If You Come Softly

Ellie and Jeremiah meet at the New York Public Library in the snow. Outside, a Black woman gives them a strange look, and Ellie wishes those looks and reactions from other people would go away. Jeremiah says it’s just like the weather: “changing but still constant” (131). He says not to mind it, as the only way to stop the looks is to end their relationship. Ellie tells Jeremiah that when she would dream about her true love, they never had a face, just a feeling. She confirms that she still would have pursued a relationship with Jeremiah if she had known how difficult it would be prior.

As Jeremiah and his dad drive to the Hamptons, Jeremiah’s dad talks about white people and the way that they “don’t know they’re white” (134). Jeremiah worries about how his father will react to his relationship with Ellie. He thinks about the time Ellie took his hand when there were boys shouting racial slurs at him. Jeremiah asks his dad if he thinks there are any white people who do get it—who want to use their whiteness to “change the world” (136). His dad pauses to think before replying that he hopes so.