Chapter 18: Why Me? & Epilogue Summary

Ruby is picked up by a kind truck driver who takes her most of the distance of her journey. She immediately calls Paul from a payphone, and he picks her up to deliver her to her old house. Ruby is shocked by the disrepair of her grandmother's home, which her alcoholic grandfather Jack has all but destroyed. Jack is so addled from his addiction that he barely recognizes Ruby. Running out into the swamp, Jack accidentally drowns - not the homecoming Ruby was expecting. Ruby throws herself into restoring the shack, and all of her grandmother's old friends, whom Ruby grew up with, step in to help immediately. Ruby's pregnancy quickly becomes evident as well, and the community assumes Paul is the baby's father, as it is clear he still has feelings for Ruby. Paul would more...