56 pages • 1 hour read
Mary KubicaJust the Nicest Couple
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 24-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 24 Summary: “Nina”
Nina feels uneasy about leaving her mother home alone in case the intruder returns. She convinces her mother to spend the day at Nina’s childhood home. Officer Boone summons Nina to the police station, asking her several accusatory questions about her marriage to Jake. Defensive, Nina insinuates that the police are failing to search for Jake thoroughly. Officer Boone asks Nina if she suspects that Jake is having an affair, and he mentions that several people he interviewed brought up this possibility.
Chapter 25 Summary: “Christian”
The weather turns colder, and Lily experiences trouble starting her car before and after school. Christian leaves work early to jump-start Lily’s car and take it to the auto repair shop. He feels guilty for not being able to get to Lily sooner. Christian runs into Nina in the parking lot. Nina stares at Christian’s car, steps closer, and peers into the backseat. Christian realizes that the bag of Lily’s bloody clothes remains in the car, though it is concealed under the passenger’s seat. Nina takes a picture of Christian’s car, asking him about the make and model. Christian can’t decide if Nina suspects him of trespassing into her home or if she is gathering more information about his car in a more general sense.
Chapter 26 Summary: “Nina”
Nina cannot stop thinking about Christian’s car. She holds up traffic, trying to compare both images. She has little reason to believe that Christian would venture into her house, but she admits that he resembles the man from her neighbor’s video. Nina considers calling Officer Boone to report Christian, but she fears that he will dismiss her concerns. Nina shows her mother a picture of Christian when she returns home, and Nina’s mother recalls seeing him in the house on the day of the break-in.
Nina’s mother suggests that Nina stay with her for the foreseeable future for her safety. Nina finds comfort in her childhood home, even though it is not as aesthetically pleasing as the house that she designed with Jake. Nina moves her mother’s car to one side of the garage, making space for her own vehicle. She feels safer, as if she is in hiding.
Chapter 27 Summary: “Christian”
Lily and Christian feel on edge knowing that Nina identified Christian’s car. The identity of the human remains found in Langley Woods is still unknown, but Lily and Christian are confident that the police found Jake’s body. They suspect that the police will arrest either one of them at any moment. Certain that she killed Jake, Christian comforts Lily by explaining how much reasonable doubt exists. Lily asks Christian if she should retain a lawyer. Christian realizes how easily the police can identify Lily. Her fingerprints are well documented as a teacher, and her DNA is likely all over Jake’s corpse. Nevertheless, he tells Lily that they shouldn’t worry about legal counsel yet.
Chapter 28 Summary: “Nina”
Although Nina slept well in her childhood bed, she still believes that someone is following and watching her. She showers in the dark, suspecting that someone might be able to see her from the bathroom window. Nina receives a call from Officer Boone while she teaches her English class; the police located Jake’s car at the hotel, and Nina can retrieve it. Officer Boone confirms that Jake was not registered as a guest at the hotel.
Ryan sees Nina in the school hallway as she ends her call with Officer Boone. Nina tells Ryan about Jake’s car, backtracking and explaining how Jake is missing. Ryan consoles Nina, touching her shoulder. He offers her a ride to pick up Jake’s car after school. On the way to the impound lot, Nina tells Ryan more details about Jake’s disappearance. Ryan touches Nina’s knee as she speaks, making Nina uncomfortable. They approach the destination, and Ryan asks to escort Nina to Jake’s car. Nina declines, even when Ryan questions the safety of the lot.
Nina must spend nearly $1,000 in fees to retrieve the car. She’s shocked at the dirty appearance of the car. She finally sees Ryan drive away when she sits inside Jake’s BMW. On the drive home, Nina notices another vehicle following her. Feeling bold, she parks the car at a red light and confronts the person in the other vehicle, confirming Ryan as the driver. Nina tells Ryan to leave her alone. Ryan apologizes, claiming that he worries for Nina’s safety. Nina drives to her house to take care of her cat before retreating to her mother’s house. She searches Jake’s car, finding Lily’s earring in the back seat.
Ryan tries and fails to speak with Nina the following day at school. He calls her repeatedly, and Nina feels disturbed by Ryan’s increasingly assertive voicemail messages. Nina approaches Lily while Lily sits alone in her classroom. She presents Lily with her earring, telling her where she found it. Hoping that Lily has a good reason for her earring being in Jake’s car, Nina observes Lily struggling to explain.
