A Review of Happy Place by Emily Henry

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️★★

The book Happy Place by Emily Henry is a YA fiction/romance book centered around the theme of friendship and dealing with changes in your life.  The story follows Harriet Kilpatrick, a surgeon in New York,  as she goes to her friend Sabrina’s cottage in Knott’s Harbor, Maine, where she, Harriet, and their friend Cleo have been going ever since they were in college. When Harriet gets in Sabrina’s car to drive to the cottage at the airport, it is revealed she is hiding the fact that she and her long-time fiancé Wyn have broken up 5 months ago. Wyn is also a part of Harriet and Sabrina’s friend group, so Harry knows all her friends will be devastated when they find out the truth, which is why she decides not to tell them.  When she gets to the cottage, she is extremely shocked to find out that Sabrina has invited Wyn without telling her. Wyn and Harriet have to keep up their relationship for the week and pretend like they aren’t broken up, and Sabrina has made a detailed itinerary for all of them to follow, which doesn’t make things better for Harriet and Wyn because they have to be around each other all the time. 

All throughout the trip, Henry dives into the deep stories and perspectives of each character, including the story of Wyn and Harriet through a scene from the past every few chapters, going through their whole story from the moment they first met all the way up until now. It is also announced at the cottage that their whole friend group is their for Sabrina and her fiancé Parth’s wedding, so Harriet and Wyn have to get through this whole week without acting like they want to kill each other and instead act like they are as blissfully in love as they once were, but the problem is that Harriet is still extremely drawn to Wyn, and what she doesn’t know is that Wyn is still extremely drawn to her. Meanwhile, there is some tension throughout the book involving Sabrina, Cleo, and Cleo’s girlfriend Kimmy, when Cleo reveals to Harriet that she and Kimmy have been denying Sabrina’s past requests to visit them because they are too busy and Sabrina is not too happy with them, causing some tension before the wedding. While Harriet is recalling the past memories she had with Wyn when they were together, including meeting each other’s parents and Wyn proposing over a box of take out in an apartment, it is revealed in the middle of the book that Wyn’s dad dies, causing him to completely rethink his life in a state of grief and break up with Harriet over a four minute phone call. It is also mentioned many times throughout the book that Harriet went to med school at Columbia and later became a surgeon, and all her life she has been praised by her parents for her amazing effort and hard work, but she also has an estranged sister named Eloise who is six years older than her that her parents had when they were very young, and Harriet has been the center of attention all her life while she is praised for her amazing achievements. However, over the course of the book she starts to realize she doesn’t actually like her job of being a surgeon and she is just doing it because she feels pressured by her parents to achieve success since she has been “the smart kid” ever since she was little. 

In the middle of the book, Harriet and Wyn go down to the cellar to get wine, but they get locked in. Harriet keeps seeing Wyn mention a coffee table and a book, so she suspects that he is seeing someone, which hurts her especially right after their breakup, but she tells herself not to focus on it. To distract Wyn, she tells him to tell her anything he can think of, to which he brings up when they first were in the cellar playing hide and seek, but Wyn scared Harriet and made her move because she didn’t know he was there, which led to them talking in the dark and them kissing for the first time. She then finally brings up the topic she has tried to avoid and asks if he is dating someone, and he has a very angry response and flips the question on her, accusing her of being with the guy that he thinks Harriet cheated on him with. He says that he just wants to know if she is happy, and she says that she is fine, but secretly all she can think about is being without him.  

After the cellar, Harriet and Wyn have to acknowledge their feelings for each other so they start sneaking around and hooking up when no one is there. They grow closer and closer throughout the book Sabrina, Cleo, and Harriet get into a fight because Sabrina blames Harriet for not telling her about the breakup and accuses her of never calling her, and is still angry at Cleo for canceling whenever she wants to visit. This fight forces the three of them to finally acknowledge their group is breaking apart and they are not the same people from when they first met in college. Sabrina also wants all of them to get matching tattoos, which makes it awkward because none of them want to get tattoos at all. Sabrina says it will be something to commemorate their friendship because it is their last summer at the cottage and they should do something special to remember it. Sabrina points out they have all been planning to get matching tattoos for a decade, and Wyn says that none of them have decided on what they would get, but Sabrina says that it’s not about what tattoo they get, it’s about the bond. Cleo says that Sabrina should have asked them before getting the shops to stay open just for them, and she can’t assume they would all do whatever she wants. 

