On the porch, Lafayette tells Sam he's going back to the bar, to "make sure Terry ain't PTSDing all over my clam chowder," naturally, and Sam thanks him for taking charge. "No worries, boyfriend. Because I'm gonna hit your ass up for a raise, soon as they pull them stitches out your forehead." He pats his cousin and tells her to call him, and when they're left alone Sam asks, almost musingly, why she never called him back. She says, honestly, that she got no messages from him -- that when she felt alone, she really was alone as far as she knew, and no number of calls from Sam or Sookie or anybody else came through to tell her otherwise, which gave her space to make a new decision.

"Look, we don't have to talk about this now. Sookie almost died. And she would've, if you hadn't been there, so. I'm glad you were, okay?" Sam's happy for a moment, but remembers to remind her that he was worried about Tara, too. But Tara knows better, because she never got the messages, so she indulges him: "I'm sure you were. You worry about everybody. But Sookie's right, you're an amazing guy." Maryann's car drives up, to take her home. "You deserve to get everything you want. And so do I." Tara kisses Sam's cheek goodbye. "Take good care of her," Tara says, and steps out of the story of Tara & Sam, and into a new one. Sam follows her to the edge of the porch, but jumps back when he sees Maryann. "Maryann, this is my friend Sam. Sam, this is Maryann." Maryann grins at him, fiercely friendly. "Sam, it's so nice to meet you! You ready to go?" Tara heads for the car, and Sam's voice is a quiet, menacing, terrified hush. Deep in the throat, with the hackles up and a million miles of painful history. "What the hell are you doing here?" Maryann smiles at him, shining and vicious: "Did you think I wasn't gonna find you? Oh... You silly, silly dog." She leaves him with that; he stands shaking long after they've left.