Chapter 29 Summary: “Christian”
Lily calls Christian at work, explaining how Nina found her earring in Jake’s car. Christian balks at the news, especially since he was unaware that Jake’s car was recovered. Christian and Lily consider the possibility of Nina telling the police about the earring. They both feel relieved knowing that the earring, potential evidence, is back in Lily’s possession. Christian ends his phone conversation with Lily, and he wonders how Lily’s earring ended up in Jake’s car.
Chapter 30 Summary: “Nina”
Nina drives to Christian and Lily’s house after dark. She sits in her car outside their house and reflects on an earlier occasion when she believed that Jake was unfaithful. Nina recalls following the surgical technician to her apartment and considering the harm she could inflict. She never followed through on her thoughts. Nina wonders if Jake is leaving her for Lily and is lying low until Lily leaves Christian. She considers that Christian possibly discovered the affair before her and killed Jake.
Nina sees Christian appear through the front door carrying a bag of trash. She watches as he walks some distance from his house, stopping in front of a neighbor’s house and throwing the trash bag in the neighbor’s trashcan. Nina hides and waits for Christian to return home. She retrieves the plastic bag and retreats to her car. Just as she opens the bag and sees Lily’s bloodstained clothes, Christian knocks on her car window, startling Nina.
Chapters 24-30 Analysis
Kubica plants another red herring through Ryan’s character, who misdirects suspicion from Nina’s mother. Nina’s discomfort around Ryan grows when he touches her knee while driving her to pick up Jake’s BMW: “He hasn’t moved it. It’s still on my knee” (268). This close tactile description recalls the intimacy of the prickles on Nina’s neck when she feels as though she is being followed, hinting that Ryan is the person following her. Nina can sense that Ryan’s motivations for supporting her through a difficult time are not entirely selfless but stem from his attraction to Nina. Ryan attempts to initiate a romantic relationship with Nina before she knows whether her husband is dead or alive. The flowers sent to Nina at school combined with the constant feeling of being watched lead Nina to feel threatened by a potential stalker who might have harmed Jake. Ryan’s inappropriate and intrusive actions further develop this theory, setting him up as a suspect.
Ironically, Nina turns to her mother for security. Nina feels safe in her childhood bed and home: “Last night, before she went to sleep, my mother washed the flannel sheets for me, so that they were still warm and snuggly when I climbed in” (259). The juvenile vocabulary of “snuggly” reflects her nostalgic sense of safety from childhood. Nina compares her mother’s home to the one that she and Jake built, describing it as aesthetically displeasing but feeling comforted all the same. Both homes symbolize Nina’s values and priorities; she must feel safe above all else and be willing to sacrifice extravagance to feel secure. Kubica’s descriptions of this comforting environment aims to further distort the reader’s suspicion; Nina unknowingly situates herself with her husband’s killer in her effort to find safety.
In contrast, Jake never would have sacrificed his expensive possessions under any circumstances. Nina startles at the dirty state of Jake’s BMW in the auto pound. The dirty reality of an expensive car, representing Jake’s hidden betrayals and selfishness under the illusion of an affluent and happy marriage, illustrates the theme of Appearance Versus Reality in Marriage. Jake’s character development comes entirely from the other characters’ perspectives and his cherished physical possessions, specifically his expensive house and car. Jake’s BMW serves as a cautionary reminder to prioritize people over possessions. Jake treated his car with more respect and care than he treated Nina. His car is left to ruin during his disappearance and, eventually, his death, while the people closest to him remember him negatively.
Nina’s anger and resentment build toward Jake when she finds Lily’s earring in the back seat of his car and realizes that Lily and Jake likely engaged in an affair. Due to the recollections of Jake and Nina’s turbulent relationship, Kubica constructs the real heartbreak of the novel as Lily’s betrayal of her close friend. Nina confirms her suspicions when she confronts Lily who “stutters and trips over her words, becoming inarticulate. She can’t come up with a lie to save her life” (278). This casual idiom of “save her life” turns sinister in the context of the murder and Lily’s claims of self-defense. Knowing that Nina confided in Lily about her father’s adultery worsens the situation. Nina thinks, “I wondered how any woman could be so horrible as to pursue a married man, and I thought of that woman who had stolen my father from my mother and me and practically ruined our lives” (285). Even before he knew about the affair, Christian comments on how Lily and Nina’s friendship cannot be salvaged from this situation. Through Lily and Nina’s lost friendship, Kubica explores Overcoming Loss, Betrayal, and Trauma. In Lily and Nina’s case, the novel suggests that the women must let go of the past and each other to move forward with their lives separately.
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By Mary Kubica