Sabrina is clearly hurt by this, and Harriet says that it is just a permanent decision they all need to get used to. Cleo says that is not what she means, and that Sabrina shouldn’t decide on something for all of them and then just get all of them to do it without any of their opinions. Parth says that Sabrina is doing all of this for them and that that’s what this whole trip was about, which Cleo says that if it was actually for them, Sabrina would respect her decision to not get a tattoo. Cleo asks to drop the topic, and Sabrina says fine, she will drop that her friend keeps canceling and that the other one never texts her back and she is the only one that actually cares they are growing apart. 

Harriet runs after her, and says she does care about the friendship, but Sabrina turns around and asks if it is sudden, and she is crying, which is a surprise to Harriet because Sabrina never cries. Harriet is confused, but says it’s not about the friendship, and Sabrina says that of course it is, but Harriet interrupts and says it’s about Wyn. She says that they can’t get matching tattoos because they aren’t together anymore, and Sabrina says that it seemed like this whole week they seemed like they were working things out. Harriet is incredibly confused by what Sabrina means, and she continues that the past week it seemed like Harriet and Wyn were back together. Harriet is confused because she had never told Sabrina about the breakup, so how else could she know something had happened if she had never been told that Wyn and Harriet broke up, unless she did know and was told by someone else. Harriet demands to know what Sabrina means, and Sabrina admits that Parth visited Wyn a few weeks ago, and he saw on Wyn’s phone that Wyn had a long message drafted about how he was sorry for how the breakup happened. Harriet is confused as to why Sabrina didn’t say anything, until Sabrina says that Harriet was the one not texting her or telling her anything about her life, and about how Cleo always cancels and she had to make Wyn come this summer to the cottage, and Harriet thinks about all the times that Sabrina had shoved the two of them together, and realizes that all of this was a game. Sabrina is confused that Harriet is angry, and says she was just trying to help them get back together. 

 Harriet realizes that the only reason Sabrina invited Wyn on this trip is so that she could help Wyn and Harriet get back together, but Sabrina put them through so many awkward moments with Wyn just so she could help them, while all week Harriet and Cleo were pushing themselves all week to be better people just for Sabrina to make her happy. Cleo comes out from around the corner and says that she didn’t know Harriet and Wyn broke up and didn’t know this whole week was just a game. Sabrina says it was not a game, she was helping them get back together, and Harriet responds that if they actually wanted to be together then they would be together. Sabrina says that they wouldn’t because Harriet can never make up her mind about what she wants, but Harriet replies that she and Wyn don’t want to get back together anyway and they can’t make each other happy anymore. 

Cleo says that Sabrina can’t just decide things for everyone and what is best based on what she wants, and Sabrina knew how stressed Cleo was about coming this week and she even had to force Wyn into it otherwise he wouldn’t come, and Sabrina says she did this because she is the only one who actually makes an effort to hang out anymore and she is the one who checks back in when no one responds. Cleo argues that both she and Harriet have seperate things in their lives and they can’t just drop everything to hang out with Sabrina, which clearly changes Sabrina, and Harriet wants everything to stop before it all gets worse, so she suggests that everyone just takes a minute to cool off. Cleo says that she’s not mad, she just doesn’t want to pretend anymore that everything is fine and that these aren’t “the glory days” anymore, and that they’re different now and not as close as they used to be, how they each have different lives and schedules and are busy all the time, and Harriet has cut them out of her life and never talks to them. Harriet says that she hasn’t cut them out, she just has been keeping a painful secret that she can’t talk about, and Cleo argues that she and Sabrina are the people to come to with a secret because they are her best friends instead of just stop talking to them, but Sabrina says that Cleo can’t say that because she has been canceling all her plans with Sabrina. 

