Lily and Rosaleen have been at the Boatright house for one week, and they are fitting in and learning the routine of the household. Lily is figuring out both the business and the family. Honey surrounds their lives. Lily discovers, to her astonishment, that August has a mail-order honey business that extends to Vermont and beyond. August begins to teach her about the bees, stressing that Lily must love them because everything in the world needs love. Lily works very hard at learning beekeeping, because she believes if August comes to love her, she won't send her back home to T. Ray.
As they learn the routine, Lily and Rosaleen work on understanding the sisters. While Lily is working with August, Rosaleen is helping May in the house. The sisters buy Rosaleen a new set of clothing, and she and May get along well. Rosaleen understands that May is a bit "slow" — a child in an adult body. She also understands that the singing of "Oh! Susanna" is May's attempt to keep from crying about sad things. She can't even hurt a bug, so she carries spiders out of the house rather than kill them. June is a teacher at the African-American high school and plays the cello, often at funerals. It is clear to Lily that June does not like that Lily and Rosaleen are staying at the house, but Lily doesn't understand why. She begins to figure it out, however, when she overhears a conversation between June and August. June is angry because she and August both know Lily is telling lies about her past. August protests that they can't send Lily back to where she came from, because Lily has a sadness that makes leaving a bad plan. August thinks maybe they can help Lily. June is also angry because Lily is white, which means she doesn't belong there.
