Summary
Eight years later, after Theo leaves school and starts working at Hobie's shop, he runs into Platt Barbour in the street. When Theo asks about Andy, Platt tells him that he died in a boating accident after their ship capsized.
Platt and Theo go to a bar, and talk about Mr. Barbour. Mr. Barbour's bipolar disorder began while he studied at Harvard, and he occasionally spent time in psychiatric units for his mental illness. When Andy, Platt, and Mr. Barbour were in Maine, Mr. Barbour started to have a manic episode, and they all decided to take a trip on the boat before going to eat, since food helped to calm down Mr. Barbour's symptoms. But, while they were on the boat, Mr. Barbour fell into the water, and as Andy and Platt tried to get him out of the water, a wave crashed into them and capsized the boat. Platt was able to get back into the boat, but Andy and Mr. Barbour both drown in the accident.
After Platt insists that Theo see Mrs. Barbour, she asks him to have dinner with them. On his way out, Platt tells him that he's seeing Tom Cable a lot, and Theo only remembers Tom as the person who sold him out to their teachers and acted coldly toward him after his mother's death. Tom is also meeting up with Kitsey, but Platt is hesitant about their meet-ups.
At the antique shop, Theo is promoted to partner after he starts bringing in significant profits. But, his profits mostly come from fraudulent practices, as he is selling fake antiques to unknowing collectors. Hobie doesn't know about this, and Theo mostly gets away with it by buying back the antique for ten percent more than the collector paid when he is discovered, and then reselling the piece to a different unknowing person with a paper trail indicating the piece was formerly part of a prominent person's collection. This mostly worked for Theo until one of the collectors, Lucius Reeve, refuses to accept his offer to buy the fraudulent piece back, and accuses Hobie of colluding with Theo because he makes the pieces Theo sells.
Pippa visits from London and brings her boyfriend Everett, who Theo immediately despises. Theo is still in love with Pippa, and can't understand what she sees in Everett, as he believes Everett is bland and predatory, especially since she helps pay for their shared flat and she often helps him with his money troubles. Even though he is seeing two other women, Theo can't help thinking about Pippa, and twice tries to drunkenly kiss her before stopping himself. He also constantly emails her and they stay in touch, but he can't tell her how he feels because she doesn't seem to reciprocate his affections. Instead of confronting Pippa, he decides to drug himself, blocking out his misery.
At dinner with the Barbours, Theo meets with Kitsey and Toddy (the youngest Barbour brother), and realizes how beautiful Kitsey has become. Kitsey is taking a semester off from Wellesley after the death of Andy and her father, and is tormented by thoughts that she was supposed to go up to the cabin with her father and Platt, but decided to stay on campus for a party. The fact that Kitsey might understand some of the what-ifs Theo asks himself about his mother's death is especially comforting.
Theo decides to confront his growing dependence on drugs, and locks his stash in the storage locker. Seeing the wrapped painting in the storage locker tempts him to open it, but he resists and leaves. He goes through an intense withdrawal, and descends into a deep depression where he dreads life and those around him.
After eight days of withdrawal, he finally goes back to working at the shop, and Hobie tells him Lucius Reeve has called several times. Meanwhile, Platt tells him that the Barbours are hosting a dinner for him and that he'd like to sell some furniture and coins without telling his mother, and Theo agrees as long as Platt writes a bill of sale for the piece he sold to Lucius Reeve.
He meets Lucius for dinner and Lucius tells him that he knows about the painting, making the connection between Welty's ring and the painting. Theo denies this, and Lucius shows him an article stating that the painting was used as collateral in a drug deal in Florida, leading to the death of a housekeeper and an ongoing investigation into the painting's whereabouts. Theo continues to deny having the painting, and Lucius threatens to call the art-crimes division of Interpol on him and Hobie.
Theo finally tells Hobie about his fraudulent sales, and Hobie insists that he buy back all of the fakes he sold, but Theo knows they would go bankrupt if he did so. Hobie forgives Theo, but knows that these pieces would call the shop's integrity into question. Theo wants to tell Hobie about the painting, but can't bring himself to share that he has it, as he doesn't want to bring Hobie into his troubles. Heading to bed after their conversation, he notices someone waiting outside his window, and is reassured by the fact that no matter how many people as Lucius may hire to trail him, he won't learn the whereabouts of the painting.
Analysis
Eight years later, when Theo meets Platt, he is sucked back into his temporary childhood home by the Barbour brother that is the most deviant and disobedient. Little has changed in the Barbours' apartment, and he describes it as "stepping into a portal back to childhood" (549). Despite the deaths in the family, the apartment mostly remains the same, the things inside preserving the history of the home and the memories of the people who lived there. But, Andy and Mr. Barbour have died, and Mrs. Barbour has become a recluse.
Theo finds it extremely difficult to cope with Andy's death, as he realizes there are many things, many small kindnesses and gestures, that he missed because of his self-absorption. Andy's death is especially tragic given his hatred of sailing, and his desperate attempt to fish his father out of the water. Theo grows closer to Mrs. Barbour partially because she misses Andy and Theo reminds her of Andy's childhood, and he restarts a relationship with the Barbours.
As Theo grows closer to the Barbours, he becomes attracted to Kitsey even though he is still in love with Pippa. After meeting Pippa's boyfriend, Theo is extremely jealous, but he also realizes that Pippa is an emotional crutch for him. He describes her as a "missing kingdom, the unbruised part of [him]self [he'd] lost with [his] mother" (575). His love for Pippa is largely a metaphor for his childhood innocence, and the time right before he lost his mother in the bombing—the magical moment when he first saw an attractive girl in a museum. Pippa is also the only other person he knows who was present at the bombing and can understand his pain, and this consoles him.
Instead of dealing with his obsession with Pippa, he drugs himself, developing an addiction he occasionally decides to painfully withdraw from. But, after his reunion with the Barbours, Theo decides to put his drugs in the storage locker, and after several days of withdrawal, he can function normally again. Theo's addiction and his counterfeit business resemble his father's habits, and Theo increasingly mimics his father's destructive behaviors.
This self-destructive pattern allows Lucius Reeve to recognize Theo's deceptions, and his desperate attempts to take the painting and preserve it put Theo in a difficult position. Theo is forced to protect the painting, and continue to lie to Hobie about it, but he must also reveal his counterfeit business. Theo's lies begin to shape him, and his paranoia starts to consume him, even though he still believes he can prevent Lucius from finding the painting.
