Ruth decides to come home from New York to see the sinkhole before developers fill it in. She is fascinated with sinkhole and feels that it is connected with Susie. It is a secret that she keeps and writes about in her diary.
Ruth has formed a connection with the dead. She is a celebrity in Susie's heaven because she feels she sees where death has occurred. Ruth feels she is a bridge between the living and the dead, and she writes prayers for the dead in her journal. She is anonymous in Manhattan, dressed as art student in all black.
As she walks, Ruth thinks about Ray and the kisses they shared. She thinks about seeing Ray when she goes home. At the Salmon house, Buckley is growing up, and he is beginning to.....
