The Best Is Yet to Come

Before the story begins, Buck Meltsner has learned that his family is moving to Baltimore, and though he promised his girlfriend Jules Kendall he would do everything he could to stay, he has chosen to be honest with his parents and go with them. Feeling abandoned, Jules has fled Odyssey on an airplane bound for Denver, wanting to get as far away as she can.

On the plane, Jules finds herself seated next to Ted Humphries, a television reporter from Channel 10. When she pours out her story and calls Buck selfish, Ted gently turns her words around, pointing out that a boy who confesses his deception and puts his parents first sounds more like someone with character and integrity. Jules protests, but she has to admit that wanting Buck to choose her over his own family sounds selfish when it is said out loud. Then Ted shows her raw news footage his producer has sent him: early that morning, a teenager serenaded his girlfriend and set off a fireworks show in her yard, scorching some trees and drawing fire trucks to a street called Borglum. Jules stares at the video in shock. The street is hers, the house is hers, and the boy is Buck. He did all of it for her, and she was not even there. Jules suddenly sees that she has been so wrapped up in her own hurt feelings that she has become the one doing the hurting. By running away, she is acting just like the parents who abandoned her. She resolves to get back to Odyssey before Buck leaves.

Meanwhile, Whit's End is filled with guests for the Meltsners' farewell party. Whit has named the library after Eugene and Katrina, with Eugene's own wordy quotations painted on the walls. Buck keeps watching the door, wishing one more person could have come. Jason Whittaker arrives late after battling bad weather in Chicago and reveals his surprise gift: Bernard Walton, Eugene's old friend, who has cut short his Florida vacation to say goodbye. But that same Chicago weather traps Jules in the airport, waiting on a delayed flight home.

Bernard announces he has written a poem for Eugene and recruits Whit, Connie, Katrina, and others to read parts of it. The verses lovingly tease Eugene for his endless orations and strange greetings, admitting that "like a stubborn wart, you've grown on me," before ending with Bernard's promise that Eugene is a good friend he will not forget. Eugene then gives a speech of his own. He recalls arriving at Campbell College caring only about his studies, and names the four best decisions he ever made: coming to Christ, marrying his wife, adopting his son, and taking a job at Whit's End. The day he first heard the bell ring above the shop's door, he says, was the day his life began. God has called his family elsewhere, and he thanks everyone for being his friends.

After the party, the goodbyes grow harder. Connie gives Eugene a toaster oven big enough to cook a twelve-pound turkey, shares a stiff hug, and then insists on staying to clean up, still hurting. Whit and Eugene share their own farewell, Eugene confessing that being away from his mentor will be one of the hardest challenges of his life. Whit sends him off with his wholehearted blessing: "I love you, I'm proud of you, and the best is yet to come."

Jules finally reaches Odyssey by bus and races for Whit's End, only to be stopped by Officer Burke for jaywalking. He writes her a ticket and delivers worse news: the party is over and the Meltsners have already left. Heartbroken, Jules whispers an apology to Buck for trying and failing.

But the goodbyes are not quite finished. Eugene slips back into Whit's End while Katrina and Buck wait in the car, unwilling to let a toaster oven and lingering tension be his last memory with Connie. Connie apologizes for butting into his family's decision, then finally lets her feelings spill out: her best friend in the whole world is leaving, and she does not know what she will do without him. Eugene comforts her with what he has learned from years of helping people with their memories. The memories of people we love, he tells her, are a gift from God that sustain us when we are sad, blessings they will keep for the rest of their lives. They share a real hug, Connie gets in one last joke about his vests making him look like a badger, and Eugene offers her a parting gift: the last word. She uses it to say she misses him already. Then, for perhaps the first time, he calls her by her first name: "Goodbye, Connie."

As the Meltsners drive out of town, Buck admits he watched the door the entire party hoping Jules would come. Suddenly a police car pulls them over. It is Officer Burke, and Jules is with him. She and Buck rush to each other, and when she calls herself the worst person in the world, Buck answers, "You're my favorite person in the world." With Eugene and Katrina's blessing, plus the promise of a visit, phone calls, and texts, the two agree to try to make their friendship work long distance.

Back at Whit's End, Connie finds Whit standing quietly in the empty shop. They embrace as Whit says what they are both feeling: Eugene is really gone. All Connie can answer, through her tears, is that she knows.