sentences:  Mary Ann reflects on her original distaste for Connie, Shawna's birth mother, and now has nostalgia for their "tacky, Midwestern" origins in their hometown of Cleveland.Brian returns, the two have a quiet reconciliation, and Brian urges Mary Ann to make peace with Michael before it's too late.The novel ends a few months afterward; Brian and Mary Ann have amicably divorced, Mary Ann's transition to New York has been a success, and Brian and Michael continue working at the nursery, with Brian finding that he has new prospects as a once more single, available man.