Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child abuse, sexual content, physical abuse, and death.

Forty-two-year-old Meghann (Meg) Dontess visits Harriet Bloom, her therapist of four years. Harriet pushes her to talk about her relationship with her younger sister, Claire Cavanaugh. Meg tries changing the subject, uninterested in recounting the day she left Claire when they were children. Harriet argues that there’s no point in continuing their sessions if she won’t talk about her biggest trauma. She also points out that Meg is lonely. Meg argues that she has her friend, Elizabeth, and she and Claire still talk. She leaves the session early, glad to be out in the Seattle air. She walks through the city streets thinking about her session and pushing away reminders of the past.

Thirty-five-year-old Claire lives with her daughter, Ali, and father, Sam, in Hayden, a small town outside of Seattle. One morning, Claire stands outside River’s Edge Resort (the family business she runs), studies the landscape, and reflects on her life before Hayden. She and Meg were living with Mama, Eliana Sullivan, in Bakersfield. Before Meg drove them up north to be with Claire’s father, Meg always took care of Claire.