Weeks later, Jack runs into Barbara at a local dance, where she suggests he uses alcohol to avoid intimacy. He breaks down in her arms, and a strong friendship between the two blossoms.

Jack celebrates Christmas Eve with the Leslie family, which now includes Anne's newborn son. When he announces his imminent departure, he and Barbara share an amorous embrace. Months later, Evelyn's sweetheart Tommy returns from war and proposes to her. Barbara sees an item from Richard's mother in the personals section of the newspaper, containing a request