A Good Neighborhood

When he gets into his car to go to his guitar lesson, Xavier finds a note from Juniper asking him to meet her for blueberry cornbread that night. He meets her at the park and says that he liked her “low-tech” method of communicating. Xavier is nervous and worried about acting hyper after he talks about “scaling back.” Juniper asks him to elaborate, and he says it feels nice to disconnect from technology, which he does through playing acoustic guitar and Juniper does through reading paperback books. They kiss and compliment each other, and they enjoy the simple physical and emotional pleasures.

The Whitman family, Lottie, and Pepper are at the beach house Brad purchased after the previous owner went bankrupt. Brad grew up poor, was bullied, and dropped out of college; large purchases, such as the beach house, make him feel accomplished.

Brad watches Juniper playing frisbee with Pepper while they are at the beach house, and he rationalizes it by telling himself he is “just looking” and that he can’t avoid seeing her. Brad tells Julia that Juniper is doing well at Whitman HVAC, but inwardly, he is concerned about Juniper’s tentative nature when it is just the two of them in the office.