Cleo angrily says that Sabrina has had all week to them that this was all just a scheme, and Harriet and Wyn aren’t together, and Sabrina just cares about how it used to be than how it is now and refusing to accept that they are growing up and it is fine. Sabrina is shocked at Cleo’s openness, and Cleo says that she has never been a person who does things that she doesn’t want to do but she has to now because of Sabrina, and Sabrina says that no one is making her stay and Cleo can leave if she wants, and Cleo says that she and Kimmy are getting a hotel for the night. Sabrina asks if she and Kimmy are really going to “uncouple” from the friendship and Cleo just says she is taking some space. Sabrina says they won’t find anywhere to stay, and Cleo says they might just sleep in the guest house. Sabrina asks what will happen after that, and Cleo says she doesn’t know but maybe they will leave. Harriet looks back and realizes that Wyn, Kimmy, and Parth are just standing there in shock because they heard everything. 

That night, Harriet is so stressed that she cleans the apartment, a coping mechanism when she is nervous. She recalls the night Wyn broke up with her and for months she would almost call him so then blocked his number so she didn’t tempt herself. She goes into Wyn’s room and sees a packed suitcase on the floor, which she is shocked and hurt by and asks why he is leaving. He says that he shouldn’t have come in the first place and this is his fault. Harriet sits in his lap and she says she doesn’t like how when something goes wrong, he never talks to her about it, for example after the fight when they both got into the car and didn’t say anything to each other. Harriet thinks that Wyn is mad at her about not going through with their wedding and thinks that he thinks she was putting it off and didn’t want to commit to anything so she just kept avoiding it. This is what Wyn thought she was doing, until she tells him that she was trying to be easy for him because he was going through so much grief and was so unhappy, and she didn’t want him to have to be rushed though his time of grief and so she pretended she was fine because she didn’t want to be needy, and she thought that if Wyn saw what she was going through separately he wouldn’t want her anymore, and Wyn says he will always want her no matter what. 

The morning after the fight with Sabrina, Harriet wakes up to an empty kitchen and Parth tells her that he and Sabrina got into a fight and she left, and that he was waiting for the relationship to end because she only wanted to get married to have more comfort once her dad sold the cottage. Harriet walks around the town and finds Cleo sitting by herself. The two women talk about their fight and Cleo reveals the reason she has been so anxious and emotional lately is because she and Kimmy are having a baby, and Harriet freaks out at the extremely good news. Cleo admits that she is scared at the thought of having a baby because she thinks she will be a bad mom, and Harriet reassures her that she will be amazing at it. Cleo also says that is the reason why she and Kimmy have been canceling on Sabrina and Parth so many times is that Kimmy’s dad keeps sending over baby things and she doesn’t want to reveal the secret to anyone. Cleo also admits that she is scared of what this baby will mean for the friendship, because she will be tired all the time and she is worried that no one will like her anymore. 

Harriet says this is absolutely not true and that of course people will like her, but Cleo says people will like Kimmy because she is always fun and sometimes Cleo feels left out and is sometimes jealous. Harriet says that why she loves Kimmy is because she makes Cleo happy, and even if Cleo becomes a different person after the baby, she is Harriet’s best friend and Harriet will still love her anyway. Cleo realizes that maybe the fight with Sabrina was wrong and that she shouldn’t have been so hard with her, and Harriet says that she should use her pregnancy as an excuse because all will be forgiven and Sabrina will be super happy and plan a super extravagant party. Cleo thinks that Sabrina will be upset that she told Harriet first about the pregnancy, and Harriet says she can either pretend not to know, to which Cleo gives her a look, or they can just talk about it. Harriet wants to find something for Sabrina-after the whole tattoo scandal-so they can actually have a good memory from the place. 

