Janie's final relationship was with migrant worker Tea Cake, who gave Janie the love that she had always desired. With Tea Cake, Janie was able to experience true love and happiness for the first time in her life. As a widow, Janie would sell Joe's crossroads store, close up her comfortable home, and leave with her new husband to share his life as a bean picker in the muck of the Everglades. Tea Cake introduced Janie to a new life in the Everglades. There she met new people, Tea Cake's fun-loving friends, and experienced another community. Her life with Tea Cake was far different than her life with Joe. This marriage and Janie's happiness lasted about 18 months — until a powerful hurricane devastated the land, and Tea Cake became a victim of it.
A few weeks after Tea Cake's death, Janie returns to Eatonville because she cannot bear to remain in the Everglades, where she is surrounded by memories of her beloved Tea Cake. She returns to her hometown, with her quest for sincere love having finally been fulfilled by Tea Cake. After an evening of retelling her past to her friend Pheoby, the story of Janie's life is complete.
