Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, emotional abuse, sexual content, substance use, and cursing.

Later, Hazel heads to the council dinner at the lodge but is intercepted by a few women who claim to be her fans. They tell her about an active and growing fan page on Facebook and reveal that her recent newsletters have prompted them to take a spur-of-the-moment trip of their own, which is how they ended up in Story Lake, to see the inspiration for her current work in progress. They express anger over Jim’s interview and claim that he comes off “smelling like someone desperate to prove how important he is” (337). The brief interaction makes Hazel feel better and reinvigorated about her writing.

At the dinner, Darius informs the council that the town is going bankrupt because a mass exodus of residents in recent years has halved the revenue they collect in property taxes. The county commissioners in Dominion have ruled that the town must upgrade its sewage treatment plant, but the town cannot afford it. If they can’t come up with the money, they’ll have to declare bankruptcy, which will result in Story Lake losing its charter and ceasing to exist.