Credence

Noah returns with food. The three sleep off their exhaustion. Tiernan wakes up and reflects that Kaleb never told her that he loved her. She reads the tattoo on the back of Kaleb’s neck. It says “Credence” (406), which Tiernan knows means “belief as to the truth of something” (406). Tiernan thinks that the tattoo means that she should love Kaleb because it makes her happy, rather than expect him to love her back. Kaleb wakes up and brings a book called The Sirens of Titan to Tiernan, indicating that she should read it to him. Tiernan begins to read the book aloud.

Kaleb comes home with Noah and Tiernan. Tiernan and the Van der Bergs spend the next few weeks peacefully, with Jake now behaving as the patriarch of the family. Noah has completely backed away from Tiernan, realizing that she and Kaleb are a couple. Jake tells Tiernan that, though she and Kaleb are intensely in love, she must use birth control. She should not get pregnant or skip college. He also complains about Mirai calling him incessantly, but Tiernan knows that he enjoys Mirai’s calls. Meanwhile, Noah asks Tiernan if he can stay with her when he visits LA later in the year to search for sponsors for his racing career. She agrees. Noah also warns Tiernan about not letting Kaleb drag her away from her dreams. According to Noah, Kaleb would be happy keeping Tiernan on the peak, but Tiernan is meant for the larger world.

In late April, the snow is almost gone. The day Mirai is due to visit Tiernan, Tiernan is relieved to discover that she is not pregnant. She would love to have a baby with Kaleb, but she is too young right now. Kaleb discovers that Tiernan has been using birth control pills. He finds the pills and dumps them in the bin despite Tiernan’s protests. Tiernan resolves to fish the pills out of the garbage later.

Kaleb and Tiernan go shopping. At the grocery store, Tiernan spots Cici, who looks visibly pregnant. Realizing that the baby may be Kaleb’s, Tiernan is dismayed. She asks Kaleb to tell her the truth, but he stays silent. Tiernan hears Noah’s bike pull up at the grocery store. She asks Noah to take her home.

Kaleb and Tiernan have a fight. Tiernan thinks that Kaleb threw away her birth control so that he could get her pregnant and trapped before she found out about Cici. Kaleb’s refusal to speak is an act of cowardice. Kaleb looks pained and forcibly hugs and kisses Tiernan. Tiernan refuses to be cajoled and wants Kaleb to at least write her the truth. Kaleb seems non-responsive.

Tiernan throws herself into a promotional shoot for the Van der Berg website. A photographer takes pictures of Tiernan and Noah posing provocatively on a bike. Kaleb watches them from the door. A few racers visiting the shop pass sexually demeaning comments about Tiernan. Kaleb tackles one of the racers and the group drives away. After the shoot ends, Jake drives away his sons to put some space between Tiernan and Kaleb.

Alone at the ranch, Tiernan goes to Kaleb’s room and writes him a farewell note, telling him that while the highs with him are unbeatable, the lows are unbearable. His willful silence is a form of control. Tiernan now knows that Kaleb will never change, though she will always love him. It is time now for Tiernan to listen to her heart and Kaleb to listen to others. Tiernan goes to the truck so that she can pick up Mirai from the airport. Suddenly, she realizes that someone else is on the ranch.

Terrance Holcomb is in the barn. Tiernan grabs a rake and points it at him, asking him to leave. Terrance advances towards her, telling her that he has a proposal to discuss. If Tiernan agrees to sponsor him, he will not pursue made-up vandalism charges against Kaleb. Just then, Tiernan’s phone rings in her back-pocket. Tiernan takes the call from Jake and screams so that Jake knows something is wrong. Terrance chases Tiernan to the kitchen and propositions her menacingly. Tiernan manages to flee and hides behind the furniture stored in the shop. Terrance shouts for backup. His gang, hiding around the ranch, emerges.

As Tiernan stays hidden, she can overhear the men’s plans. Terrance wants to coerce Tiernan to sign him a sponsorship cheque and then send Kaleb to jail anyway. Afterwards, he plans to sexually assault Tiernan, steal the Van der Berg bikes, and set fire to the ranch. Terrance’s friends think that he is going overboard. They refer to the fact that it was Terrance who convinced them to start a fire in the Van der Berg barn last year. Meanwhile, Tiernan finds her bow and arrow and gets ready to shoot. She whips out from behind the armoire and shoots one of the men in the shoulder. Terrance and the others chase her through the house as she continues to shoot arrows. Tiernan gets Terrance, and he raises his hands in surrender.

Noah and the others arrive. Terrance is taken away by the police in a stretcher. Noah tells Tiernan that Cici’s baby cannot be Kaleb’s, as the doctor told them that the pregnancy started when Kaleb was away in the woods in August. Mirai arrives and hugs Tiernan. Tiernan asks Mirai if she can stay in a motel for the night so that Tiernan can sort out matters with the Van der Bergs. Just then, Kaleb brings Tiernan’s suitcase and puts in in Mirai’s rental, indicating that Tiernan should leave. Tiernan is heartbroken and humiliated and asks Mirai to drive her away. Noah and Jake rush out, yelling at Tiernan to stay, but Tiernan tells Mirai to keep driving.

In LA, Mirai tells Tiernan that her parents left her the house and all their wealth. Tiernan feels that the opulent house is not her home. She misses the Van der Berg men. Tiernan has told Mirai about her intimate relation with the Van der Bergs and Mirai is livid, since she thinks that they took advantage of Tiernan. Tiernan tells Mirai, “they’re my family” (449). Mirai keeps her peace.

Tiernan finds a silver urn containing her parents’ ashes. She digs a hole in the lawn with her bare hands to bury the ashes. She wishes that her parents did not have to die for her to get to know herself. Six weeks pass. Tiernan has been accepted at a design school in Seattle to start college in the fall. One day, as she hangs out on the beach, she is surprised to see Noah looming over her. Noah tells her that he tracked her through an app that Jake secretly installed on her phone when Terrance first attacked her. Noah has been in LA for the last six weeks, securing a sponsor and a racing team.

Tiernan asks Noah to move out of his expensive hotel and into her house. She is in for another surprise when Jake, too, turns up at her home in the evening. Mirai and Jake fight over his sudden appearance. Tiernan notices that the tire swing that Mirai cut down has been replaced. When she goes out to check the swing, Kaleb steps out from behind it. It is he who replaced it. A delighted Tiernan tells him that she cannot believe he has left Colorado. Kaleb says, “[i]t was time” (461). Tiernan is shocked to hear him speak. Kaleb tells her that he has been practicing his speech by reading aloud The Sirens of Titan, the book he used to ask her to read to him. He now plans to accompany Tiernan wherever she goes. He tells Tiernan that he loves her.

Five years later, the Van der Bergs are finally all together on a camping trip in Chapel Peak in Colorado. Tiernan and Kaleb are married and have an 18-month-old son called Griff. Tiernan has finished her college degree. Jake has opened a branch of Van der Berg Extreme in California, and he visits California often. Jake and Mirai are in a stable relationship, though Mirai has not made it official yet. Noah is largely based in California, too. Tiernan and Kaleb are building a permanent home near the ranch in Chapel Peak.

On the camping trip, Noah tells Kaleb that their mother has died from cancer in prison. Noah tells Kaleb that he is done hating their mother. Kaleb cries and forgives her. He asks Noah for half of their mother’s ashes so that he can spread them over the mountains. Kaleb goes over to Tiernan and hugs her. He plans to leave Griff with Noah for the night so that he and Tiernan can explore the waterfall where he once scared Tiernan. Things are different now. Tiernan looks forward to the adventure.