Necessary Lies

Ivy meets Henry Allen in one of the barns at night. He is supposed to check the burners on another barn but is too eager to be with Ivy. They are having sex when Ivy smells smoke: The burners have caught the nearby barn on fire. A volunteer fire truck arrives, and Ivy remains in hiding, not sure how to escape unseen. When the firefighters douse the other barns with water to prevent the fire from spreading, Ivy too becomes soaked. Mrs. Gardiner discovers her, and Ivy flees, fearful that her time with Henry Allen may have ended.

Charlotte undergoes surgery because of her injury, and her hospitalization cuts Jane’s orientation short. Some of Charlotte’s cases are transferred to Jane, including the Jordans and the Harts. As Jane familiarizes herself with the documents inside each folder, another social worker, Paula, offers to help her with the documents for Ivy’s sterilization petition.

Ivy tries to sleep late on the morning after the fire, but Nonnie wakes her by beating her and then orders her to go to work at the barn. William is fussy, and Ivy discovers his rash has spread and his skin is hot. She asks Mary Ella whether she applied the cream Nurse Ann prescribed and discovers Mary Ella mistakenly applied Nonnie’s arthritis cream to William’s rash.