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Summary
Chapters 7-8
Chapter 7
Evie notices that Ryan’s friends seem unhappy with the amount of time she and Ryan have been spending together. They skipped the pre-Kentucky Derby party because Rachel was going to be there, and Ryan is still holding a grudge against her—something Evie thinks is overblown. She muses that if she were a good girlfriend, she’d encourage Ryan to spend time with his friends, but she knows she isn’t one.
At the party, Evie wears an oversized hat she feels ridiculous in, although others are wearing even bigger ones. They are served mint juleps in cups engraved with their initials, and Ryan casually mentions that he has six of these cups at home. As they mingle, Ryan runs into an old friend, James, who appears disheveled and possibly struggling with addiction. His put-together girlfriend introduces herself as Lucca Marino, and Evie’s nerves spike upon hearing her name. Attempting to stay composed, she comments on how unusual the name is and asks where Lucca is from, realizing she’s echoing the same invasive questions Ryan’s friends asked her. Lucca replies that she’s from Eden, North Carolina, and mentions that her mother passed away from breast cancer, which rattles Evie further. As Evie studies Lucca, she realizes they look strikingly similar.
Overwhelmed, Evie excuses herself and goes to the bathroom, where she has a panic attack. She’s shaken because she, too, is from Eden, North Carolina, her mother died of breast cancer, and her real name is Lucca Marino.
Lucca Marino: Ten Years Ago
Ten years ago, Lucca sneaks into a large house through a bedroom window during the Albrittons’ engagement party. She swaps her leggings and hoodie for a revealing cocktail dress and puts on a long auburn wig, a disguise she has practiced enough to adjust even in the dark. She crosses paths with a woman she knows, but the woman doesn’t recognize her, because she only knows Lucca as a girl who works in the back of a flower shop, and no one would expect her to mingle with high society. She creates a diversion and steals expensive jewelry, then sneaks out through the same window, once again dressed in her hoodie and leggings.
She returns to her mother’s trailer with a cinnamon roll, her mother’s favorite. Her mother can only manage half, a sign of her failing health. She compliments an origami swan Lucca makes–Lucca tried to learn origami from her mother, who can make many different animals, but she’s only mastered the swan. Her mother tells Lucca she is working too hard and should enjoy her senior year. Lucca lies, saying she can manage both, and they silently let the lie pass. She also claims she applied to colleges even though they couldn’t afford the fees, knowing her mother won’t live long enough to discover the truth.
Lucca then goes to her mother’s sewing room, where her mother once worked as a seamstress and jewelry maker. It is here that Lucca learned how clothes and accessories can transform someone into anyone they want to be. But her mother’s talents aren’t enough to cover the mounting medical bills, forcing Lucca to take a job at the flower shop. There, she scopes out wealthy women with expensive jewelry, waiting for the right moment—often after delivering flowers for a party—to steal it. She uses a fake name, changes her appearance with different hair and makeup, and keeps the shop life separate from her real identity. With her mother’s tools, she disassembles the stolen jewelry, melts down the gold, and reflects that, while her mother would be furious if she knew the truth, what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her.
Chapter 8: Present Day
Evie chastises herself for panicking in the bathroom and missing an opportunity to learn more about the woman claiming to be Lucca. She speculates that this encounter might be connected to her previous job. When she returns to Ryan, she learns that he and James were close as kids but haven’t seen each other in years, with James only back in town because his father broke his leg. Though she’s tempted to ask about James’s date, she holds back—aware that the version of herself she’s crafted for Ryan doesn’t pry, and she’s careful not to make any moment stand out in his memory. She reflects on how small deviations from routine—like turning in a circle before locking the door—are often what make certain events stick in the mind.
When the rest of the friend group arrives from pre-party drinks, Evie brings up James. They reveal that James has a gambling problem and betrayed Ryan’s trust a year ago, despite Ryan helping him secure a job and housing.
Later, Ryan wins money betting on a horse and jokes about taking a vacation to Mexico. Evie realizes that “Evie Porter” doesn’t have a passport, complicating the fantasy she briefly allows herself—one in which she stays with Ryan indefinitely, enjoying the ease and affection of their relationship. As they leave the party, Ryan mentions that the woman calling herself Lucca said something odd while Evie was in the bathroom: James was hoping to reconnect with Ryan, and they were hoping to get to know Evie as well. Ryan dismisses them, saying he’s not interested—James is now Lucca’s problem. Evie seduces him, hoping to make him forget about Ryan and Lucca.
Analysis
The Kentucky Derby party serves as a microcosm of the wealth and privilege Evie navigates. The seriousness with which these affluent people treat trivial things like oversized hats and engraved cups underscores how deeply embedded performance is within this culture—mirroring the way Evie herself performs to survive within it.
Evie’s cognitive dissonance grows as her feelings for Ryan become more genuine. She reflects on what it means to be a “good girlfriend,” wanting to support his friendships or dream about traveling with him, but she knows such fantasies are impossible given the life she has constructed. The closer she gets to Ryan emotionally, the more she confronts the boundaries of the role she’s playing. She’s trapped between the life she desires and the one she has built on lies, forcing her to constantly manage her behavior to maintain control over both.
The encounter with Lucca is a pivotal moment, marking a turning point in the narrative by exposing Evie’s origins. Learning that Evie is from humble beginnings explains much about her cynical view of the wealthy world she now inhabits. Her disdain for ridiculous hats and party culture isn’t just superficial—it reflects her deeper awareness that these people’s lives are built on surface-level appearances. Her mother’s lesson—that clothes and accessories allow someone to become whoever they want to be—reverberates throughout the story. Just as the wealthy partygoers prove their status through their extravagant hats and curated appearances, Evie has used fashion and identity as tools to transform herself. This lesson explains why she’s so adept at manipulating her surroundings and maintaining her facade with Ryan and his friends. But it also underscores the emotional toll of this transformation—Evie is constantly performing, not just to fit in, but to survive.
The flashbacks to her younger self, stealing jewelry and lying to her mother, highlight the origins of Evie’s expertise in deception. These experiences illustrate how necessity drove her to learn the art of lying—not out of malice, but to protect both herself and her mother. The lies she tells her mother about working less or applying to colleges reflect a mutual understanding that some untruths are necessary for survival. This insight links directly to Evie’s adult life, where lies are not just a tactic but a means of navigating a world where authenticity would leave her vulnerable.
