The Nest

It is February, and Jack calls Bea to inform her he is going to visit Leo, wondering if he has made any progress on his plan to pay back The Nest. Bea updates Jack on the rumors about Leo’s involvement on a project with Nathan. Bea attends a party at the home of an artist named Celia Baxter, a friend of Stephanie’s. She hopes to bump into Stephanie there, but Stephanie does not attend. Instead, Bea is accosted by a writer named Lena Novak—a fellow writer who once appeared in magazine profile with Bea and two other women; the article nicknamed them the “Glitterati Girls,” a moniker Bea hated but Lena embraced. Lena is now a wealthy and highly successful novelist.

After extracting herself from the conversation, Bea retrieves her coat. As she makes her way to the exit, she overhears Lena and Celia making fun of her writing and clothing and expressing pity for Bea’s dire career.

When the three-month deadline is up, Jack travels to Stephanie’s home in Brooklyn to talk to Leo. Having taken out a home equity line of credit against a beach house he and Walker own, Jack is eager for the funds from The Nest. Though Walker has scolded him that it is foolish to count on the inheritance, Jack is certain that it will help him regain his financial security.

Jack arrives at the building, but no one answers his buzzing. He tries looking in the windows of the building, and the dog of the security guard, Tommy O’Toole, is alerted. Jack explains who he is and asks Tommy whether he has a phone number for Stephanie. Tommy agrees to give Jack the number and invites him into the building. As Tommy locates the number, Jack studies a replica of Rodin’s statue The Kiss. Something about it strikes him; it appears to be damaged. Tommy returns, now wary of Jack, as Jack quizzes him about the sculpture. Eager for Jack to leave, Tommy places the call to Stephanie, but no one answers.

Tommy O’Toole, a former firefighter, acquired the Rodin statue when combing the debris of the World Trade Center. His wife, Ronnie, worked in one of the towers and was killed in the 9/11 attacks. Tommy’s daughter nagged him to stop participating in the cleanup efforts. Tommy finally agreed to do so, hoping on his last day to finally find an artifact that reminds him of Ronnie. When the Rodin statue appears, Tommy secretly takes it.

Melody sits in her car outside a secondhand store, trying to work up the nerve to enter. Melody previously sold the owner some furniture she refinished and, wanting to end Walter’s nagging, hopes the owner will buy more pieces. Melody recalls buying their house when the twins were toddlers. Walt insisted the remodeling would be too pricey, but Melody proceeded to do it herself, scrimping and saving where she could in the years that followed, assured that relief would come later when she gained access to The Nest.

Louisa and Nora continue to skip the Saturday SAT class. Another student named Simone has begun joining them. They spend the time in Simone’s apartment or at the Museum of Natural History. Simone, though also a high school junior, is sophisticated and seems older to Louisa.

Louisa often sketches at the museum; Simone compliments her talent, wondering why Louisa will not pursue art college. Louisa repeats Melody’s adage about the value of a general education. On another occasion, Louisa sketches, then heads to leave when she sees a couple in an intimate embrace hidden in a dark alcove. She realizes it is Nora and Simone.

Vinnie Massaro attempts to use the techniques he has learned in anger management courses while he works at his family’s pizzeria. He lost his arm in combat when a nearby improvised explosive device went off and now wears a prosthesis. Matilda Rodriquez, whom Vinnie met in rehab, enters. He is surprised to see that her foot is missing.

The narrative shifts to the aftermath of Leo’s accident. Both George Plumb and Bea go to the emergency room. George immediately advises Leo to feign a lack of memory about the events. Bea listens to Matilda’s family in the adjoining room. They debate whether to amputate her foot—her parents inform the doctor that they are undocumented, which Bea conveys to George. Matilda insists the foot be amputated.

The morning after Celia’s party, Bea wakes early, having dreamt about her late boyfriend, Tucker McMillan, who died of a stroke three years prior. Bea audited Tucker’s poetry class at Columbia after Stephanie suggested exploring another genre might jumpstart her writing. The relationship began when Bea was no longer his student. Tucker secured an apartment for them to be together in—even though his wife spent most of her time in Dublin—and upon his death, Bea was surprised to learn he left it to her. Tucker was also skeptical of The Nest.

She debates whether to show her new writing to Leo, though she is confident that it is good. She recalls how Leo always supported her writing and defended her in high school—especially after an incident where Bea was taken advantage of by another student. She leaves her apartment with the writing in hand, determined to show it to Leo.

Jack recalls meeting Walker after finishing college. Walker, an attorney, was doing pro bono work for the Gay Men’s Health Alliance. At the height of the AIDS crisis, Walker found himself depressed one night and entered a gay bar. There he met Jack, who immediately propositioned him; Walker responded uncharacteristically by kissing him. The two instantly became a couple. Walker insisted on monogamy and safe-sex practices.

Jack thinks back on this, wondering how his life might have turned out differently had he dated others during that time. His thoughts turn to the Rodin sculpture, certain it is the one he read about being missing from the World Trade Center rubble. He contacts an underground art dealer, hoping he can help Jack purchase it from O’Toole.

In Stephanie’s apartment, Leo works on a proposition he plans to present to Nathan. He suspects the idea Nathan has alluded to is one that he himself came up with years ago: a kind of writer’s hub. Stephanie encourages Leo to involve Paul and Leo thinks it over, admitting that Paper Fibres has become a strong publication and knowing he can improve it. Leo becomes optimistic that he can repay his family without having to dip into his secret account.

As he works, Bea arrives with her writing. She asks Leo to show it to Stephanie after he has read it. Bea leaves, and Leo sets it aside until after his meeting with Nathan.

After falling asleep in her car outside the consignment shop, Melody is awoken by tapping on her window. Two mothers from her daughters’ school are there. They joke to Melody, when she exits the car, about her failure to attend a recent financial aid workshop. Melody regrets telling them that she and Walter had a college fund established. She finds the women self-centered and materialistic.

One of the women notes that they just ran into Walter, gesturing across the street: It is their realtor’s office, and Walter appears to be meeting with her.

Nora recounts the first time Simone kissed her: They were in the kitchen of Simone’s apartment, and Louisa was in the bathroom. Since then, they had found ways to secretly kiss or fondle one another in hallways, restrooms, dressing rooms, and movie theatres. Nora becomes confused about her sexuality and tries to discuss it with Simone. Simone suggests Nora is “bicurious.”

Louisa tries to comprehend Nora kissing Simone. She wonders if Nora is gay and whether, being twins, that might mean she too is gay.