When she is walking around, she realizes she is at Easy Lane, the place of the tattoo fight the night before. She walks around the street and sees a door that says 125, and then 127. She reaches 123 and then realizes. The location of her special surprise from Sabrina is at 123 Easy Lane. She goes through a door that says EARTHEN and someone calls her name and says that things are set up for her. She walks through the place and comes face-to-face with plates, bowls, wooden shelves, and some rooms. Harriet is shocked that Sabrina would remember anything about her pottery class because she only mentioned it a few times.  She finds it embarrassing to talk about the class because she thinks people won’t take it seriously and say it’s just a hobby, but it’s not just a hobby. It’s a place she goes where she feels trapped and doesn’t want to focus on anything else because she is too terrified. She realizes that Sabrina did all of this out of love and focused on Harriet more than she realized and this whole week was out of love, not for some game to torture Wyn and Harriet, because she cares about them. Harriet chooses an apron and goes to work, and she immediately calms and all her other thoughts drift away, and it doesn’t matter if the thing she is making looks good, but that she loves doing it. She is forming a bowl and is completely relaxed that she starts crying. Not tears of sadness, but tears of emotion of all the things that have happened over the past week. Henry calls it “A slow, quiet overflow of feeling.” She keeps working and is relaxed when she looks up and sees Wyn standing in the doorway. 

He says that when he woke up she had already gone, and she explained that she went out and then came to the surprise from Sabrina. She is confused about how he found him but he says you can’t forget the address and it was a missed opportunity and he remembers how Harriet had said it should have nee 123 Easy Street. Harriet asks if he wants to try working on what she is making and he says it looks too hard and he wouldn’t want to break it. She says that they can just put it back after because she isn’t going to have time to finish it, and he asks if it is sad for her to work on something she won’t get to finish. Harriet says she has enjoyed this, and Wyn says Sabrina did a good job of choosing this. Wyn says that his surprise was kayaking, and that Cleo and Kimmy’s surprise was a couple’s massage. Harriet is surprised that Sabrina didn’t get her and Wyn a couple’s massage, but Wyn says he is not surprised because Harriet hates being touched by strangers, which warms Harriet’s heart because all these people know her so well and pay attention to her even when she doesn’t think they do. 

Harriet tells Wyn to sit down and relax so he can work on the clay. He is nervous, and when she tells him it is like driving and to get his hands damp, he jokes that you should never drive with damp hands. She tells him that she thought he wanted to do this and she won’t make him, and he says that he’s stalling because he doesn’t want to ruin it, but she reassures him that you can’t ruin it. He pushes a little too hard on the pedal, and the vase almost topples, and he tells her that he did almost ruin it. She leans across him to help him with the balance of the vase, and she catches herself accidentally staring at him. When he looks up, she says she has to tell him something, and he is less excited. She tries to prepare hersef and tells him that she hates her job. She is expecting a super huge reaction from him and she imagines her parents and all the people that have helped her along the way will come barging in super angry, but all she cares about is Wyn’s reaction. She is about to have a panic attack when he doesn’t respond, but he is gentle and asks if something bad happened at the hospital. She shakes her head and says it’s hard to explain. He wants her to try, but she can’t tell him that she spends all of her time being extremely unhapy and even though she tries to push that feeling down, she is always unhappy. 

Instead she manages to say that she’s not good at it, to which he responds she is brilliant. She begins to protest, what if she’s not brilliant and what if she’s put her time and energy and effort into something, and there is so much money in loans and her parents had to pay for some of them because she didn’t have good credit, and how she has built a life for herself where all she does is wait for surgeries to be over and for the day to be over so she can be here where she feels in the right place. She explains that she loved med school, but she hates hospitals and the lights give her headaches and when she gets home she doesn’t relax because she knows she has to go back there again, and she says she has tried to love what she does, and she’s waiting for something to change and for her to feel like she thought it would be originally, but she hates it een though she gets better at it. Wyn asks why she didn’t tell him this, and she tells him that she is telling him, he asks why wouldn’t she tell him when she needed him and when he was there, and why wouldn’t he just let her in. She admits she was ashamed of how he went all the way across the country for her and things were so hard for him because of what he was going through at the time, and she didn’t want to make it worse for him. He laughs and says that he feels stupid because she was in pain and he noticed, but thought it was about him, so he lost her. She protests and says he had more important things going on. He says there is nothing bigger than her, and she says what made it so hard is that he built everything around her and he left all that he cared about for her, and she isn’t even the person Wyn thought she was. 

