though they were not aware of. Elise was Fern's cousin, and the goddaughter of Barbara, Dickie's first wife. What Fern learns is that Elise has died of an overdose during a party in Oxford, and Charlies is supposed to be the person to supply the drugs for Elise.
Fern is devastated because she loved Elise, and in her funeral she faints, and she discovers that she is expecting a baby. Everybody assumes the baby is James's, and not even Fern knows if the father is James or Charlie. James asks her to marry him straightaway, and Fern reasons that even though she does not love him, she can have a good life. They marry and after their honeymoon, Fern discovers that she is bleeding. In the hospital she is told that she was expecting twins and she has lost a baby, but the other one keeps growing strong. This clearly proves that Charlie is the father. James is sent to Ireland, and Fern stays at her mum's.
During the trial it is Lucas who is the main witness and who claims to have seen Charlie give drugs to Elise. There is no doubt about it, and Charlis is sentenced to four years in prison.
The next part of the book takes place in 2018. Lucas, who is now 56, returns to England after years living in America because his mother is dying. He is married to Denise, and their marriage is falling to pieces. Barbara has been fighting Alzheimer's, but now she is living her last weeks. In the nursing home Lucas finds an album, and he takes it home and he spends hours going through the photos, which show his life. Lucas expresses his feelings about his parents. He hated his father for leaving his mother, and he felt his mother was just insane. From what Lucas remembers, I have the hunch that what happened to Charlie may not be so straightforward. Did Lucas really give the drugs to Elise? Did Lucas lie? What Lucas finds is a letter from Elise's mother saying that Fern had a baby girl she named Sophie, and that reminds Lucas of that time in 1981. It seems that Lucas felt attracted to Fern the few times they saw each other, but he knows she never gave him a thougth.
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