Leah Payne, the novel’s narrator and protagonist, travels with her father, Harley Payne, to Holden Beach, North Carolina, not far from where they live. A passing storm leaves the beach chilly and windy, but Leah and her father witness a stunning double rainbow before the sunset. Sand fleas distract Leah from observing the sky. She watches the waves repeatedly displace the creatures, and Leah wonders if they can return to their mothers and fathers. Leah narrates the novel’s events as an older woman, reporting this moment as her last beach visit with her father.

Leah and Harley return to their small, humble home. They wrap themselves in “Mama’s quilt,” chilly from the drop in temperature. Thirteen-year-old Leah senses oncoming changes; she associates her feelings with the approaching turn of seasons and the new school year. However, she subtly hints at more drastic life transitions, leaving her with heavy contemplation about this specific day with her father.

Leah wakes to rain the following morning, intuiting how the weather will affect her father’s workday. Harley is a lumberjack working to clear-cut land intended for development in Brunswick County, North Carolina, and eventually the Outer Banks. Harley surprises Leah with shrimp in her grits, a luxury the family cannot afford.