He says that he knows who she is, that he loves her laugh, and sees the best in everyone, and she tries to look at things from other people’s points of view even when she has her own and even when she is mad at him, he wants to be close to her, and it doesn’t have anything at all to do with her having a job. He brings her closer to him and says that everything Harriet’s parents did for her is because they want her to be happy but they don’t know what’s best for her and she deserves to be happy. He says everything is better when she is happy, and truly asks her to forget what she thinks anyone else wants and to focus on what she wants. She asks him what if she comes to Montana with him, and he looks up at her with an apology in his voice, and says she can’t keep doing what other people want for her. She argues that she loves him, and he says that he can’t let her build her life around him like what he did because it would tear them up again and she needs to figure out what she really wants. She says that she wants him, and he says she will wake up later and realize she has given everything up for him, and he can’t do that to her. She says she doesn’t want to keep feeling like this, and he promises that it will get easier. When she suggests that they leave, he asks if they should put back the play, and she says maybe it will be able to be shipped, and he asks if she really wants it, and she really does. 

Once they get back to the cottage, there is no one there, so Harriet goes outside and finds Parth on the shore of the beach. She apologizes for not telling him about her and Wyn sooner, and he says that Harriet is like a sister to him, so she is already forgiven. She asks why he is just out here by himself, and he says that he and Sabrina got into a fight and she walked out. Harriet immediately thinks it’s her fault, and Parth admits that a part of him has been waiting for her to leave ever since they got engaged because the whole reason of their engagement was because she wanted comfort since everything in her life was falling apart. Harriet says that she is scared, and Parth laughs because Sabrina is never scared of anything, but Harriet tells him that in their families, everyone would always walk out after a fight and never apologize, so Sabrina is scared that Parth will give up on her. 

Once everyone (except Sabrina) is at the cottage, they decide they are all going to look for her. Cleo says that they were supposed to spend the morning together, but Parth tells her that nothing was on the itinerary for the day. He says that this is his fault because he was upset about the fight and he acted like he hadn’t sided with her when he actually had, and now Sabrina’s gone and they have no idea where she is. Wyn suggests that they call her family, but Parth says she would never go to her family, they don’t even know that she and Parth are engaged. They decide to split up, and Harriet and Cleo go around town to Bernie’s their favorite restaurant and the staff say they haven’t seen her. They check everywhere around town they can think of, Roxy theater, the theater they like to go to, Murder, She Read, their favorite bookstore, and the Lobster Hut. She isn’t at any of those places, and her phone is dead. They check online hotels Sabrina might have checked into, but there are none available, and on their group text Wyn says that Parth is really worried and calling hospitals. Cleo asks if Sabrina would sail off by herself, and Harriet remembers that she is a really good sailor, so that is a possibility. Harriet says that sailing is Sabrina’s happy place and it makes her think of her mom. All of a sudden, Harriet gets another realizaton and another place for them to check. 

They drive right in front of a little chapel where Sabrina’s car is visible. The chapel where Sabrina’s parents got married has a huge impact on her, so it makes sense to Harriet why she would be here. When they get inside, Cleo asks if Sabrina wants to be alone, and Harriet asks if she needs to know she isn’t alone, so they walk up behind her. Sabrina turns around, having been crying and they both run to her. Sabrina tells them that her phone died earlier, and she didn’t want the trip to end and she’s not ready for everything to change, and she says that Cleo’s right and that they have been growing apart. Sabrina says when she found out about Harriet and Wyn’s breakup, she was hurt at first and then mad but realized they’ve always been together for so long, and if Harriet and Wyn weren’t together, then maybe Harriet didn’t want the rest of them. Harriet promises that she wasn’t, but then Sabrina says that’s why Harriet didn’t tell them, because they were growing apart. Harriet says that she and Wyn didn’t grow apart, but that she just pushed him away because she was scared, and Cleo tells Sabrina that things have been complicated for her. Sabrina then says that she was really happy when she was a kid because her parents were happy, but then after they seperated it took time for her to move on. Both her parents got a fresh start, but she didn’t feel like she was in either one, only the relationship her parents were in, but once it was over she just moved back and forth between them. 

