In the chap­ter from “The Last One at the Wed­ding,” the pro­tag­o­nist expe­ri­ences a surge of antic­i­pa­tion as they final­ly have a way to reach their daugh­ter, Mag­gie. Despite the excite­ment, repeat­ed attempts to call her yield busy sig­nals, indi­cat­ing that she is try­ing to call back. Anx­ious­ly wait­ing in Mag­gie’s child­hood bed­room, the pro­tag­o­nist is sur­round­ed by rem­nants of the past—old posters, tro­phies, and a sense of nos­tal­gia for the moments shared as a fam­i­ly.

When Mag­gie final­ly calls, her famil­iar voice brings a wave of emo­tions. The pro­tag­o­nist express­es con­cern for her well-being, but she reas­sures him that every­thing is fine and men­tions she is in her apart­ment in Boston. An awk­ward silence fol­lows as both strug­gle to nav­i­gate their con­ver­sa­tion. Hav­ing long rehearsed this moment, the pro­tag­o­nist feels the weight of the sit­u­a­tion and asks if she received the many cards he sent her. Mag­gie affirms this but quick­ly diverts the con­ver­sa­tion, express­ing a reluc­tance to dis­cuss their fam­i­ly issues.

Seek­ing more pos­i­tive ground, the pro­tag­o­nist shifts to Mag­gie’s job, express­ing pride in her three-year anniver­sary at Capac­i­ti, a once small start-up that has now turned into a tech giant. How­ev­er, the mood shifts abrupt­ly when Mag­gie announces that she is get­ting mar­ried. She shares details about her fiancé, Aidan, and the upcom­ing wed­ding planned by his fam­i­ly in New Hamp­shire. The infor­ma­tion hits the pro­tag­o­nist like a sur­prise rev­e­la­tion, over­whelm­ing him as he process­es the news of her engage­ment.

Amid the excite­ment, Mag­gie express­es a desire for her father to be present at the wed­ding despite past dif­fi­cul­ties in their rela­tion­ship. This moment marks a turn­ing point in their com­mu­ni­ca­tion, reveal­ing both the dis­tance and the con­nec­tion that still exist between them as she nav­i­gates new begin­nings in her life.