But then she met Cleo and Harriet, and she felt like something again. Cleo says that she chose Mattingly (the college they all went to) because she didn’t have a good high school experience so she wanted to be somewhere where she knew no one and could just be alone, but once she met Harriet and Sabrina she’d never had friends like that, but before fall break she realized that the three of them were always going to be together. Harriet agrees and says that no matter what happens with her and Wyn, the three of them are always going to be lucky to have each other. 

They all start crying, and Sabrina says she has been crying a lot, Harriet agrees and says it is because of “the magic of the cottage,” and Cleo says it is because of pregnancy hormones. Sabrina is extremely shocked, and Cleo says she was going to announce it in a speech. Sabrina can’t believe it, and says anything else the two of them want to tell her they should because she can’t be mad right now. Harriet says that she broke Sabrina’s straightener in college, and Cleo admits she had a girl stay over who used Sabrina’s toothbrush because she thought it was Cleo’s. Harriet says that she lost a pair of sunglasses that the three of them used to share, and Cleo says she once told a poet Sabrina dated that he was a witch. Sabrina says that those stories are why Cleo will be a great mom, and Harriet tells Sabrina that Parth isn’t going anywhere. Sabrina is unsure because of what happened to Harriet and Wyn, and Harriet reassures her that she is stronger then the two of them were, and that Sabrina can marry Parth if she wants to, and Sabrina says that she does want to, and the three of them go back to the cottage together. 

The next day, it is Sabrina and Parth’s wedding, and there are sunflower bouquets and cake, and all of them came up with baby names together sitting by the pool. Parth and Wyn are stunned to hear about the pregnancy, and soon enough Parth and Sabrina are getting married. 

After the wedding, they are jumping off the dock and eating pizza, and they don’t talk about when they will leave tomorrow, only right now when they are having fun and being with each other. When they get into their room, Wyn promises Harriet that he will always love her, and when Harriet wakes up the next morning, she leaves before Wyn wakes up even though she knows he would want her to wake him up. She goes down to the kitchen and finds Cleo and Sabrina. Sabrina asks if Wyn is coming, and Harriet says that she let him sleep, but the other two give her a look and she knows she will regret it later.  They drive to the airport together and stay at the security gate for a long time. They promise to see each other again soon, but Harriet still doesn’t know what she will do when she gets back to San Francisco, because both Cleo and Sabrina said she needed to figure out what she needed to do on her own. She sits on the plane alone and pulls her phone out and is surprised at what’s on her phone. A website that Wyn pulled up for her that has an oak table with a firls of yellow flowers ande purple mountains behind it. Harriet suddently realizes that this is where she needs to be.

 She realizes that Wyn still is afraid that she can love him, and all her life she has let other people decide her happiesss for her, and now she is realizing what her happiness finally is, so she stands and gets off the plane the way she came. She speeds through the airport and trips outside, dials a nuber for a car to take her back to the cottage, but then sees Wyn’s car and freezes. They run toward each other, and she says that she couldn’t say goodbye. He asks why she isn’t on the plane, and she says it is going in the wrong direction. She asks if when he said she couldn’t keep doing what other people wanted, she meant him and asks him if he got to tell her what does and doesn’t make her happy. He says he wasn’t trying to do that, and she disagrees because she wants to come out to Montana and be with him. Even though things could still go horribly again like last time, she doesn’t care. She can find a job she hates less and figure out a way to pay her loans, but she know that she doesn’t want to be tired or have different schedules than everyone else, and she just wants to enjoy her life while it is happening, and she doesn’t want to be away from him or his family either, she wants to be with them all the time. He tells her that he is scared, and when he woke up she was already gone, so he chased after her. He says that if she was already in the airport, he would have bought a ticket and gotten on the plane. He realizes that he would go anywhere for her, and if she realizes in Montana she needs to be somewhere else, they can still make it work because he is hers, and he would do anything for her, and they should be together right now and figure out everything else later. Harriet asks if he is saying she can come home, and Wyn says it’s not home unless she’s there, Harriet knows this is right where she wants to be.

She calls her parents to tell her that she has withdrawn from her job, and they are shocked and want to fly out. Her parents want to talk it out and help her make a better decision. She realizes that she has worked so hard to earn their love and approval, and they haven’t gotten any closer from it. She tells them she has already made the decision, but she is going to pay all the loans back herself and they shouldn’t worry about her. Her mom starts to cry and says the decision if out of nowhere, and Harriet says it has taken her years to make this decision and she has already found a job at a pottery studio. Her mom says she doesn’t make pottery, and Harriet says she does, it’s just not good and even though it won’t look impressive on the Christmas card, it’s what she’s doing right now. Her dad asks why is she doing it if it’s not going to look impressive, and Harriet says because it makes her happy, and nothing that makes her happy is a waste. She says that she actually wants a life, and she doesn’t want surgery enough to make it her life. Her mom tells her it is a mistake, and she says if it if, it’s her own fault. Her dad still wants to fly out to figure it out, but Harriet tells them they can’t do that and she’s not going to change my mind, and she is not even in San Francisco, she is in the Denver airport going to Montana. When she gets on the plane, she gets a text from her sister Eloise saying that their mom called her freaking out, but that she is not responsible for their mom’s feelings, but their mom is still convinced that Harriet is having a breakdown. Harriet tells her sister that it might be a breakdown, but she never liked surgery, she only liked the money and impressing people. Eloise texts back that she always resented Harriet because she thought Harriet was just like their parents and now realizes the pressure Harriet felt and that Eloise is proud of her, and she says their mom will get over it eventually, and that Harriet is doing what is right for her. Her dad comes around first, sending pottery articles and a TV competition between ceramists. 

Harriet’s mom is harder to accept the change, when her parents fly out to Montana, her mom is silent the first day. Her parents start coming to the beginning pottery classes with her, and after she shows them the projects she has worked on. When their car has arrived to take them to the airport, Harriet hugs her parents and they go into the car, but her mom turns around and comes back. She says it has never been about the Christmas card, and she gave everything up. Harriet understands and says her mom had to give everything up for them, but her mom interrupts and says she gave everything up for Harriet’s dad. He wanted to keep working and move, and she thought if he was happy it would make her happy, and she is actually terrified for Harriet, that Harriet will wake up and realize it was all a mistake, that she has built her life around someone without any space for her, and she just wants Harriet to be happy. Harriet promises her mom that she is happy, and she came to Montana for herself, not for Wyn, and she knows what she wants. Her mom admits she is never going to stop worrying about her daughter and Harriet promises to tell her mom whenever she is not okay, and then her mom heads back into the car and Harriet watches them drive away. 

Wyn comes outside and hugs Harriet, and she knows that she is happy. Harriet’s new home has a wooden table, wildflowers and a golden and green field, walks with Wyn and his mother Gloria. Smoking, making brownies, and sleeping over in Wyn’s old bedroom so they don’t have to go back to their new apartment. They are getting married again, and the invitation is stuck to Gloria’s fridge. Harriet memorizes all of the floors and the places in town, and there is a shop only for sauces that Harriet and Wyn love. The two of them bought maple syrup for Gloria’s birthday, which reminded her of Hank. Watching someone get emotional over a memory of maple syrup makes Harriet think of her parents and all they have done for her, and she buys four more bottles of maple syrup. One for Parth and Sabrina, one for Cleo and Kimmy, and one for each of her parents. There are still some times where she is anxious and wonders if she made the right decision and if she will ever find something she truly loves, or if her parents will ever really understand her. 

She still thinks of the cottage sometimes, of her friends and the memories she has made there. She still thinks of the old dorm room she shared with Cleo in Sabrina in college, and when she met Cleo and Kimmy’s daughter Zora for the first time, she thinks about when she and her mom drove out to San Francisco to get the rest of her things and move it out to Montana, and remembers the memories she made with her mom and all the stories her mom told her on that trip, and when her mom asked to hear the story of how Harriet and Wyn met, and how all her mom wants is for Harriet to be happy. She tells her mom that she needs to find what it is that makes her happy too. She texts with Eloise sometimes, trying to get to know her sister better. She thinks of the future, on the events that she and Wyn will have, their wedding, and a bachelorette trip Sabrina has started planning for her. Mostly whenever she needs to feel happy, she goes home to Wyn’s Montana house, where he will always be waiting for her.